With its whirling motor-powered siren and an actual phone handset inside, the shiny green 1972 Plymouth Fury I looks more like it belongs on the set of “Serpico” than parked at police headquarters.
But while this classic car — and several others like it — may look foreign to today’s New Yorkers, the NYPD has made an effort to preserve it.
“It’s our history. It’s where we’ve been,” said Michael Gorgia, the operations supervisor of the NYPD’s Fleet Services division, adding: “There actually are a lot of people who didn’t even know we have these.”
The division has a total of nine cars, including the 1972 Plymouth (the oldest in the fleet), a 1989 Plymouth Gran Fury Housing Bureau car, a 1990 Chevrolet Caprice Transit Bureau car, a 2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible (made as a parade car for former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton), and a 2009 Dodge Charger (the newest of the vintage fleet used only for presidential details). The Dodge Charger was retired a few weeks ago and only has 8,000 miles on it.
Different departments decide to preserve certain cars for various reasons. The Housing Bureau, for example, decided to hold on to the unique blue and orange Grand Fury because it was the last one in service.
“This particular car … was repainted white at one time and had all the new graphics on it,” Gorgia said. “When we took this car to preserve it, we repainted it back the colors.”
They didn’t get those colors quite right, though, and eventually decided to strip it down and redo it. They gleaned the exact right shade from the inside of one of the doors, he said.
The NYPD typically uses the cars for parades and retirement ceremonies, when officers walk out to a vintage vehicle send-off. Transit cops, for example, tend to choose the transit vehicle. They also rotate out different cars for the annual auto show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
In addition to the department’s preserved nine cars, there are several authentic looking replicas that are owned by a group of collectors who dub themselves “the RMPS,” or the RMP Squad (RMP stands for Radio Motor Patrol), said Gorgia, who is a member.
Together the group, a mix of retired and active officers, maintains more than a dozen vintage vehicles, including a 1940 Plymouth and several others from the 1950s.
There’s even a 1930 Mack Truck used by the Emergency Service Unit. Rumor has it the city commissioned 10 of those trucks but only took seven, and this particular one was one of the remaining three, Gorgia said.
The NYPD does its own mechanic and body work on the vintage fleet, keeping them covered and in good condition. Gorgia said Fleet Services pride themselves on their work, and “it shows.”
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