CHP MEMORIES

When I began the CHP Academy in early 1969, the cars that we drove during training, were 1967 Oldsmobiles. These patrol cars were pretty much gone from the field, but were still being used for cadet training. During the summer of 1969, after reporting to the Baldwin Park Office, the patrol vehicles in use at the time, were a few 67 Oldsmobiles, and mostly 68 Dodge Polaras.
It wasn't too long after my arrival in the field, that we started to see the arrival of the 1969 Dodge Polara Patrol Car.

From the moment we first were able to drive this new patrol vehicle, there wasn't much doubt that this was the fastest vehicle ever delivered for CHP use. To this day, the 69 Dodge is universally recognized as a one of a kind patrol car, that was equipped with special features.
It had a 375 horsepower, 440 cubic inch motor that was connected to a drive train specifically geared for high speeds. It had a heavy duty suspension, monster brakes, and was exempt from emission requirements. Just under 2,000 of these special ordered cars were built specifically for the CHP, and during these end years of the muscle car era, this was indeed a muscle car with a star on the door.

I remember one evening when I was working the swing shift, driving one of the newer 69 Dodges. I received a radio call from my shift SGT Lloyd Gabbert, who wanted me to meet him for a ride-a-long. This was a routine request, and was an opportunity for the supervisor to observe his subordinates as they performed their daily patrol duties. I don't remember much about the time Gabbert was with me, except near the end of the ride-a-long, I vividly remember what occurred. He asked me to take the Pomona Freeway east to a point where it ended, and a several mile unopened section began. I drove around the barricades, and at that point he told me to open it up, and get up to top speed. I was a bit surprised, but the hesitation was only for an instant, as this performance junkie didn't need much of an excuse to go really fast. During normal enforcement driving, we often had to accelerate for brief periods to catch a speeder, but here was an invitation to see what this new patrol car would do. Gabbert had a stopwatch, and when the speedometer had climbed over 140, he timed our travel through a mile that was delineated by mile post markers. I remember watching the speedometer climb well over 140, which was the top number, but had no idea how fast we had actually gone. When we had slowed, and he had calculated our speed by way of time/distance, he said "we just went 153 mph".

The 1969 Dodge Patrol Car was a lot of fun to drive, particularly when you needed to get somewhere fast, or to catch up to a speeder. During the subsequent years of my career, we never had another patrol car as fast as the 69 Dodge. Over the years, the CHP utilized several specialized vehicles like the Chevy Camaro, and the Ford Mustang, but when it came to brute horsepower, nothing came close to this black and white muscle car.