Further confirmation identifying police car as 1939 Ford Standard (as opposed to De Luxe model) is rear bumper configuration. Bumper lacks horizontal recessed/ painted strip through middle indicative of the De Luxe and bumper ends have slight asymetrical "upcurve" rather than the true 180 degree radius used on on the De Luxe. While sharing many basic body components, De Luxe and Standard Fords had some unique styling features in '38, '39 and '40.

Replying to request for exact year. Car is a 1939 Ford Standard. Rounded back with side chrome below slight fold on belt line on body as well as vertical trunk handle narrows it down to'39 or '40. No front side window vents limits it to '39. Although louvres on side of hood are blocked by officer, small diameter of bright portion of hubcaps indicates Standard model. I'm old enough to remeber cars like this on the road

i believe the officer was killed in this wreck. on 95th st if memory serve me.

might be 1932 chevies

Excellent Pic!!

I really enjoy the strange 3/4 angle. I'm drawing the photo and it's really hard to find pictures of vehicles with different angles. So keep up the good work

i have one without the top everthing is original
a man built it and past away leving it to me has 3 boots
oil lamps ect 1 of a kind perfect please tell me a ball park figure if it was perfect {price} ?
sincerly justin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I believe when this photo was taken (when the cars were brand new), they were selling for about $400. Since this site is a photo collection, why do so many people think that each of the photo contributors own each vehicle that is featured? You'll have a better chance of getting a value from some club that specializes in antique Fords.

copcar dot com

Hello,
I just ran across your website on a random search for anything containing "1961 Rambler" as I happen to own one, and your site came up with the photo of the CPD Rambler patrol car. That car pictured is a 1960 model. The '60 and '61 model Ramblers share all the same rear sheetmetal except for the bumper, which is split in the middle on the '60 model, but goes all the way across on the '61. The frontend sheetmetal on the '61 is also very different from the '60. The '58, '59 & '60 shared the same basic frontend sheetmetal, save for some slight revisions. Then, the '62 has the same frontend sheetmetal as the '61, but totally different rearend sheetmetal.

By the way, I live in Oklahoma City, and I can vividly remember, as a kid growing up in the '60s and '70s, traveling up to Chicago to visit my grand parents, aunts, uncles cousins, etc. They were spread out all over the area. Berwyn, Cicero, Downers Grove, Naperville, Plano, etc....Sometimes we would drive up, other times we would take the train, get off at Union Station and take the "Q" out to the suburbs.
I do remember some of these same kinds of patrol cars and the Police Harley "trikes" that you have on display here.

Anyway, Thanks for a great website and for bringing back some great memories.

Regards,
Paul Reznicek

It looks just like the one I have. Mine is a 1961 Rambler classic 4door, three on the tree. six cylinder.

I am looking for parts for mine to restore it. I need info myself on it.

Great scott! Nice pic of the last thing I'd want closing in my rearview mirror! poipoi

Original comment by Eric Mason:

"At the time this photo was taken, i believe this C.P.D. squad was getting ready for new decals. In 1995 Chicago Police Dept shuffled the decals around. The words "Chicago Police" appeared on the rear door and "we serve and protect" appeared on the front door as apposed to "chicago Police acros the bottom of the cars. sometime after 1996 i was told the caps star was added to the door and the word" Chicago" was removed from the rear door. But after alot of fussing from officers, The "Chicago Police" appeared across the bottom of the car again and " We serve and protect" was put back on the rear doors. The caps star was moved to the center of the front doors and a caps decal was put on top of the flag at the rear of the car. Other than that the Chicago Police decals have remained pretty much the same since the 1970's when they did away with blue and whites...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey Eric, I don't know where you're getting your information about the CPD car in the picture, but you are incorrect. I took the photo of this '95 Caprice in 1998. It was not being re-striped or re-marked. This was after a regular car wash. The decals were crappy and they peeled off over time. Some more so than others. The lettering on our cars is not soft and pliable vinyl. It is a very stiff and brittle reflective metallic material that cracks and peels very easily. Our decals are also very old. They may sit on the shelf at the motor maintenance facility for years before they are applied to a car. They can also lose their adhesive property over time and simply flake off. Now run a car with these decals through a high-pressure car wash and the weaker or older decals come off in large chunks.

The reason the CHICAGO POLICE lettering was moved to the rear door in 1995 was because the department wanted the new CAPS star to be prominently displayed on the door and there just wasn't enough room left for the lettering to run left-to-right along the Caprice body below it. The 1995 Chevy Caprices were the only vehicles marked like this.

The 1996 Ford Crown Vic body was able to display the stripe and red lettering in the standard configuration with room left over for the CAPS star to centered on the front doors.

There was no "fussing" from rank and file officers about decal placement.

Most of the time, we're just happy if the car runs and the heat or A/C works.

Greg Reynolds
Chicago PD

Dave (Arnold), I hope you know the pleasure you are giving all us who are sitting on the side lines, shaking our heads, smiling and watching this. You sir have the patience of a Saint!

Joe Kaczynski
Streamwood, Illinois

also mr cop car I have a 1950 ford club coupe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great. We're all happy to learn that. Go drive it off a cliff already.

The caption has been changed to reflect your opinion. Are you happy now?

Mr Copcar

dear mr cop car this still is a 1949 ford because the 1950 had gas flap door also the door handles had a button they did not pull out better check with someone one who knows. thank you

________________________________________________

Dear Mr. 49 Ford Expert

Are you just dumber than dirt? I don't doubt your ability to determine whether it's a 49, 50 whatever. I believe you. It's the way you left the original message and then were too stupid to understand our response. I don't have to check with anyone. I believe you. We will change it! In the future, just correct us without leaving some snide remark about not being able to tell what year "your own picture" is.

sorry but you do not know what year your picture is? it is a 1949 ford

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Bradberry. I will send you an e mail photograph of a tire mark on a pavement. I would like for you to look at the mark, which was taken from 75 feet away. I would like for you to tell me if it is an acceleration mark, deceleration mark, lateral scuff or yaw mark. Unless you are an expert witness in tire marks, you won't be able to answer my question.

You see, we all have our own area of expertise. Yours may be in identifying an old Ford based on a single piece of chrome that you can see in a photograph. There are those of us who cannot pick up on that detail because it is not in our data storage (i.e. brain). It just so happens that Greg wasn't even born in 1949 or 1950 and probably estimated the year.

It's not that we mind someone tipping us to the correct year or model, in fact, we love it. It helps our collection along. But your sentence "sorry but you do not know what year your picture is?" sounds pretty snide.

Dave Arnold
copcar.com

Were these and the 1963 model Ford and Plymouth police cars used in the t.v. series Crime Story?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the tv series "Crime Story", the producer Michael Mann had a thing for the 1959 Ford and wanted to use them as the copcars in the show. Even though the real CPD cars in 1959 were black and white, he wanted them painted in the 1960's blue and white scheme since the show took place in 1963. There were also a couple of 1960 Fords from time to time on camera. The only CPD cars ever shown on screen were the 59 and 60 Fords.

This picture is an original CPD press photo of a traffic division car.

Greg Reynolds
copcar dot com