Ford Built a Car Only Cops Could Buy — With a Mercury V8 !
The Ford History Files
12,212 views
📘 Think you know your car? Check the VIN first.
Full decoding guide for Classic Cars → https://classiccarshistory.com/
In 1950, Ford became the first automaker to offer a factory police package. The fastest version carried an engine Ford did not build for Ford cars: the Mercury 255 cubic inch flathead V8. In this documentary we follow how a postwar Ford with a Mercury heart became the "car only cops could buy," and why the real story is more surprising than the legend.
We start with the original Ford flathead V8 of 1932, the engine that put cheap speed in the hands of police officers and outlaws alike. We look at the disputed letter attributed to Clyde Barrow praising the Ford V8, and at how Henry Ford II and the Whiz Kids rebuilt Ford after the war. We also cover the 1949 "shoebox" Ford that saved the company, and the larger design that became the 1949 Mercury.
You will see the Ford 239 and Mercury 255 flathead V8s compared side by side, including bore, stroke, horsepower and torque. We explain why one extra quarter inch of stroke made the difference, and why the bigger engine bolted straight into a Ford. We also examine the claim that a fleet-only order form kept civilians from buying it, and what the evidence actually shows.
Along the way we cover the rivals of the era: the Oldsmobile Rocket 88, the six-cylinder Chevrolet, the NASCAR-winning Hudson Hornet of Marshall Teague, Herb Thomas and Tim Flock, and Plymouth's early police history. Then we follow the Interceptor name through the decades:
The Y-block Interceptor
The police-exclusive 361
The 390 and 428 Police Interceptors
The California Highway Patrol's Mustang SSP
The Crown Victoria Police Interceptor
Today's Ford Police Interceptor Utility hybrid
Finally, we look at what retired police Fords and early police car replicas are worth today.
Which police car should we cover next? Let us know in the comments, and tell us where you are watching from.
#FordPoliceCar #PoliceInterceptor #FlatheadV8 #MercuryV8 #ClassicCars #ShoeboxFord #CrownVictoria #MustangSSP #AmericanCarHistory #VintageCars #CarHistory #PoliceCars #FordHistory #HotRod #ClassicFord
Sources:
Courtney McAlpine, Ford Senior Digital Archivist, "The Long History of Ford Police Vehicles," Ford Media Center
David Griffith, "Ford Celebrates 75 Years of Making Patrol Vehicles," POLICE Magazine
Ford Motor Company, Ford Police Vehicles history timeline, ford.com
Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for 'fair use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. I do not own some or all of the video materials used in this video. In the case of copyright issues, please contact me at historymediachannel1@gmail.com for credit or removal.
20 Comments
Brother of my father as a Police Officer had a take home 59' unmarked car (but full of telltale radio equipment ! and his own car that looked identical and I think had 352 engine,
1966 Ford that had 428 engine and automatic transmission was probably the best Ford he ever owned but not as powerful as the 427 engined 1965 that he had for a while but shook,rattled and rolled unlike the 428 which was very civilized and fairly quiet.
then they woould have a real hot rod.
Ford Built a Car Only Cops Could Buy — With a Mercury V8 !
The Ford History Files
12,212 views
📘 Think you know your car? Check the VIN first.
Full decoding guide for Classic Cars → https://classiccarshistory.com/
In 1950, Ford became the first automaker to offer a factory police package. The fastest version carried an engine Ford did not build for Ford cars: the Mercury 255 cubic inch flathead V8. In this documentary we follow how a postwar Ford with a Mercury heart became the "car only cops could buy," and why the real story is more surprising than the legend.
We start with the original Ford flathead V8 of 1932, the engine that put cheap speed in the hands of police officers and outlaws alike. We look at the disputed letter attributed to Clyde Barrow praising the Ford V8, and at how Henry Ford II and the Whiz Kids rebuilt Ford after the war. We also cover the 1949 "shoebox" Ford that saved the company, and the larger design that became the 1949 Mercury.
You will see the Ford 239 and Mercury 255 flathead V8s compared side by side, including bore, stroke, horsepower and torque. We explain why one extra quarter inch of stroke made the difference, and why the bigger engine bolted straight into a Ford. We also examine the claim that a fleet-only order form kept civilians from buying it, and what the evidence actually shows.
Along the way we cover the rivals of the era: the Oldsmobile Rocket 88, the six-cylinder Chevrolet, the NASCAR-winning Hudson Hornet of Marshall Teague, Herb Thomas and Tim Flock, and Plymouth's early police history. Then we follow the Interceptor name through the decades:
The Y-block Interceptor
The police-exclusive 361
The 390 and 428 Police Interceptors
The California Highway Patrol's Mustang SSP
The Crown Victoria Police Interceptor
Today's Ford Police Interceptor Utility hybrid
Finally, we look at what retired police Fords and early police car replicas are worth today.
Which police car should we cover next? Let us know in the comments, and tell us where you are watching from.
#FordPoliceCar #PoliceInterceptor #FlatheadV8 #MercuryV8 #ClassicCars #ShoeboxFord #CrownVictoria #MustangSSP #AmericanCarHistory #VintageCars #CarHistory #PoliceCars #FordHistory #HotRod #ClassicFord
Sources:
Courtney McAlpine, Ford Senior Digital Archivist, "The Long History of Ford Police Vehicles," Ford Media Center
David Griffith, "Ford Celebrates 75 Years of Making Patrol Vehicles," POLICE Magazine
Ford Motor Company, Ford Police Vehicles history timeline, ford.com
Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for 'fair use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. I do not own some or all of the video materials used in this video. In the case of copyright issues, please contact me at historymediachannel1@gmail.com for credit or removal.