WILLDOGS

NEW YORK -- The muscle car perhaps best known for outrunning a hapless sheriff in "The Dukes of Hazzard" will soon have a new role in Gotham: police cruiser.

The New York Police Department plans to buy 15 police versions of the 2006 Dodge Charger for a pilot program that will begin this summer, officials said on Thursday. If the sporty four-door sedans pass inspection, they eventually could replace hundreds of squad cars in the NYPD's 3,000-vehicle patrol fleet, now dominated by Ford Crown Victorias and Chevrolet Impalas.

"The fact that the NYPD would consider the Charger is an honor," said Kevin McCormick, spokesman for DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group.

NYPD officials said the highway unit will test drive 10 Chargers _ five marked, five unmarked _ featuring V-8 5.7-liter Hemi engines. The rest of the cars will have V-6s and hit city streets in the five boroughs.

With the Charger, officers can protect, serve and burn rubber: In a recent analysis by Michigan State Police, Chargers equipped with the V-8 had the quickest acceleration (6.52 seconds to 60 mph) and fastest lap time (150 mph) of any police vehicle tested.

Leonard Lesko, the NYPD's director of fleet services, said with so many flashy foreign cars on the road speed matters.

"The car that does 110 mph doesn't do it anymore," said Lesko, who joined the department in 1973, when the Plymouth Fury was the NYPD's car of choice.

The price of the Chargers was still being negotiated. But a company Web site lists the civilian model's starting price at $22,995. Modified police models _ outfitted with fortified front seats, no rear-door handles and heftier brakes _ typically are sold to law enforcement at a discount.

The department prefers to use a mix of models and manufacturers to avoid grounding the fleet in case of a recall.

The Charger raced onto the muscle car scene in 1966. Over the next several years, it made an impact on the stock car racing circuit and on television, starring as General Lee, an orange 1969 model, in "The Dukes of Hazzard" series, which premiered in 1979. But its popularity had waned by the late 1980s, as did that of the Plymouth Fury and Dodge Coronet, once police favorites.

Chrysler rolled out a revamped version of the Charger last year, including a police model aimed at capturing a share of a market monopolized by the Crown Vic. It was pitched as the car that would "put 340 horses under the good guys' hood."




http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...gion-apnewyork

dark inspire

srika

CL Platano

Yeah I can see all the crooked NYPD cops enjoying this.

F23A4

.....gotta slow it down now in the city.

Specs

SpeedyV6

I can't see why police would need anything other than a V6 in NYC. What kind of high speed chases can you possibly get into?

F23A4

While working at Hertz parttime (NYC owning area), I'd typically work early Saturday and Sunday mornings and you'd be surprised at how fast you can rip up from Houston Street to 90th street via 1st ave. I've taken many a Taurus/Sable/Tbird/Cougar up 1st avenue at over 100mph (time was money ). There were even several times when my ride went slightly airborne coming out of the tunnel by the UN.

But keep in mind, there's more to NYC than just Manhattan. Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island have some highways where a more powerful cruiser would be needed for pursuit. (i.e.: Henry Hudson pkwy, Cross Bronx, Major Deegan, Van Wyck, GCP, the Belt, West Shore expwy, etc,...)

Doom878

FHP has V8 Camaros and an unmarked Mustang GT.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

On HW's yeah. But in NYC those will die really fast.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

Don't forget the....
Intrepid's
Super Charged Maruder's.. I've seen 2, & they guy I know said there are more of them in FL.
Super charged CV's only seen 1 of these
Magunm SRT's Seen 3 of them all marked with FHP.They look nasty in brown
And I saw a unmarked new V8 Impala pull over someone yesterday on Atlantic & dixie HW.

CL Platano

Absolutely agree, the ideal car is the Impala since its more compact and versatile for the narrow city streets. On the highway there is mad traffic anyway so it's really useless.

bigman

You've never been on the West Side Highway.

WILLDOGS

LOL NYC has many highways where you can have pretty decent high speed chases especially after hours. Don't forget the outer boroughs.
West Side Highway
Deegan Expressway
GCP
Van Wyck
etc...
Keep in mind that highway patrol will have the HEMI, not the local precint cars

dallison

i would prefer to be pulled over by one of them

CL Platano

Oh yeah forgot about those days of hitting the West Side Hwy from Uptown to go Downtown..Hella lot a fun..

CL Platano

yeah once they get sick of fixing them after the guys finish crashing them, they'll go back to the impala..

Doom878

I always see the big bald dude in the silver/grey Marauder. Didn't know there were 2.

What's a CV?
And damn I've never seen a Magnum cop.

dark inspire

Crown Victoria

All Mine

Duluth PD around here has had them for a couple months.

Doom878

Didn't know they blew CV's.

M TYPE X

Maybe you should drop a suggestion card in their box!!!

Straightup80

can't outrun them anymore

agranado

this is a certainty. I see those camaro's everywhere