CHP Camry?

[NorCalN00b]

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/radioman89/CHP_Camry.JPG

Why did the CHP use the Toyota Camry??

[Radar]

:shock: Wow, I haven't seen one of those in forever... I wasn't on the Dept then so someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong - That version of the Camry was a test project out at EVOC, just like the Volvos, Impalas, and currently the Chargers. Unlike the Volvos and Impalas, I don't think any of the Camry's hit the road, but I could be wrong. If memory serves, I do remember EVOC said, at the time, the front-wheel drive of the Camry was very user-friendly, however, most everything else sucked...

My parents are retired Sacramento County Deputies and we had several CHP friends when I was growing up. That style of Camry was at EVOC being run through its paces when one of those friends brought me on a brief tour of the Academy waaaaaay back when. That's where my recollection comes from. Anyone else have info? Anyone? Bueller?

[Your Mentor]

They did hit the road. They were being tested in 88 and ran out sometime in 89'. I know one officer who drove one in LA and he said he liked it. There was more to the project. Fuel economy was an issue being tossed around back then. Also, like the Volvo, the manufacture offered the vehicle at a very low price and paid for maintenance throughout the project. These test projects are always going on. Usually they purchase 20 cars and distribute them througout the state with one or two left for EVOC to use. We had a test Camaro back in 91' in Bishop. We never actually tested the Impala (not talking about the new front wheel drive car with that name; what a joke). What the EVOC staff did during the last Caprice contract was outfit one Caprice with Impala ground effects, alloy wheels, and emblems. That was around 1996. I have photos of the car but haven't ever bothered to scan them. If you get close to it the logo plate says, "Caprice SS," not Impala SS. Though for all intents and purposes, it exceeded the Impala SS and looked like one from a few feet away. Sweet looking patrol car. The Volvo was being tested when I was teaching in 99' and Bogios took me for the most terrifying ride of my life in it. It was fast but very small inside with equipment mounted and it sounded like a sewing machine. I couldn't stand that.

Here's a flash from the past. Back when I was thin enough to get in and out of tight fitting patrol cars.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e215/klassey/crop0139.jpg

[NorCalN00b]

They did hit the road. They were being tested in 88 and ran out sometime in 89'. I know one officer who drove one in LA and he said he liked it. There was more to the project. Fuel economy was an issue being tossed around back then. Also, like the Volvo, the manufacture offered the vehicle at a very low price and paid for maintenance throughout the project. These test projects are always going on. Usually they purchase 20 cars and distribute them througout the state with one or two left for EVOC to use. We had a test Camaro back in 91' in Bishop. We never actually tested the Impala (not talking about the new front wheel drive car with that name; what a joke). What the EVOC staff did during the last Caprice contract was outfit one Caprice with Impala ground effects, alloy wheels, and emblems. That was around 1996. I have photos of the car but haven't ever bothered to scan them. If you get close to it the logo plate says, "Caprice SS," not Impala SS. Though for all intents and purposes, it exceeded the Impala SS and looked like one from a few feet away. Sweet looking patrol car. The Volvo was being tested when I was teaching in 99' and Bogios took me for the most terrifying ride of my life in it. It was fast but very small inside with equipment mounted and it sounded like a sewing machine. I couldn't stand that.

Here's a flash from the past. Back when I was thin enough to get in and out of tight fitting patrol cars.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e215/klassey/crop0139.jpg
Less pics of you and more pics of that fine Camaro plz ;)

[Radar]

What the EVOC staff did during the last Caprice contract was outfit one Caprice with Impala ground effects, alloy wheels, and emblems. That was around 1996. I have photos of the car but haven't ever bothered to scan them. If you get close to it the logo plate says, "Caprice SS," not Impala SS. Though for all intents and purposes, it exceeded the Impala SS and looked like one from a few feet away. Sweet looking patrol car.

I don't know how many of those Impala SS look-a-likes there were, but when I was in Napa in 98, there was one parked in the back lot for a few days for a dog-and-pony show. The "Caprice SS" logo was black, and difficult to see. That was about the only thing that distinguished it from the Impala...

[Your Mentor]

There was only one and that was it. It belonged to the EVOC staff. I have good photos of it on color slides. I'll have to get them scanned. I took the photos at a friend's graduation in 1996.

Sorry Norcal, my wife at the time took those photos and there is neary a one without me in them. Sorry. Hey, I removed my mug from my avatar but my sons decided I needed sig.

[Welpe]

You've got the John Kerry hair going in that pic, YM. :badgrin:

[Your Mentor]

Yeh, I don't dig the high and tight; never have.

[Q]

I always thought this was an Impala SS, but now that I look closer, it does seem to say Caprice Classic SS on the rear quarter panel. Impalas also have the Impala logo on the C-pillar, I believe.

http://members.fortunecity.com/chpcars/chp1253.jpg

More shots here: http://members.fortunecity.com/chpcars/chp90.html

[Chipper]

What?? Is that rain I see on the car in Death Valley!! :shock: Say it isn't so :confused:

[Your Mentor]

It is rain. As you can see, I'm wearing long sleeves. The photo was taken in January 1992 or 1993. Rains in the winter but not much. Flash flooding can be a problem between November and February.

[pupdog]

Death Valley is my favorite NP. I wasthere January last year. The flowers were beginning to awaken. There had been so much rain that Lake Manley re-appeared, though on a much smaller scale. One of the rangers had taken a canoe out the day before.