derBayerische March/April 2023 - 16

The BMW 2 Gran Tourer Police Edition
Hidden Figure
By James Chew
G
rowing up in Southern California, we had a neighbor who always
seemed to drive the civilian versions of California Highway Patrol cars.
Though not associated with law enforcement, he befriended the sales
manager at the local Dodge dealer, and that sales manager had the connections
to order civilian versions of the police vehicles for personal use.
Once, when riding my bicycle by that neighbor's house and noticing that
he was working on his car (remember those days), I stopped and asked him
why he drove police cars. He proceeded to show me differences between the
civilian and the police version, which included upgraded brakes, an upgraded
suspension, a larger radiator, an engine oil cooler, a transmission fluid
cooler, a performance-tuned Chrysler 383 engine, dashboard gauges,
additional wiring for accessories, and a specially calibrated speedometer.
He didn't mind the standard thickly covered vinyl front and rear bench
seats nor the lack of a radio. The enhanced wiring provided him the
opportunity to install an upgraded car sound system of his choice, as well as
an upgraded CB system (remember those?).
16
His last new car was a 1983 Dodge Diplomat police edition. Since I was
always nice to him and his family, his widow offered to give me that car.
Being youthfully stupid, I politely declined.
Later, I discovered a thriving market for used police vehicles. While these
vehicles generally were driven close to 100,000 miles, taxi companies and
other fleet operators sought them out. It seemed relatively straightforward to
quickly refurbish them. And the attraction was simple; to quote Elwood Blues,
" It's got a cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspension,
cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters, so it'll run good on
regular gas. "
Likewise, the automakers find the law enforcement market attractive.
The typical size of the purchase provides a significant increase to both the top
and bottom line. These vehicles also serve as " real world " test platforms for
proposed production vehicle components and subsystems. As with racing, it
has been proven that law enforcement experience improves the breed.
We were first taken a bit aback when we saw UK BMW 2 Gran Tourer patrol
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derBayerische March/April 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of derBayerische March/April 2023

derBayerische March/April 2023 - Intro
derBayerische March/April 2023 - Cover1
derBayerische March/April 2023 - Cover2
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 1
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 2
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 3
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 4
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 5
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 6
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 7
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 8
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 9
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derBayerische March/April 2023 - 11
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 12
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 13
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 14
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derBayerische March/April 2023 - 16
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 17
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 18
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 19
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 20
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 21
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 22
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derBayerische March/April 2023 - 31
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 32
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 33
derBayerische March/April 2023 - 34
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derBayerische March/April 2023 - 36
derBayerische March/April 2023 - Cover3
derBayerische March/April 2023 - Cover4
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