1977 Plymouth Gran Fury, police car 440ci. barn find

440 ci 1977 plymouth gran fury barn find, all original, just as it came out of service. what a truly bad ass police car.

[@kelleymclaury9890]

Two mics, one for the radio and one for the public address system through the siren amplifier. 👍

[@kingcountrytowing]

That's cool man, thanks for the info, they are just switchable now. Did american police cars come with cb from the departments? Or were they fitted by the drivers?

[@kelleymclaury9890]

@@kingcountrytowing Radios during that time were VHF fm. Usually two piece. A control head up front with Mic and cabling to the trunk for the actual radio. Usually 100 watts. Most common were Motorola Motrac and GE Master. The were usually installed by the communications division or a radio repair center.

[@christopherg9806]

@@kingcountrytowing I've heard that a few state police departments would monitor CB traffic because truckers would talk about speeding and where the "bear traps" were (police radar). The light bars were usually the squared off type, or sometimes twin round rotator lights with a siren horn in the middle.

[@Monaghan]

The twin to my old 1977 Plymouth Gran Fury. Beautiful car.

[@kingcountrytowing]

Is yours the other lea County sherrifs car? We heard there were two survivors!

[@Monaghan]

@@kingcountrytowing yessir. It was the twin to it until I sold it a few year ago. Still kicking myself. Loving the channel mate. Keep it up!

[@kingcountrytowing]

@@Monaghan wow! I heard about the second car, but never saw it. It's fantastic that you saved that one too, great work, I'd love to see pictures of it.

[@martyniner8893]

That car is a beauty! Cheers! 🇨🇦

[@kingcountrytowing]

Thank you so much, I was really surprised to find such an original car, they are so hard to find now.

[@sombra6153]

Another reason for those cars not existing anymore was because most of them got beat to death, and/or suffered from rust. True, drive trains got yanked and swapped into other vehicles. I recall when I was on active duty at the do-in-yourself car repair shop on post, I saw a guy replacing the motor in his Dart Demon with a crate motor. The motor he was replacing he’d originally salvaged from an Arkansas State Police car - a 360., don’t know what year but guessing from the late 70s. The heads were off when I saw it and I think there were three whole pistons that didn’t have holes or visible damage. The 400s and 440s from that later era weren’t the powerhouses of the late 60s, but when everything else rolling off the line was low compression and smogged up, they still had ample torque to get their being behinds moving, especially when loaded with a full tank of gas and all the junk in the trunk that law enforcement had to carry at the time. Besides, with the less than aerodynamic light bars of that period, ample torque was also needed to maintain some semblance of top speed, though not anywhere as high as the 69 or 70 440 model that in testing clocked well in excess of 140 on the bias ply tires of the day…. I never dealt with the smaller Diplomat based cars afterward, but rode in or drove my fair share of LTDs, Crown Vics, and Impalas/Caprices from 79 thru 96. Only the LT1 Caprices were fast.

[@kingcountrytowing]

Absolutely, the other big factor is that most police cars were sold on to Taxi firms after their fleet service too, and absolutely no car in the world can survive being a taxi (well maybe a few checkers!) Im absolutely shocked by the size and shape of some of the 70s lightbars, I bet they made a hell of a noise at high speed! were slicktop cars noticeably faster? I had a diplomat for a while (its on the channel) it was a good handling car, but not particularly fast in the top end, the ltd are pretty decent service cars (I own an 85 !) tough and dependable, not quick, the shamu or lt1 caprice was a rocket, blisteringly fast, but super soft in cornering, but still one of my favourite cars ever. thanks so much for watching and commenting, I hope you like the rest of the videos on the channel

[@sombra6153]

@@kingcountrytowing 70s light bars - I never really paid much attention to if they generated any wind noise. I was never in one of those late 70s police cars that would go over 105-110 mph. During snow storms, the speaker for siren usually occupied the center of the bar would could get packed full of snow and significantly mute the sound. Nor could I say if the slick tops were any faster but recall the highway patrol in my state going to single bubbles mounted directly against the roof in the early. 80s. This was an era when the introduction of a Ford Fairmount V-8 powered police car for city patrol was welcomed by on department because they were at least quick and handled better than what they’d had or the rest of the competition was offering. Not sure if they were the 302s or the lower 255 V-8s that were even worse. In 1982, Ford started badging the LTD Crown Vic as “police interceptor” with the 351W, VV carb, and dual exhaust. Not sure what cam they ran but they were advertised at 180 horse power and I initially thought they were the same as the newly introduced 5.0 in the 82 Mustangs. That motor propelled aCrown Vics through the 91 model year. It was a bit slower than then 350 four barrel and throttle bodies in Chevrolet police cars but not that much so. Just wasn’t as quick. I’ve heard of the 351Ws, depending on gearing, being able to hit between and official 120 up to a bit over 130. I have one memories thrashing the mid. 80s square bodies and in particular a chase where I was a back-up in SoCal one evening while driving an the-several year old 85 that I remember saying had the “seven-cylinder” option. I still remember running in excess of 90 but mainly because the crooks didn’t stay on the highways long. Those cars we had ran the more aerodynamic bars of the day, but aerodynamic meant only that the plastic strobe covers were angled somewhat. The later Shamu Caprices and Impalas handled much better and were not only quicker and faster. Still, the 351Ws were almost bulletproof whereas the 350s were not, and the AOD, transmissions, while not known for being the most overdrive transmission of the day, were still better than their reputation in terms of longevity.

[@kingcountrytowing]

@sombra6153 oh man I would love to get together and talk police cars at some point in time, it's so interesting to talk to the officers that drove them. I'm going to head up to a police museum in the northwest at some point in time, and I hope to feature some more really interesting cars, and interview a few officers that drove them. Unfortunately I'm stuck I'm the uk for a few more months dealing with my late mother's estate, but after that I will get back to posting more videos, hopefully you will enjoy some of the othrr videos on the channel until then. Hopefully you can keep in touch and maybe catch up when I'm in Cali sometime.

[@WPGinterceptor460Interceptor]

actually the 69 Polara 440 pursuit with the factory stock 3:23 rear gear did 130-133 Mph top speed! These later 70's did 128 Mph. Alot of Myths about that 69, But I have nothing but facts on them. Yes if you ordered your 69 Polara witht he 2:76 rear gear you could achieve over 140 Mph, but then 0-60 suffered, Otherwise they all came with the 3;23 rear gear and 130ish was tops!

[@ljmorris6496]

Factory radio is ultra rare in '70s US squad cars, they became pretty standard by the mid '90s ..

[@kingcountrytowing]

I guess this one was a Lee County car, so there were long distances to travel, and maybe not so much going on?

[@139mg]

One Mike clip for PA and 1 Mike clip for the radio.

[@kingcountrytowing]

Thanks for that, I guess it went to a switch later on

[@donniesnyder7752]

Back in the days of that police cruiser they had both a PA system and a radio system so they had to have two microphone holders one for the PA system and one for the radio

[@kingcountrytowing]

Would it have had a cb too?

[@sombra6153]

@@kingcountrytowingwould depend on the police department - although apparently one Texas department in the mid-late 70s only operated with CB radios only when chasing a particular black Trans Am across the south…. Lol. Cars I drove a few years later still had two mics, one for the two way and one fro the PA system.

[@olikat8]

Ben- come with me to Seattle...I'll take you to see a stunning collection of police cars, bikes, equipment and such.

[@kingcountrytowing]

I would love to do that, maybe I can schedule it in to my next trip!

[@olikat8]

@@kingcountrytowing you've got it & see you on Long Island

[@kingcountrytowing]

@@olikat8 I'm really looking forward to it, it's going to be a fantastic weekend.

[@jamespn]

The oil pressure gauge is placed where an optional clock would have been.

[@kingcountrytowing]

Oil pressure gauge alone or Oil pressure and temp? I seem to remember there were 2 guages together?

[@jamespn]

@@kingcountrytowing I’ve actually seen the optional electric clock or a standard blank gauge with cross hairs, but I recall that the police package had a stand alone oil pressure gauge in that spot on 72 Plymouth Fury’s.

[@TheBoySwift]

Great video and a lovely Gran Fury. Getting incredibly hard to find good quality C or B body police cars now. On the lights, I think the Aerodynic would be too modern for these cars. More likely a twinsonic or a twin beacon set up as you suggested. I love these old police cars too - I have a 1977 Dodge Monaco (ex CHP) and a 1977 Plymouth Fury (ex LAPD) which I am enjoying restoring.

[@kingcountrytowing]

That's fantastic, I agree it's so hard to find any c and b body cars these days, a few years ago I seemed to see a few, but now almost none. I'm happy to hear your restoring a couple, this Fury is almost certain to be preserved here in Nz as it's even rarer and more valuable here. I'll do a little video on the two monaco sometime as well, you'll enjoy seeing them, both were saved from certain doom in the USA, there's a good selection of light bars in the shed as we used them for film work, we are building twin beacon ones now as they are so rare!.

[@TheBoySwift]

Twin beacon sounds good. You asked about the twin mic set up - most likely there would have been a radio unit with a mic to communicate with dispatch etc and then the siren control unit would have had a separate mic to operate the PA function through the siren speaker.

[@aeyb701]

Fascinating to see not only such a survivor but in New Zealand! Want to say that There should be a broadcast sheet (build sheet) stuck between the driver’s seat spring and the foam above it, at least there was on my ‘78 Fury ex-RCMP car I had from 1985 to 87, when I was in my mid twenties. Kept it bone stock as possible. Anyway, the sheet was fun and hard to decode pre internet. E86 440, high performance (high lift cam), and from the sheet found it was factory catalytic-exempt dual exhaust, and with 3000 rpm stall converter, things not discernible from the VIN (I remember was “RL41U8A….”). Special order and special handling car tags on the rad support as well. Factory Non lean burn with dual snorkels. Had the engine rebuilt (money from grandmas estate) by a rebuilder in Moncton NB that was a Mopar authorized rebuilder. Stupidly I sold it for way less than I paid originally but needed money for one more year at Uni. (Waste of time and money there). Sorry to digress but old mopar police cars stir my emotions. Probably as you say the engine was cannibalized and car scrapped.

[@kingcountrytowing]

Wow you had an ex Rmcp car??? So cool, and very rare, I'm a fan of the Canadian cars and the 1978 fury is one of the really cool looking cars, and mostly all disappeared now too, I think rust got them all. I'd love to track down a ex Canadian police car. We checked this one for the build sheet and I can't remember if we found it or not! Between me and Jared we own a couple of ex police cars here in New Zealand, you'll be surprised what's here, I think a few more really cool 70s ex police cars around and hopefully I can video them. Sorry about the long time it took to reply.

[@stevee7260]

Nice stash! Super nice car. Spot on about the history of x-squad cars. Good to see there's a few of us still around.. Btw.. 3M has a plexiglass polish cleaner for boat windows. It might freshen up that speedometer. May want to try a small spot might get lucky. Cheers

[@kingcountrytowing]

Hiya Steve, thanks for that, I'll give it a try, I'm a massive fan of ex police cars, so there will be a few here on the channel, they really are factory hotrods and really really cool and rare now. Glad to see your enjoying the videos, thanks for watching

[@LouisEmery]

I wanted to see one. Our family of seven in the 70s had one of the youngest sitting in front between mom and pop, and four kids in the back

[@kingcountrytowing]

Wow what a family cruiser!!! Cars were so much bigger back then, the trunk is really something to behold!

[@christopherg9806]

In '75, my brother had a retired '74 Monaco with the 250 hp police 400. (By comparison, my dad's '74 Plymouth wagon only made 190 hp from its 400.) The civilian 440 only made around 215 hp that year (if my recollection is correct), but the police versions had 275 hp. By 1977, the 440 police engine was down to 235 hp, but still a good performer. I'm surprised to see a single snorkel air cleaner on yours, so that might have been less. My dad bought a new '77 Plymouth with that engine and after the first year, it chronically ran poorly. It also started rusting out and, eventually, two of the exterior door handles fell off. Chrysler build quality was atrocious, even though their engineering was solid and the police cars were especially durable. (Thousands more welds than the civilian cars.) Feel free to reach out if you have questions. A great resource is Ed Sanow's books on Mopar police cars. Glad you're a fan of these great vehicles!

[@kingcountrytowing]

yes its absolutely crazy how much the drop in performance was in the smog era, cars were really strangled, but also there was a change in how net hp was measured, so its a little better than the figures suggest, police cars also got away with a little more outside California. there are t and u code 440 one is for higher altitude cars if I remember correctly, and ours is a t code, I wonder if someone has pulled the twin snorkle air cleaner though? thanks so much for watching, do you have a channel? I do feature quite a lot of police cars, as I absolutely love them

[@christopherg9806]

@@kingcountrytowing Thank you for asking. I don't really have anything other than a small personal channel and I don't own any police cars... yet.

[@kingcountrytowing]

@christopherg9806 I hope you end up buying a police car for yourself, they are so much fun and practical to own, plus it's always nice to get another person to preserve them 😀 thanks so much for watching, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the videos on the channel.

[@davef.2329]

I'm jealous! I have a U code 440 HP and the HD RB-727 trans for any of those cars.

[@kingcountrytowing]

Thats really cool Dave, there are quite a few ex police cars still residing in Junk yards that need a motor and trans, they are usually fairly cheap, maybe you could reunite one with your running gear and have one yourself? really great cars to drive

[@TheOldParakaoStoreCafeBar]

Cool car 👍🏼take it easy mate 👍🏼🍺😎🇳🇿

[@kingcountrytowing]

Unfortunately not my car, I love old cop cars, and this one is so original

[@darrenbyrne4622]

Great vid i love the old yankey cop cars id love to own one some day thanks for the vid mate keep them coming

[@kingcountrytowing]

Awesome I'm glad you enjoyed the video, you'll never regret owning a cop car, they are awesome fun, and surprisingly user friendly

[@darrenbyrne4622]

@@kingcountrytowing back in 1995 i brought a ex mot 1991 mitz v3000 it had done 80.000 ks and went like a rat up a drain pipe

[@kingcountrytowing]

@@darrenbyrne4622 hello mate your here in nz? I own two v3000 at the moment.

[@darrenbyrne4622]

@@kingcountrytowing Hi i sure am im in New lynn Auckland

[@kingcountrytowing]

@@darrenbyrne4622 awesome sir, I'm in otorohanga, pop on by if your passing through and I'll give you the tour

[@saxophonick6719]

Now there’s a real car!

[@kingcountrytowing]

So cool eh?

[@kleverich]

2:17 - That's an unmistakable Dodge Fratzog logo on the steering wheel. What is is doing on a Plymouth? Maybe the steering wheel was replaced at some point in its life.

[@kingcountrytowing]

I think your correct, my guess is that the original was cracked from sitting in the sun for all those years

[@johnandersonjjr]

@@kingcountrytowingyes I believe the 77s still had the police only all black (textured )with horn ring no dodge or Plymouth ID

[@wxstream8005]

The power steering pump from 77 440 fits 1980 360 if the belt is put on at an angle. I had to do this in an emergency and it lasted 200k so if you ever find an 80 360 police then it's an option with parts being so hard to find..

[@kingcountrytowing]

This one is really mechanically good, surprisingly after being laid up for 30+ years

[@wxstream8005]

@@kingcountrytowing I can tell if this was stateside I'd be making you insane offers for it. I've got 76 gran fury, 77 monaco, 78 gran fury, 81 st regis and 87 diplomat. The 77 is 400 the 81 is 360, 87 318, rest are 440. Believe it or not the 400 is my favorite it's great off the line and decent on top end although nothing is as scary as the 78 440 Power band when you punch it at 80mph... I've got fingernail marks in the door panel from a terrified passenger. The old police cars are treasures, I drove one In highschool and 40 years later I still drive them there's no going back. I'm so glad you got this car, it will be preserved.

[@kingcountrytowing]

@@wxstream8005 that's fantastic, you have an awesome collection of cars, there's my old Diplomat movie car on the channel too, and I check out quite a few old police cars. I have always been a massive fan of ex police cars, fast, reliable and spacious, the perfect combo for me. so many have been demo derbied or stripped for their running gear in the USA, but finally they are getting enough of a following to be restored at last.

[@petersilvares6267]

My friend had a 1974

[@kingcountrytowing]

74 Gran Fury? Very cool car

[@79tazman]

Many of the old cop cars had their police radio then they would have a CB radio also to monitor ch19 so that may be for the second mic holder.

[@kingcountrytowing]

I thought the same, but apparently it's for the pa, some police cars definitely do come with cb though, they used them to monitor truckers right?

[@bryantint1339]

Second microphone 🎤 is the PA.

[@kingcountrytowing]

thanks for that, seems so weird these days to have a separate pa mike

[@garykreil5990]

One mic holder for the CB, one for the loud speaker? Just a guess.

[@kingcountrytowing]

I'm not actually sure, normally you can just flip the radios to speaker on the modern units. I think maybe cb and police radio? I guess that's how it worked in the 70's?

[@petersilvares6267]

My late friend had one his car did 170

[@petersilvares6267]

His name was bob he passed away last Saturday I miss him he was my best friend we had a lot of fun with that car

[@kingcountrytowing]

.

[@kingcountrytowing]

sorry to hear that condolences

[@liam_galuski]

I have an 88 fifth ave with a 318La it has the leanburn its the biggest pain in the ass it loves to bog after running perfectly for weeks no idea why they sat it above the headers like that but other than that its a beautiful car and i love it

[@kingcountrytowing]

Cool old car with an indestructible motor, if you look at my other videos, you'll see my dodge Diplomat. My best advice is delete all the lean burn gear, carb, dizzy and you'll be great, wayyyyyy better performance and reliability. If the lean burn computer goes,that's impossible to find

[@dustinwalter5083]

I have few questions are both those Monaco's real police and also is there a video on um if not I'd love to see it on them

[@kingcountrytowing]

Hiya Dustin, I'll do a couple of videos on them as soon as I get back, they are civilian models with an awesome history

[@johnandersonjjr]

E85 standard 440 E86 u code HP .No cats on Canadian cars slightly more hp

[@kingcountrytowing]

Man these old cruisers really fly! I love the old RCMP cars very very cool, do you own one? I'd love to import one back to nz one day.

[@johnandersonjjr]

@@kingcountrytowing I own 3 one 75 “gran fury”E86 (HP440) one 76 “Royal Monaco”same engine though a bit less horsepower due to tighter emissions requirements in 76 and a 360 2 bbl.all are “special mask”black and white OPP (Ontario provincial police)livery.I’ve had them (and others) for over 25 years and I am waiting to win the lottery so I can restore them!

[@kingcountrytowing]

@johnandersonjjr they are 3 very special cars, I'd love to see them one day, so rare, especially the Monaco's! There's a resurgence in the prices of ex police units at last, so finally more and more are getting the restorations they deserve, it wasn't long ago people were actively seeking them as drivetrain donors!

[@johnandersonjjr]

@@kingcountrytowing they’re extremely rare around here in fact I know of no others.I’m one of a very few people who have an interest in these cars therefore most went to the scrap yard after a brief stint (very brief in the case of the 440s)as a taxi cab.I notice lately (however)there seems to be more people hanging on to their ex cop car crown Vics for some reason.

[@kingcountrytowing]

@johnandersonjjr it's really becoming a thing now, ex police cars and taxi package cars are so rare that they now have quite a following. The running gear was sought after for muscle cars, so a lot of decent cars ended up junked. I think you'll be surprised how popular they are now! Crown vics are great cars, and I really don't know what I can replace mine with, so I'm just keeping it

[@jdhreiss]

cb and main mikes

[@kingcountrytowing]

That's cool I thought it might be cb, I guess no cop cars have those anymore, but almost essential in the 70s

[@Wilt8v92]

No pump action shotgun rack...

[@kingcountrytowing]

It's in New Zealand, so might have been taken out.

[@DMACHOLMAN]

The blue's brothers ride again???

[@kingcountrytowing]

Did you notice the two other cars in the background?

[@DMACHOLMAN]

No I did not. What did I overlook ?

[@kingcountrytowing]

@@DMACHOLMAN there's two dodge monacos, a 1974 and a 1975, both black and white

[@tahirnehar1981]

unused boxed 1977

[@kingcountrytowing]

That's cool, is it a corgi toys one?

[@tahirnehar1981]

I have a toy police car

[@kingcountrytowing]

The same as this one?

[@bryantint1339]

The Chrysler V10 maybe better.

[@kingcountrytowing]

I'm a rock solid fan of the 440, the v10 is too big and really doesnt put out the power for the size of the motor, tons of torque though