I was wondering if anyone happened to know why Camaros were favored over
Firebirds as cop cars. I don't think I can recall seeing any Firebird cop cars in pictures or in person. Were Camaros more reliable?

 

GM offered discounts on fleet orders to Government agenies and the Camaro was one of the models included.

 

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. Were there ever any 3rd gen Firebird cop cars too? Or just camaros?

 

i've never seen any...

Josh

 

What about this Hey Jon, I have your tail lights in my garage, just give a ring when you want 'em.

 

Oh snap nice pic kev. I lost your number. Mind Pming me with it? And did you get rid of the car yet?

 

Naa, car's still back there.. I got a guy who is willing to offer a trade of towing mine to Kings Auto, for the '83. Also found some guys who want the seats..

 

Here's some that I scanned out of TransAm book I've got.

 

When I was in Yellowstone Natl. Park last year I saw a dark green thirdgen Pontiac police car. It had a "D.A.R.E." logo on the side and the driver appeared to be going around and talking to kids about drugs and whatnot. I'm not sure if the car actually saw service or not, but it definitly had all the lights and everything.

 

Don't forget that the Camaros were a bit cheaper.

 

From talking with DARE officers, a lot of their cars are repossessions that are then cop-ified.

 

88GTAChuck those are interesting pictures of the fully dressed Firebirds.Also there were several Firebird Highway Patrol cars in "Cannonball Run ll".But I don't know if they were actual patrol units or movie cars.

And that's a good point on Camaros being a bit less expensive than Firebirds. But then this would be fleet prders as DJP87Z28 mentioned.Chevrolet has always been the bread and butter for GM for goverment fleet orders.The magic number before Camaro's RPO-B4C was RPO-9C1 for Impalas/Caprice,Nova and Malibu.

 

Now thinking about it, I seem to recall seeing a firebird D.A.R.E car on eBay about a year ago. If I remember right it was all white with neon graphics. Probably stick out like a sore thumb, if it was a real cop car. I agree with coolram62, the Camaro was cheaper and more produced Chevy cranked them out. I don’t recall the exact ratio for Camaro’s to firebirds, but another thing to keep in mind was the Camaro was lighter than the firebird. With all the stuff that needs to be added for the conversion the Camaro would still be lighter than the firebird, and as we all know a performance car should be light.