[FWDLK] Taxis, Police Cars,and Racecars

[DupontTim@AOL.COM]

Greetings FLers, Found a few things while looking over material on my 56
Dodge I thought some members might find interesting. While researching my
build date I found that several cars built on the same day as mine were
equipped very oddly. Upon further research it appears that they are examples
of The Dodge 230 Pursuit Police Car. Which led to these bits of information.
In 56 Dodge introduced the first Mopar police car and on the Plymouth side
and actually starting a year earlier in 55 a fleet division was started that
produced Taxicabs. This put Chrysler in the growing police car market and
made them the first of the big three to mass produce a taxicab. These cars
although built on the same assembly line were not just "fixed up" passenger
cars. The upgrades on the 56 Plymouth included a reinforced frame, reinforced
floor pans, welded gussets, special roof rails, and stronger glass to name
just a few.  These packages were created from knowledge gathered from a breed
of factory built heavy duty cars being produced by both Dodge and Plymouth,
at that time-Racecars. Now sure this seems to go hand and hand but its
important in one big respect. When the AMA resolution banning factory
involvement in high performance motorsports hit in 57 the Dodge Director of
Racing was now looking for work and he found it in the Police Car Division.
Likewise the Plymouth Racing Director found employment in the Plymouth
Taxicab Division (which added its Police Car Division promptly in 57). The
result is decades of awesome police pursuits and rugged taxis and an eventual
return to racing with top notch engineers and research still in place. Its
sure is a good thing these alternative fleet departments were in place or
down the road.... Well, who knows!      These early examples of heavy duty
production vehicles had their birth in the Exner era and should be identified
and highlighted for there unique features by our members. They were sometimes
very common looking vehicles but had a host of race tested engineering,
construction, and components. So lets keep an eye out for some survivors that
may need rescuing.   Thanks Tim  56 D500-1