Remember Desoto!
They were doing Taxicabs since the 30s I believe. Post War the Desoto
seemed to be the favored Taxi--- at least from watching old movies. Seems
that any movie from late 40s has Desoto Cab in it. Generally made on Limo
Wheelbase bodied car which was shared with the Chrysler. 11,600 were listed
as made in 46-48! Total 4 door sedans was only 32, 213! Believe a number
of skyview taxis were used in NY also. They had opening panel in the roof
to see the skyscrapers!
-----Original Message-----
From: DupontTim@AOL.COM <DupontTim@AOL.COM>
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@lists1.cac.psu.edu <L-FORWARDLOOK@lists1.cac.psu.edu>
Date: Saturday, December 11, 1999 12:41 PM
Subject: [FWDLK] Taxis, Police Cars,and Racecars
>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
>
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