LS1-powered Police Cruiser Leaves Criminals with Nowhere to Run
Florida Highway Patrol has quite the lineup of retired police vehicles, and one of them is a fourth-generation Z28 Camaro sporting LS1 power.
Florida Highway Patrol has a serious need for speed. Over the years, they have used some pretty exciting cars as police cruisers. While using the classic Ford Crown Victoria as most police departments do, they took a bit of a turn when they began using the Foxbody Mustang with a manual transmission. Rowing through gears on duty is pretty cool, despite it being in a Mustang. The one we are most interested in, though, is the Z28 Camaro.
In an excellent and detailed video from the Nick OFF Duty YouTube channel, we get an prime overview of the retro fleet of FHP vehicles as far back as 1944. However, we get interested around 2002 when they adopted the Chevrolet Camaro Z28 35th Anniversary. That’s right! Police in Florida would come after you with the full fury of a 5.7 liter LS1. Though not manual like the Mustangs, they offer a whole lot more power.
Lt. Alex Camacho takes us on a tour of the police spec muscle brute, explaining all the nuances of converting such a car into a police cruiser.
“It’s a little bit different than the ones we usually see in the other cars, this one was modified because the interior of the Camaro is so small,” says Camacho as they discuss the communications radio.
Not only is the size a restriction, but the iconic LS1 itself became problematic.
“The speaker for the radio is actually behind me…so that the troopers could hear it better. It’s closer to your ear. Being that this engine is a little bit louder, this would help in hearing all of the service calls that were coming out,” he said.
Lots of interesting police-related things appear on the Camaro. Our favorite is the sticker asking that you don’t speak to the driver over 150 mph. On common police item you won’t find, though, is a cage. Since the Camaro’s back seat isn’t exactly roomy enough for passengers, it doesn’t have one.
“Worst case scenario, we would put arrestees in the front seat of our car if they weren’t being aggressive,” says Camacho.
Overall, having a light bar and police markings on a Camaro is a bit weird. However, it’s pretty awesome to see. It’s even cooler than these were real service vehicles and not just a publicity stunt. One thing is for sure; these allowed FHP to be just a bit harder to outrun.
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