1978 Plymouth Fury A38-Pursuit

Let me tell you about the greatest police car ever made. In 1980s, when police would try to pull over a speeder, if the leadfoot driver was in a old GTO or some other fast car from a bygone era, he would just drive away, knowing that the cop couldn't catch him. That's because police cars had gotten a lot slower. The Dodge St. Regis (what kind of name is that?) police car of 1980 probably only had a 318 V-8 to pull all that weight around, thanks to big engines going out of fashion. Not to mention the fact that Chrysler was on the verge of bankruptcy, and its future dependent on cars that were economical and just not much fun.

But in 1978, those things hadn't happened yet. That year, the Plymouth Fury police model was America's fastest car, with an incredible array of high-performance equipment.

From hemmings.com:

"The A38 package added brawn to the otherwise sedate 218-inch-long sedan, beginning with heavy-duty tuned suspensions "matched for high-speed handling and police duty," per period literature. The A38 also added slotted 7-inch-wide heavy-duty wheels, heavy-duty front disc/rear drum brakes, fabric-belted radial police pursuit tires, 500-ampere heavy-duty battery with heat shield, 100-ampere alternator, high-capacity radiator, calibrated 140-MPH speedometer, oil gauge, more responsive power steering with hose heat shields, and grass shields for the catalytic converters. Its differential was Chrysler's 9¼-inch unit offered with an array of ratios for various department needs, while an engine oil cooler and more were optional."

"Hidden from view were one of four engines, beginning with a standard two-barrel 318 altered for stressed service. Options including tuned versions of the 360, 400 and 440, all of which still featured four-barrel carburetors."

"With the exception of a full-size Chrysler, the 440 was unavailable for public use, and even then, the civilian version was rated for 195 hp. Those destined for police cars were instead rated for 255 hp and 355-lb.ft. of torque. The extra power was enhanced by dual catalytic converters fitted to a true dual exhaust system and electronic spark advance (except in California) and supported by heavy-duty parts like a shot-peened nodular cast-iron crankshaft, double-roller timing chain drive, moly-filled top compression piston rings, high-load valve springs with dampers, a windage tray, chromed and hardened exhaust valves. Bolted against it was the stout TorqueFlite automatic. 

Also in 1978, the Michigan State Police launched its yearly performance-based police car tests, a true best-bang-for-the-buck evaluation that dramatically differed from those done jointly, since 1956, by the Los Angeles County Sherriff's and Los Angeles Police Departments. Michigan's result: the 440 Fury handily bested the competition. Supplied with a 2.71 rear gear, it went from 0-60 MPH in 9.2 seconds; top speed was 132.7 MPH."

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