Michigan test archive
Police car tests of the 1990s
The pony car years, and the end of the Caprice. 6 Michigan State Police vehicle tests, transcribed from the original reports.
The decade opens with the LT1 era at full song and closes with the police sedan in trouble. In 1993 the last Special Service Package Mustangs run beside the first LT1 Camaros — and are the only vehicles in the field without anti-lock brakes. In 1996 the last Caprice records 139 mph, the fastest police sedan of the rear-drive era, and Ford submits a Crown Victoria without ABS purely to measure what the system is worth.
Then 1997 arrives with no Caprice in it at all, five of eleven vehicles are sport utilities, and a Crown Victoria misses the acceleration bar by five hundredths of a second. By 1999 the Crown Victoria has become the Police Interceptor and the qualification standard has split into classes. The shape of the next thirty years is already visible.
The tests
| Model year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1993 | The Mustang SSP’s last stand beside the first LT1 Camaro; a Taurus qualifies by 0.01 sec |
| 1995 | The LT1 era at full song, and the first sport utility enters the programme |
| 1996 | The last Caprice runs 139 mph, and Ford brings a non-ABS car to prove what ABS is worth |
| 1997 | The first test with no Caprice in it; the Crown Victoria misses the bar by 0.05 seconds |
| 1998 | Speed limiters arrive on ten of fifteen vehicles, and Ford refuses to lap its own trucks |
| 1999 | The Crown Victoria becomes the Police Interceptor; the acceleration bar splits into classes |
| 1990 – 1992 — not digitised — shelf only | |
| 1994 — not digitised — shelf only | |