Michigan test archive
Police car tests of the 1990s
The pony car years, and the end of the Caprice. 10 Michigan State Police vehicle tests, transcribed from the reports, bulletins and other documents held here.
The decade opens at Ford’s proving ground in 1990, with a five-speed Mustang quicker to 60 and 100 mph than any car in the books before it, and in 1991 the first Camaros in these books arrive, the automatic at 150 mph. 1992 brings a 152-mph Camaro, the first four-wheel-drive vehicle tested in these books and two Caprices carrying governors, and the decade closes with the police sedan in trouble. In 1993 the last Special Service Package Mustangs in these books, the only cars in the lap table not marked as having anti-lock brakes, run beside two 5.7-litre Camaros. In 1994 a port-injected Caprice runs 141.2 mph, a figure no American police sedan in these books beat until 2006. In 1996 the last Caprice runs 139, and Ford submits a Crown Victoria without ABS for brake testing only, beside its own ABS car.
Then 1997 arrives with no Caprice in it at all, five of eleven vehicles are sport utilities, and a Crown Victoria misses all three acceleration times, the first by five hundredths of a second. By 1999 the Crown Victoria has become the Police Interceptor and the special-service trucks have an appendix of their own. The shape of the next thirty years is already visible.
The tests
| Model year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1990 | The test moves to Ford’s proving ground; a 6.64-second Mustang, and the Caprice 5.7 beats the Crown Victoria in every scored category |
| 1991 | The first Camaros in these books: 150 mph and a 1:21.08 lap, from the federal results bulletin (the full book is not held) |
| 1992 | A 152-mph Camaro, a Jeep Cherokee as the first four-wheel-drive vehicle tested in these books, and two governed Caprices; the Caprice outscores the new 4.6 Crown Victoria on the bid score |
| 1993 | The last Mustangs in these books before the Mach-E, beside a 154-mph Camaro; a Taurus inside the 0–100 time by 0.01 sec |
| 1994 | A 141.2-mph Caprice, 153-mph Camaros, the first Explorer and five electronic limiters |
| 1995 | The LT1 era at full song: 155-mph Camaros and a 129-mph station wagon |
| 1996 | The last Caprice runs 139 mph, and Ford submits a non-ABS Crown Victoria for brake testing only |
| 1997 | The first test since 1986 in the books held here with no Caprice in it; the Crown Victoria misses all three acceleration times, the first by 0.05 seconds |
| 1998 | Speed limiters on ten of fifteen vehicles, and Ford’s sport utilities do not run the road course |
| 1999 | The Crown Victoria becomes the Police Interceptor; the special-service trucks get an appendix of their own |