Phoenix Police Museum: Hot Pursuit in a Chevy Celebrity

If you’re like many people, you can probably pick out a law enforcement vehicle by the sheer look of its silhouette, the shape of its headlights at night, or other telltale characteristics.

It used to be that the Ford Panther platform dominated the cop car world. The Crown Victoria specifically – largely due to its longevity, low cost of ownership, and indestructible nature – seemed far and away to be the most common vehicle of choice for police agencies as of a couple of decades ago.

These days, it’s getting tougher to keep a keen eye out. At one time or another, we have all probably fallen victim to a “false alarm” while seeing a vehicle from a distance with a roof rack that could be mistaken for overhead lights. Police cars these days can span everything from sports cars, to sedans, to sport-utility vehicles – and of course motorcycles. Not to mention that many of them are unmarked.

The reason I started thinking about this was because I visited the Phoenix Police Museum recently. In addition to a vast collection of historic and significant memorabilia, the museum is home to a white 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity four-door sedan in legitimate period-correct police car livery. The front license plate reads “America City – 1989.” Bob Demlong, who has volunteered at the museum for a number of years, was there when the car was entered into the collection. “The engine was removed, and we had to tilt the whole car onto its side on rotisserie to get it through the front door,” he said.

What’s the big deal about a Chevy Celebrity? The biggest reason the car stood out to me was because that was the car that started my entire driving career 26 years ago. The model year 1986 was the best-selling year in history for the Celebrity (and a phenomenal year for its General Motors A-body siblings like the Olds Cutlass and the Buick Century), so it makes sense that the City of Phoenix was among the customers.

I didn’t take the time to get too up close and personal with the car, but I did notice something in particular that was interesting. My old Celebrity had a sweeping 85-mph speedometer. The car in the museum had a 120-mph speedometer. Could it be that police-issued cars were granted unique instrumentation, and along with that, performance add-ons? That is likely. I’m just not sure what kind of changes Chevrolet would have made to that fuel-injected 2.8-liter V6, and now that the museum car has an empty engine bay, we may never know.

What are some of the more unique police car makes and models you’ve seen in your travels?

And by the way, if you are ever in the Phoenix area, the museum is free to visit and offers an informative and educational experience about the past, present, and future of law enforcement in the area. My favorite exhibit was an entire room dedicated specifically to the 40+ public servants who have lost their lives in the line of duty since 1925.