JUNE 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 6.2

THE OPEN ROAD
by Michael Barron
PATROL CARS
LEFT TO DIE
PURSUIT 2 ENROUTE
This former pursuit car has long struggled at the hands of Mother Nature,
and yet unlike the car directly next to it, it still wears a set of tires that hold
air. This picture shows the effects that maintenance can have on a car’s
exterior, as cars used in official capacities like police and fire departments
are often kept cleaned, waxed, and sparkling. With plenty of rust forming,
this cop car is just about beyond saving—and yet, compared to
its neighbor, the exterior paint has held up much better over the years,
which should serve as inspiration for car owners who think that waxing
their vehicles is a waste of time.
Junkyards all over the world are
full of cars, trucks, and SUVs that
have been neglected, abandoned,
or demolished in accidents. There
they sit, exposed to the hot sun and
harsh weather while slowly being
eaten by rust and accumulating
dust. Every vehicle has a point at
which it has run the course of its
life and has become simply too
outdated or beat-up to restore or
refurbish. Official service vehicles
used by the police, fire fighters,
sheriffs, and highway patrol are
often maintained at a much higher
level than daily drivers owned by
commuters. After all, the authorities
need to be able to depend on their
vehicles to perform flawlessly when
they need to quickly respond to an
emergency, deploy to the scene
of an accident, or of course, tail a
criminal during a high-speed chase.
Almost every police car on the
roads leaves the yard each morning
absolutely spotless, while under the
skin, its mechanical components
have been gone over with a finetoothed
comb. And yet, after the
course of a rough day on the job,
plenty of cop cars will limp back
home covered in dents, dings, and
dust—while some might not even
make it home at all. The life of an
official vehicle certainly isn’t easy,
and plenty end up in a state beyond
the point of repair. Photographers
searching for great subjects have
often found police cars that appear
to have simply been abandoned at
some point, left to slowly die.
PLYMOUTH BEFORE THE HEMI
Exactly when many of these abandoned police cars began their
struggle will always remain a mystery. But this Plymouth looks like
it was simply parked out back next to barn—it's not like it was hidden
in a dark forest or anything, but clearly everyone forgot all about
the car. Still, despite the elements, this piece of split-window history
features a bit of brightwork that still shines in the sunlight, although
most of its surfaces are clearly covered in rust patches and dust that
has accumulated over the years. Of course, as automobiles developed
in the ensuing decades, keeping this car running would have been an
increasingly futile effort.
86 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 87