Husky 1959 Buick Electra police and Majorette 1980 Chevrolet Caprice police

Here are two different sides of police cars from General Motors, a classic 1959’s Buick and a traditional Chevy police car of the 1980’s.

Husky Buick Electra

If there was the award for the most angriest-looking car it would go to the Buick Electra. The 1959 Electra was the largest car for the Buick brand sharing platform with the Cadillac Series 62 and features the sharp, clean styling where the beltline edge is higher than the center beltline, wrapping around the corners before tilting down toward the center giving the car the aggressive look whether from the front or rear. Adding to the aggressive element is the eyeballs of the angled corners: the quad headlights up front and the round taillights at the rear. The roofline takes cue from the Cadillac Eldorado models and powertrains include the Wildcat V8 motor. Husky is one of the discount diecast brands of the 1960’s that offered lots of excellent details and an interior for the price, along with some unique models like the Electra. There is a civilian one in pink, while the other is this blue police car with POLICE stickers on the sides and a roof beacon light that is part of the window trim. The front has a chrome plastic grille that is part of the base with the quad headlights, detailed bumper trim, and round badge in the center of the grille, while the sides show the sleek roofline, the sharp beltline that forms a second one for the rear fins, and gray plastic wheels that look cheap but get the job done for this low-buck casting. The rear has the round taillights and sharp fins that buck down to the center of the vehicle, while a chrome plastic base has a nice mesh pattern with a few small rivets to secure the base to the vehicle. The yellow interior has a dashboard and front and rear bench seats in simple detail and in the gauges the horizontal speedometer is joined by to large round gauges just above the steering wheel. The casting is light and solid, but can feel cheap in some areas (note how the axles are assembled to the base), but otherwise it is a pretty decent casting from the 1960’s era.

Specifications:

Engine: 401 CID V8 325 hp.
Transmission: Two-speed automatic
0-60 mph: 10.0 sec. est.
Real vehicle price: $4,000 est. 1959

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Majorette Chevrolet Impala police

In the 1980’s it was common to see police cars and taxi’s in the U.S. fleet as Chevrolet Caprice/Impala than anything else. This boxy full-size sedan was downsized in 1978 and since then has been very popular with the public as well as fleet customers. So what’s the difference between the Impala and the similar Caprice at the time? Well the Impala was downgraded as a fleet-only vehicle before disappearing after 1985, but otherwise shared the same components with the Caprice. This black and white version from Majorette looks good as a California Highway Patrol even though the gold badges on the hood and doors are generic. The front has the detailed eggcrate grille with small square headlight and a detailed lower bumper, though I had to add black to separate the headlights from the bumper as both are part of the metal base. The side profile shows the boxy Impala sedan profile with correct dimensions and a roof beacon that has the lamps as part of the blue window trim and 8-dot wheels with working suspension that works great here. The rear has the tri-square taillights and a simple rear bumper design for a casting that is well known to collectors and a very popular model for the Majorette line in the 1980’s. The interior, with opening doors, has front bucket seats and rear bench seat with a quilt pattern and two-spoke steering wheel with a lifeless dashboard design. For performance it is a pretty swift car for such a large car, but the large size and soft suspension keeps it from being a smaller performance car; this is just a simple police car from Chevrolet that gets the job done.

Specifications: