Police car auctions
Police car auctions and gsa auctions explained. GSA is an abbreviated term for general service administration or better known as U.S. government auctions. Gsa handles the federal acquisition of equipment to various government agencies. Meaning they buy and sell the cars that all levels of government use in the name of public service. But lets start with a subject I like to talk about. I love to buy and drive old police cars, just like Elwood from the blues brothers. Why do I like cop cars so much?
This is what I love about GSA car auctions. You get well-maintained vehicles with heavy-duty parts at low prices. Below are some examples of the 1996 LT1 Caprice 9c1 police cruiser in action. In my humble but educated opinion the 1996 caprice was the all around best police car package ever offered.
Police car whats inside?
What parts are heavy duty? Well this varies from each manufacture. But in most cases we are talking about heavy-duty belts, hoses, beefed up suspensions with heavy-duty power train components and very large sway bars front and rear. You will also find no frills easy to clean interior that includes commercial grade flooring instead of carpeting. The vehicle is constructed for pedal to the metal performance and handling that is very impressive. My favorite cop car of all time is the 96 Chevy caprice 9c1. In my opinion this was the cream of the crop in law enforcement patrol car manufacturing. The 1996 Chevy caprice police interceptor sported the Corvette LT1 engine with a 4 bolt main block and all the heavy-duty hoses and accessories that GM could find. The caprice I speak of can still be found at some GSA auctions and other police car auctions. I recently learned that this car was used exclusively by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and is widely available in Canada at the time of this writing.
This interceptor unit was called the 9C1 which is the option package code that General Motors used in ordering and identification. This special options package included 16-inch tires and Gm’s 3.23 or even 3.73 posi-lock rear differential behind a 200-4r or 700r4 4-speed automatic transmission. The engine included gm’s most powerful high-energy ignition system (Opti Spark) and true large diameter dual exhaust to help let the LT1 350 V8 breath. The 9C1 electrical system was also upgraded with a high out put alternator, Gear reduction high torque starter and extra capacity dual battery's to help handle all the electronics you would find on a police car. The package was very well balanced. It was fast and handled great. I have driven these cars many times and lets just say I would smile for the whole ride.
A police interceptor storyI worked for a Chevy dealership in 1996 and performed warranty repairs on these vehicles. I had a Cherry Hill police officer tell me a great story. His department had half Crown Victoria and half 1996 caprices at the time.
When they would patrol on I 295 in New Jersey they would sometimes get into high-speed pursuit situations. He described in great detail how he would blow by the crown Victoria cars that had wide open throttle with his caprice not even at 75% throttle. On the rare occasions when multiple units would pursue suspects at some distance the crown vics couldn’t keep up and you could see 3 caprices go bye you and then 5 minutes later you would see the Crown Victoria police cars come past bringing up the rear. The officers in this department would fight over the caprices and the loser's got the Fords. The Chevy police car reached its peak in 1996 with the 9C1. Then Chevy got out of the game for a couple of years because they killed the full frame Chevy caprice all together.
Gm has since got back in the game with its lame 6cyl Chevy impala and now the redesigned Chevrolet Tahoe police SUV. Now it’s the Fords that blow away the Chevy’s. Also Dodge has come back into the competition with its Hemi powered rear wheel drive Dodge Charger police car. And Chevrolet has added a super charger to its underpowered entry and a 5.3 liter (327 CID) in its Tahoe police truck. So we will have to see who winds up on top of the competition in the near future. Well back to why I support buying a police car at auction. Most law enforcement departments have very tight maintenance schedules for their automobile fleet.
So the vehicles are well maintained on top of being constructed using heavy-duty parts. So even if the cars have high miles on it, I would still purchase this vehicle with confidence. Now this car is not the best all around family automobile and they are not known for good fuel economy but they are very safe and reliable transportation. I have seen a Chevy caprice crashed into a wall at 75 mph and the officer was not seriously injured. The rear wheel drive cars with full frame construction are very strong and hold up well in accidents. Patrol units often go for reasonable prices at GovernmentAuctions.org® because of the supply and demand scenario. They usually have plenty of them and the high mileage they tack on, some times turns off buyers leaving a bargain to be had. If you liked this page share it or
I worked for one of the largest car auction networks in the United states. This next link takes you back to my main auction car page that supplies more information about police car auctions Search my online automotive content and the Net at the same time.  Custom Search Now you know why I like old cop cars. You can find out more about who I am, what I look like and why I built this automotive information website on the homepage for Auto repair | car questions
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