1986 M6-383 Tx DPS Saved

[03cobra]

Well as Chris pointed out in the 86 Florida HP car post
http://www.specialservicemustang.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4345
that I had located ,he mentioned that I was chasing a unicorn. When I was traveling down to look at the FHP, I made a call to a buddy that wanted me to look at some 5.0 Mustangs he was wanting to sell. So I met up with him and looked at what he was selling. We struck a deal and I asked do you have any other Mustangs. He said yes a few parts cars. Well I never dreamed what I was about to find.
Sitting in knee deep weeds and beggers lice, behind a large fence was a black 86 5.0 cpe and behind it was my brown unicorn 86 coupe. After looking at the blk coupe which had been rear ended on the pass side but was complete. I went to check out the brown coupe and my buddy replied thats a police car. He said I was parting that car out and I responded NOT anymore!!! I want it. He replied you would build that!!
I opened the drivers door which had been replaced (no door tag)and found the DPS internal number sticker (148383)and the car number tape(M6-383). I then raised the hood to check the buck tags and they were both present. The ground straps were intact and it had 3 of the 4 steel wheels. Spot light and antenna holes,Cert cal. speedo are present.
I was thrilled my search for a 85-86 Texas DPS car was complete. The down side is the drivers quarter has some pretty good damage and will need replacing. Both doors are not correct and the tranny is missing. No complaints here, its almost 100% all there. Another rare car saved. I will gather parts for a while then start the resto. If anybody out there that has any clean 1986 LX coupe interior in canyon red and wants to sell PM me. Hope ya'll enjoyed my adventure.

[03cobra]

Interior Picts

[03cobra]

other pictures which includes the last 2 picts which is a DPS employee parking sticker. I wonder if the last owner was the trooper that was assigned to the car and be bought it from the state.

[smunczen]

Cool I'm working m6-380. Same int too.

[ChrisL]

I got the call from Jason as he was leaving from checking out this car the first time, you've never heard a grown man as excited as he was. Talk about finding the needle in the haystack. These things are near impossible to find, I'm glad that Jason did. And now Scott has my old M6-380 (in the same batch of VINs as Jason's M6-383) so that's super cool. There will be some restored four-eyed DPS mustangs hanging around soon!

[03cobra]

Scott I bet your car , Teds and mine were on the same transport! Yeah I was excited to find this one for sure.

[MOstang]

Wow! Some serious TX DPS projects going on out there. Good job.

[ImEvil1]

Nice save, Jason.

[03cobra]

Thanks Mike! Now you know what the responder was for..lol

[ImEvil1]

Thanks Mike! Now you know what the responder was for..lol

Glad it worked out. :thumbsup:

[smunczen]

Wonder how many are still waiting to be found?

[1989 Tx DPS SSP]

Texas is a big state. I think the majority of the cars are around the Austin area.

Tom

[28HopUp]

Very nice save!

[CNTLOSE]

Great save! Can not wait to watch all these TX DPS restorations.

[ChrisL]

I ran a carfax on all of the '86 Texas cars, I think most of them ended up near military bases. There were actually none registered in Austin last besides mine. Quite a few spread around the country though, NC, Cali, etc... again thinking military. Haven't done the 85s, so I can't speak to that yet.

[03cobra]

Chris we need to dig deeper. Scott at LRS restored one for a guy. I believe it was an 85 or 86???

[ChrisL]

I know he restored my old car, M5-582. Didn't go back stock, no spotlights or black/white and had a cowl hood. That the one you are thinking of? We do need to find out who he sold it to.

[03cobra]

Thats the one , I saw it finished it was beautiful. It was solid black. He covered up all traces of it being a DPS SSP. I didnt know what year it was.

[ChrisL]

Yup, that's it. I hope he left the unit number on the inside of the door jamb. It was a cool car, sat for 20+ years after being bought from auction in downtown austin.

[chism]

That's awesome Jason! I can't wait to see this car! 4-eye coupes sure are sweet. I cant believe its was going to be a parts car! You got there in the nick of time! Do you think the brown paint is the auction paintjob?

[03cobra]

I hope the brown wasnt a chosen color for resale.

[1989 Tx DPS SSP]

Back in the 80's Brown was a choice for repaint. They used Nixon Brand paint on the cars.

Tom

[03cobra]

Well I pulled the seats, carpet and rear panels looking for a build sheet with no luck. Floors are 100% solid no rust. I was shocked by that after sitting behind that fence in the grass since 2001. Even the seat floor brackets were in great shape with no damage. I did find a bunch of holes drilled in the drivers and passenger side tunnel. Some kind of equipment brackets. Does anybody have any good interior picts of the 86 TX DPS equipment brackets?? Ive inspected the whole car and found no rust anywhere, if the rear quarter wasnt damaged the body would be super! ..... I guess I should like brown paint...LOL ! Heres a picture of where the rear fogs went and the floorboard holes. I marked them with screw drivers.

[barnett18]

I am the current owner of M5-582. Bought it from my brother-in-law at the end of last year.

[28HopUp]

Congrats, and welcome! :)

[ImEvil1]

Welcome...is Jason your brother-in-law?

[nighthawk756]

Welcome...is Jason your brother-in-law?

I was confused for a minute and had to re-read the thread. Apparently barnett18 bought M5-582 which is the car LRS restored to non in service specs. It was very briefly mentioned in this thread but isn't the car Jason has.

Congrats on the purchase barnett18!! Post up pics when you can ;)

Anyone had contact with Jason? Just noticed he hasn't been on the board since 8/2013. Hope he's ok??

[barnett18]

A few pictures. Hopefully I uploaded them correctly

[smunczen]

looks very nice

[ImEvil1]

I was confused for a minute and had to re-read the thread. Apparently barnett18 bought M5-582 which is the car LRS restored to non in service specs. It was very briefly mentioned in this thread but isn't the car Jason has.

Congrats on the purchase barnett18!! Post up pics when you can ;)

Anyone had contact with Jason? Just noticed he hasn't been on the board since 8/2013. Hope he's ok??

I should have done the same.

I saw the 08/13 thing, too....and wanted to make sure he was doing ok.

[1989 Tx DPS SSP]

Jason is ok. Been a little busy. I have been in contact with him.

Tom

[nighthawk756]

Jason is ok. Been a little busy. I have been in contact with him.

Tom

Good to hear! Thanks for the update!

[67Mach1]

Current owner of the M6-383 TX DPS Car here. Seems to be in pretty much the same shape that Jason found it in and documented here, but has been in dry storage for several years now. Has lots of barn dust on it.

Not sure what I will do with it. but for now she is safe and sound.

Somewhere the buck tags have been misplaced, hoping they are tucked away in some of the boxes of goodies I got with the car.

[ImEvil1]

Good to hear...and good luck with the bucktags.

[MOstang]

This one always seemed like a cool project, congratulations on picking it up.