Utah Highway Patrol Research
 

Recently, I posted on FB to ask if anyone there had the Special Equipment Parts List documentation for their SSP, as you see on the following 1985 UHP Mustang -

http://www.specialservicemustang.net...info206807.htm

Mick reached out to me today and identified that the cars in this batch of 9 consecutive VINs and a latter batch of 16 consecutive VINs share the same DSO number (76-0057). That is the same DSO number as in the Special Equipment Parts List in the above link. So we can safely say that all 25 cars are likely SSP Mustangs for that UHP DSO number.

Here's where it gets interesting. The UHP documentation showing the Application For Fleet Contracts lists the unit numbers for some of these cars, tied to their respective VINs, as listed here:

1FABP26M7FF206809 - Unit FM017H5
1FABP26M3FF206810 - Unit FM018H5
1FABP26M5FF206811 - Unit FM013H5
1FABP26M7FF206812 - Unit FM012H5
1FABP26M3FF206807 - Unit FM00?H5

Vintage in-service photos of UHP cars show that the license plate sequence is UHPxxx, as seen here:

http://www.specialservicemustang.net...ges/UT/UT3.jpg



Mick found this video on FB that talks about UHP001 -

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/DEc...ibextid=oFDknk



So my questions are:

• - Are the 3 digits in UHP license plates the officer's badge number?
• - Would the 3 digits in the UHP license plate be the same three numbers as seen in the above list of Unit numbers?
• - Did UHP place the unit numbers anywhere on their cars like the CHP, NHP, TXDPS, and SCHP?
• - Does anyone know the meaning behind the characters in the Unit numbers?

In terms of that last question, if I were to guess, they could mean:
Fleet
Mustang
xxx - license plate number (maybe?)
Highway Patrol
5 - 1985 model year

Can anyone help answer these questions? With UHP being the 4th or 5th highest purchaser of SSP Mustangs, it is interesting how little we know about the cars from this agency.

TIA!

I owned a well known restored 1992 UHP B4C for awhile. The number on the license plate was the Trooper’s badge number. Thanks!

Thank you, Mike. I wasn't sure so I figured it was best to ask.

I should add that B4C had 2 diff’t Troopers assigned, during the service life. So it had 2 diff’t plate numbers while in service . One at the beginning of the service run, and a different one at the end of the service run.

I’ll look through paperwork I scanned to save before selling it. Possibly I’ll find something to help with other questions.

Mike, sometimes the right answer is the most likely scenario. Since the license plate numbers stayed with the Trooper, the UHP unit numbers would have to remain constant. So the 3 digit unit numbers were most likely sequentially assigned as the car was put into service. Do you know of any FB groups that might be able to confirm the meaning on the UHP unit numbers?

I’d suggest the State Troopers Plates website and Facebook group.