CHP #5300 Update.
Hey everyone,
Wanted to share some info that I have been slowly finding on my SMPV. I finally was able to contact the prior owner and found a lot of info from him. In Dec '94, he bought the car from a dealership in Sacramento. It appeared, this dealership was buying SSP cars from auctions and turn around and selling them. The car was all white. He had it for a few years, then it was stolen and recovered in about two hrs. Within that time, they stripped the car interior, doors and front clip. But, they did not touch the engine, trunk area or the 160mph guages. (Unbelievable).
He liked the car so he replaced the parts rather than scrapping it(Again Unbelievable it didn't make it to the local pick n pull). The parts he managed to locate were from various areas. Some ended up being chp parts (doors and some interior). He later added the auto stuff to the doors. After a few years I ended up buying it from him.
Now, for some more questions and help. Hopefully (Mac88chp) can help in this area. I noticed in the In Service photos the SMPV's had car radio antenna's. Were they used for the radio or I heard the SMPV used CB radio's for the truckers? Could they have used that antenna for a CB radio, scanner???
Now, going to the interior, Does anyone have any info for the shotgun set up on the SMPV. I saw a photo from (Mac88chp) of another car with the shotgun laying in between the Passenger seat and center console pointing to the floor.
Also, my car shows some B&W marks but not all. Question, I have the holes on the floor boards from the radio equipment/shotgun mount and the SMPV marks there too. But, I dont have the Mounting holes in the quarter panel from the B&W set up. Is there a chance these cars never made it to the streets before the were made into SMPV's??? Possible pulled from the middle of the production line and changed.
I have also noticed the few pics of the SMPV cars that they are close when it comes to the Unit Numbers (#5288, #5299, #5300). Was there ever a confirmed number of SMPV cars?
I'm still scratching my head with questions.
Hope everyone enjoys the update.
Ken
|