[ChrisL]

I have to agree with some of the statements above, the car should really be restored to its original livery.

A) Part of the hobby, in my opinion, is wanting a specific agency and turning over every rock you can to find one... or finding an SSP, researching it's history, finding out which agency it was, and restoring it back. I wanted an '86 TX DPS for a long time, while I could have bought many other '86 SSPs and just cloned it, that wouldn't have been authentic.

B) Having to explain to people at car shows, fellow hobbiests, a potential buyer down the road, or anyone for that matter that although it's really an FHP, you cloned it to an Alabama, etc etc would really be a blow to the car's integrity and probably your ego. You want the car to wear it's colors loud and proud, and being masked in the wrong agency's colors discredits the whole thing in my opinion.

That being said, I'm just as hard on every car, not just SSPs. I hate walking up to a car, seeing 2R (Bright Red) on the door tag and for some reason the car is silver, black, blue... whatever it is. Even if it is nicely done, I can't shake the thought out of my mind that the car is now a bit phony... even if well done.

I understand that sourcing and restoring an Alabama car might be hard work, or that you can't afford it which might be the case, but to me that just means "the search goes on" for the perfect Alabama car to restore. Maybe you don't find one that fits your budget this year, so you save up money and parts and keep searching and find it next year. If money isn't a concern, even better. Sell the FHP and wait to pull the trigger on the next Bama car that comes along.

Just my $.02