[policemustang]

I think also it could boil down to BASIC COMMON SENSE...which a lot of regular civilians don't have. In my travels, I find it shocking to hear what people say and believe nowdays. Such as....Lee Harvery Oswald acted alone or there are NO UFO'S! But what my point is here.....is that you can own a beat-up 1974 Dodge Monaco or whatever (Blues Bros. Vehicle) and it can be black & white and missing hubcaps, paint peeling, dirt all over it....ya know...cruddy lookin' car and generally people would know that's an old cop car and pay it no mind or attention. The same could be said for an old police Mustang....dirty, missing or peeling paint, rub marks where the door insignia used to be, etc.

BUT! If you have an old police Mustang that's been recently repainted and it shines and looks nice and looks well cared for with all the small trimmings...then the alarm goes off. People don't think about the car being out of service and being restored.
Even though my '93 Texas DPS Mustang has now officially been OFF the highway for 10 years (it was turned-in in Oct. '97) and it was placed into service in August of '93 that makes the car 15 years old.
I try to figure people out and sometimes have distorted conclusions but my goodness.....COMMON SENSE dictates that the Texas Highway Patrol IS NOT going to be using a car that's 15 years old!
This ties into the car show sign posting a while back. I have on my sign that "This Mustang is no longer in service. It is privately owned and no longer used as an enforcement unit". And you know what?
I STILL have idiots read my sign at shows and then ask me if the DPS still uses it or owns it? OMG! READ THE DAMN SIGN (again!!!)!!!

People just interpret things differently. And people never cease to amaze me.
Common sense, people! Common sense.

Also...yeah....I am just waiting on someone to lie on me, too.
When I first restored my Texas DPS Mustang in 2002, I had a co-worker tell my boss that I had driven it to work with all the markings on it.
110% lie. I know my limitations and boundries. But just that little lie could wreck a lot of effort and a good reputation. Doesn't matter if you broke the law or not...just the suggestion plants that seed and bad things grow from there.
I am waiting on someone to call in on me when I drive mine to work or where ever I go. Although I break no laws or violate any DPS policy, it's that "court of public opinion" that will convict one of us one day. Even though I logged only 61 miles on my DPS Mustang in the entire year of 2007 alone! Yep...ONLY 61. But that's 61 miles that someone could see it and make waves unnecessarily.

I hope that never happens. But I still expect that it will. Not because we are not careful, but because there are people that like to mess things up for others just because they are mean.
The press would have field day with it. We all know how the newspaper loves to print lies or distorted information.

Take care, my fellow hobbiests. I hail everyones efforts in our unusual brotherhood of restored police cars to keep bad light off our backs.

This was a great thread! I've enjoyed following it over the last couple of days!