WSP SSP and Trooper Reunited

[Rhino]

Posted this over on .org as well - thought this was cool to share.

I had an amazing day today and was able to meet the trooper that was assigned my WSP mustang all 4 years it was in service. Today was a homecoming of sorts for the car as it rolled into the town/detachment of Morton, WA.

Trooper Mike Herron was gracious to have me over for a visit, and had the biggest smile as I was pulling up in front of his house. He spent around an hour looking through the car and the maintenance logs. LOTS of great stories.

Once we checked out the car, I tossed him the keys and we went for a drive. He gave me a rolling tour of history on his patrol beat - peppered with stories about the SSP and what had happened during the 4 years it was in service. Turns out that Trooper Herron is an assistant driving instructor at the academy - talked about how much training had to go into prepping troopers for the high performance aspects of the SSPs back in the day. Cool stuff!

Stopped by the Morton detachment where Trooper Herron gave a historical tour of the car to his colleagues. Most of the guys there were kids when his car was in-service. Very cool. They loved the car. But…the best part…of the entire trip - was the time that Trooper Herron got to drive his car for a bit. You could just see the restrained excitement of him running through the gears reliving the days when it was on patrol. For those of you that have done something similar - I can't describe it - but you can actually "feel" how special that time is - almost like the car and the Trooper are long lost loves that are reunited after years apart.

Trooper Herron was to get a 1990 mustang when he turned in his 87 - but a last minute change from the captain put him into a 90 Caprice instead. Maybe that's why the SSP is so special.

Was truly great. We stopped by the local Ford dealer where the car was serviced all those years ago. When he walked in, he told a few of the guys to go out and see what he brought in for service as a joke. They were expecting his Crown Vic - you should have seen the looks when they saw the SSP!

They were in disbelieve as well - sort of like a time capsule circa 1987. This prompted even more stories of the times he limped the car back to the shop from some mechanical mishap. Learned the car had a new T-5 installed during it's service life that was not documented. An apparent accidental wheel hop in reverse while trying to spin around to chase a semi.

Anyways…took some pics of his newer 2006 along side the SSP. He still retains the same badge #/license plate that was on the SSP in 1987. Cool huh?

[Rhino]

[FHP813]

Very cool! I'm sure he wished he still had the SSP. Thanks for sharing.

[NoDrama43]

good stuff right there !

[ImEvil1]

+1. Cool stuff.

[chp1982]

Excellent story.

[mac88chp]

It hardly gets better than that Rhino! I have a CHP officer buddy I grew up with who drove Mustangs every year they used them and when I let him drive my restored example I observed much the same reactions you did with the WSP trooper.