I loved this episode. Not only the car, but the stories this highway patrol officer has. I could easily listen to Jay and this officer for hours without getting bored.
@@RideFaster all values are known : cod is .38, frontal area is 24 sq ft, curb weight is 3000lbs, need a minimum of +380hp. Sorry to burst your bubble.
I saw Jay on Sunset this Sunday in his 911t while I was on my Chopper. It’s impressive how a story can take a vehicle to a whole new level of interest. His Porsche is a simple basic model but was the car Steve McQueen used in Le Mans so it has a value to it and if you watch Jays episode on his particular Porsche the story makes you suddenly have a whole new appreciation of something you’d probably never look at compared to some other models. He does the same here with a Mustang. He creates an honest and fascinating story on the history of the car that makes you just think of having one in a collection ... he’d make a sensational car salesman! Love the show, the honesty and the passion! Just sad that television no longer has talent like Jay anymore in late night, but at least we have him here.
My Dad was in the market for a Mustang in 1988. He wanted a manual, cloth seats, and AM radio. As he was talking to the salesman, a truck showed up with a bunch of Oregon State Police mustangs. He ended up getting one, and it was a company car to boot! He got pulled over once, going a bit fast, and the officer took extra time figuring out what was going on. It was registered as a company car, and, with the all white, blue pin stripe, and black painted Mustang wheels, it was clearly a SSP model. He eventually got off with a warning. It was a great car that he really enjoyed.
I owned a 1988 SSP as well, I bought it from auction right after it was decommissioned from the Florida Highway Patrol. It was one of the most fun cars I ever owned. I learned about buying them from a friend that also owned an 88 that he had purchased from auction. The first time he took me for a ride in it, he said, "reach for the dash" and he punched as much as he could without breaking traction in 1st gear. I couldn't reach the dash. The G-forces were pinning me to the seat. From that moment, forward, I fell in love. Interestingly, he had sold his first one by the time I purchased mine in 1993. He missed his so he'd occasionally ask to drive mine and I let him. Then I sold mine and he purchased a 2nd SSP. Ironically, all 3 of the SSPs had bad 2nd gear synchros so you know that those Troopers were having some fun in the Mustangs when they had them. I learned about double clutching from my friend on his 1st SSP and I did that in mine, too until I had the transmission rebuilt. I actually got pretty fast at doing it and it kept 2nd from grinding. I really miss my old Trooper car. It really was a blast to drive. I am really happy your dad was able to enjoy one, too.
I have a 1988 GA State Trooper sitting in my barn. This guy who was the #2 Ford diesel mechanic in the country bought it at auction and refurbished it completely stock. It has the weight bar in the trunk. It’s a fun car. It will do a 360 on a dime. My wife made me park it for awhile because I was getting too many speeding tickets in it. I outran a corvette in it going over the Cherohala Skyway from TN to NC. I passed him leaving Tellico Plains and it was on all the way to Santeetlah.
Once again, Jay nails it. Guest is as interesting as the car. Just excellent as always. Clearly the standard for shows like this. Jay, you are the best! 👍❤️
This guest was cringe worthy....as soon as that cop said this car would go 180 mph I started rolling my eyes. He grew up street racing and then became a cop? You know he was a hypocrite on the force like all cops are and busted people for street racing, i wouldn't believe anything this guy says.
Are you kidding? This guy is laughable! That mustang won’t do 160 with a hellcat pulling it lol! Shitbox Ford.. BS stories.. these cars have maybe 250hp.. dog, that wouldn’t turn.
@@mdubz101 225 hp max maybe as fast a Crown Vic, a buddy in hs had an '88 vanilla ice 5.0 and an '83 he put a cammed 302 in...they were both fckn gutless
I've been a police officer in Texas for 42 years. Everything the retired officer talked about police work is true all over the country. Our city police department got a couple of Mustangs back then when it was "the thing" for the police to have them. I never drove one but the two guys who did loved them and said they were able to catch up to speeders quicker. We had the large and long Chevy Impalas during that time. Not good highway cars. The department later bought Ford LTD II's for us on patrol which could really keep up with the Mustangs. I loved the LTDs. Great cars. They could jump curbs and drive off road without much problem.
Jay is a great interviewer while talking cars. I greatly enjoyed his opening monologues, 'Headlines' and 'Jay Walking' bits. As a working guy back in the days it was normally then 'lights out' for the next day on the job. I was very rarely interested in listening to a guest author, reality TV 'star' or movie personality on the Tonight Show to promote their latest project. And for the most part, neither was Jay. Paul Newman's appearance with Jay was exception. Leno shared a story about a 'Bachelorette' winner or contestant who approached Jay in the NBC parking lot after a show requesting an autograph. Jay asked to whom he should address the autograph. He hadn't recognized her as one of the guests he'd just interviewed on his show. He just hadn't found her all that interesting. Great vignette that Jay related on one of his 'Garage' episodes. For the most part, Jay sucked at guest interviews. And he is the first to admit it. But I really do like Jay's 'Garage' website and TV show.
That old CHP Mustang brings back memories... a lot of my friends were CHiPs, several used the Mustangs. Great bunch of guys. Thanks Jay for this video, and thanks to your guest.
I loved the CHP. I never got pulled over as a teenager. A few times CHP would pull up next to me and give me a finger wag. I wasn’t driving enough over the speed limit to get pulled over.
I enjoyed this one, Like most haha. In Aug 1990 on our honeymoon we were pulled over by a 5.0 Mustang. We were on our way back home from Oregon to Vancouver BC. The funny part we were driving my wife's 1988 Mustang. I passed the officer as he was a few lanes over. My new wife said ya that was smart! Yep on went his lights. We pull over and the officer walks up and says, do you often pass police in Canada? I said um no. He laughed. He then says well nice car! I replied yours is nicer, you have a V8. Ours sucks as it has the four banger. He laughed so hard. He said slow down and congrats on your wedding! Awesome guy. Be polite to your police. They have a super harsh career.
Definitely one of the best guests on the channel. Some guests are good, others just okay, and some aren't very easy to watch. But this guy kept me engaged. Regardless of who the guest is I still enjoy it because even if the guest isn't entertaining, Jay always is. Personally I like it when it's just Jay and a car. But enough rambling. Thanks again for the great video and the great channel
Yeah I totally agree. Actually my favorite episodes were a lot of these covid episodes where it was just Jay and one of his cars or a borrowed car. I like it when it's just Jay and no guest. You get more out of it and he has more time to tell you about the car.
Thank you Mr. Leno, for your dedication to Law Enforcement, First Responder’s and the military. You’re always putting them in the spotlight and incorporating the vehicles they drive into your series🙏🏽
Great episode. Rich is a really nice guy and Jay you were so kind to him. It was refreshing to see two men enjoying good wholesome conversation. Thank you for the episode.
Great guest and an iconic car even if it feels a little underwhelming in this day and age. Everyone loved the Mustang Police Interceptor idea back in the day.
First time I saw a Mustang pursuit car was Texas. In my rear view mirror. With his lights on. About 1993 I think. Speed limit was still 55, I was going about 70. The fact he was in a Mustang blew me away. Grandma in her Buick LeSabre coming home from church goes faster than 70 in Texas now. I still see Mustang THP cars down there. GT350 though. IT might go 180. This one, not so much. I had a 77 Cobra 2, 302 2bbl, 4speed. Pretty much the same thing as this one. It looked great and felt somewhat fast, until you looked at the speedo. It MIGHT have gone 120. MAYBE.
When these CHP Mustangs had high mileage, the antenna and light bar holes were patched, they got a quick paint job, and were sold as surplus. I had one, and loved it. It came with the air conditioning upgrades needed to keep a CHP officer comfortable idling in desert heat. It had a worn-out 1st gear and a rear axle that was geared for high speed, but a 2nd gear that was ideal for my obnoxious driving maneuvers in city traffic. Fun car, good times, sorry it got wrecked.
When I was a kid, I bought a surplus CHP '70 Mercury Monterey w/ a 428 cobra jet. Whenever a cop, any cop, saw me driving it, he pulled me over. It seems that long haired punk kids and retired CHP cars don't mix My first and last cop car. lol
2nd gear in foxbody cars with t5's...most underrated gear if that's a thing, 2nd gear in my 88 turbocoupe is a riot in city driving especially with the T3 turbo kicking into full boost around 3500 rpm
@@MrJett1971 same engine only difference between the 428CJ and 428PI is the manifolds. The CJ had an aluminum intake and the PI, cast iron. The CJ had cast iron headers and the PI, standard 390 style exhaust manifolds.
The Ret.CHP guy was a great guest, so easy to watch. I loved seeing all the escort and tail cars around the video...guess they were afraid Jay would try and pull someone over 🤣
I swear, I think that Jay has a soft spot for the Mustang. With all the reviews, and all the Mustangs that Jay owns, I've got to believe that he really likes other cars, but has that little spot in his heart for the 'Stang. Thanks, again, Jay!
That officer you interviewed in this show was really cool.. I have met a good amount of officers that are very cool, changed my outlook on police officers.
Love this, as a former LEO who joined in 1981, and left the job in 1988, this brings back a lot of memories. I actually had one of these with the fuel injected V8 as my own car. It was a 1989 model, and I bought it after I left the job and got into business.
One of my memories as an 18 year old in a mini-truck club in 1982 was driving to Vegas for a mini-truck meet and our group of trucks doing 90 on I-15 getting passed like we were doing 30 by a CHP Mustang. We later caught up to the CHP Mustang and he had pulled over a Corvette.
@@westerlywinds5684 Considering what shops now charge for a labor rate, I don't think so. To create a custom van would be $100,000 or more with all that paint.
in Utah, the highway patrol bought IROC camaros because the mustang wouldn't steer effectively when driving faster than 120. I can't imagine being in one of these little cars doing 140 plus it would definitely be nerves of steel. Remember, they didn't have the stiff summer tires like today's performance cars have.
180 is a stretch but i believe 150-160. I painted cars with a guy that had gone to prison. He stole an IROC camaro in the early 90s. Said he was doing 120+mph and some cop slowly kept gaining on him. He said after 10mins or so the cop was on his bumper and had to of been doing 140-150 to catch him. When he decided to give up he found out it was a Texas DPS 5.0 Mustang that had ran him down.
Also want to add. This was in the 90s. So it was the later fuel injected SSP Mustang. I know the early ones were dogs but you gotta remember, most any car will do 140mph if you have enough space. Just like stories of Crown Vics doing 150mph+. They'll do it but it takes MILES to get going that fast.
I knew a mechanic at the old Grant's Ford in St. Petersburg that claimed a state trooper, FHP, would bring his car in for a tune-up when it wouldn't do 160. I'm not sure what year they were. I know an '84 with a 5 speed and a 4 bbl would get it. Later '80s models, the LX was actually faster than the GT models because it was lighter. One odd thing, at least I thought at the time, was when FHP bought all the (Gen3 or 4?) late '90 model Camaros. I was watching the news knowing that Chevy had just discontinued them. It is nice to see that brought them back. You couldn't not see one of the tri-year Camaros all through the eighties and now I wonder where they all went.
My dad started driving police cars when they were 6 volt with generators. He remembers the "radio" was a huge vacuum tube style. He drove AMC matador's , and was actually caught by the watch commander racing another cop with the departments new Dodge cornet HEMI's..., ... ooops... He also said the 38 calibers would NOT penetrate a big rig tire, LOL... He was a true Adam 12 era straight honest cop, I miss him.........
Anybody else got "The Shawshank Redemption" vibes during the first segment? :D Somehow I half expected to see Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman walk around the corner and join the scene. Awesome show and a great start into the new year. Keep it up! Best wishes from Germany. Stay healthy, Mr. Leno.
This was a good one! Lotta good banter and a very relaxed "coupla guys out for a drive" atmosphere. I don't think anyone said who owns that car, though. I expect the CHP but boy does it smoke. If he's reading this, greetings to retired CHP officer Steve Hill from an old Land Rover buddy from decades back.
Good ole' Jay. Drives a Highway Patrol car with a retired Highway Patrol Officer without his seatbelt on and the cop had his on. Great show. Cool to see the old Mustang cop car
Great stories and nice to see these cars preserved and this is a beautiful example. LOL at the story of the guys blowing holes in the roof with the shotgun and I'm surprised they actually transported arrestees in them vs waiting for backup in a larger (4-door) vehicle. Also sounds like the speedometers were WILDLY optimistic.
Law enforcement car speedometers are calibrated to have an error of no more than 1 MPH at any point. I found that out when I owned a 1978 Plymouth Fury with "CERTIFIED" printed on the 140 MPH speedo. I called Mopar about a problem with the differential, and when I told the guy I talked to that it had a tag on the radiator bracket that said "special handling car" he ran off a list of what that meant, and he sent me a printout detailing all the "cop" features and options available for that model year. There were several things about the engine that made it especially durable. I eventually gave the car to a Mopar nut. Telling enough about that situation would take more space than I have already filled up here.
No matter how people feel about local law enforcement here in California everyone loves the CHP. And every year I would say so to the CHP at the Ventura County Fair. I hope I get to do that again. Thank you for the second best episode ever. Btw the best one ever was the one when the mechanic said going flat out the Bugatti would run out of gas in fifteen minutes. Thank you Jay
Well if a cop is a good person and genuinely there for good reasons then it's great, but nowadays the wrong type of people get a job as a cop because they love telling others how to live and being above the law. Good to see a good guy being a cop for once but those days are long gone.
What a great episode! I groaned when I saw that tired Mustang but that retired officer had some great stories and what a long and distinguished career. Good on him! Love how Jay reacted when the '65 Galaxy was brought up. Too funny...
Everyone I know (car nuts) has one favorite car. The diversity is amazing. For some a 65 Ford, others a 59 356 Porsche, others a 67 Camaro. Maybe even a 00 Toyota. To each their own.
@@jeffwarren8154 Hey... those early '00s Toyotas can be kinda fun! If you have the money, and the know-how to do a 'lil work... buying a 20 y/o car for around $500 to $1,000 bucks can be tuns o' fun! I'm talking about the "drive it like you stole it" kind of fun! Drive it 'til it's _absolutely_ dead, then make your money back selling the parts. A "win / win" situation!
A friend of mine bought a 85 Mustang interceptor retired from the RCMP at auction. Really interesting car. It was an upgraded Mustang with improved suspension and engine output. Unfortunately most cars in the early 80's were very underpowered, so even 153hp in a small car was near the top of the food chain in '82. The finish on this car is really nice. Good job.
Here’s a throwback for ya Jay. This reminds me of a Massachusetts State Trooper I lived near who’s duty vehicle was a pretty new at the time unmarked 5.0 liter Mustang. He LOVED chasing people down on RT 128; he told me at the time that he hadn’t yet been outrun. This was in the early nineties; he had just become a “Statey” by default when the MSP absorbed the MDC Police.
Brother of a guy I knew was a state trooper in Connecticut. They used to convert certain confiscated cars into highway patrol cars for I95. His favorite was a GNX that they used.
That was the era of parts bin cars. Sometimes I'm happy about that and other times not so much. Back then there were so many parts that interchanged if the salvage yard didn't have your exact model many other cars might.
Classic, interesting Leno interview. Another great police officer. I would imagine Jay has to stay home because he can’t relax out in public. Bless his heart. I was a small town business person celebrity for a few years from doing TV commercials. Whenever my wife and I would go out to eat I’d sit in the corner and face the corner because otherwise we could never relax and have time together. Appreciate the commitment of both of your careers.
This was a High Speed Pursuit vehicle for the CHP, these still exist today. Many highway patrol agencies have a couple high speed pursuit vehicles that are primarily supercharged Chargers /challengers , supercharged Mustang GTs etc my brother had one of the initial ones in the UHP which was the SRT version of the charger which was the 6.4 liter hemi verses the standard 5.7 liter. It actually did have the SRT badge and was an unmarked white car. Awesome!
I was commuting home with two others in my carpool in 1995 when our car broke down going over the Altamont Pass in the East Bay area. The CHP were using a plane to catch speeders in the area. We coasted in behind a CHP 5.0 Mustang while the officer was writing a ticket. When he finished, the officer gave the three of us a ride to the nearest truck stop in Tracy. The officer was pretty cool...he hit 130 mph headed to Tracy.
I swear whenever officers get issued a hot car that isnt a suburban or crown vic they turn into hooligans lmao, "YEAH RUN FROM ME NOW! MY CAR ISNT SLOWER THAN A MINIVAN THIS TIME!"
Great video! The time went too quick with Jay talking to Rich. Very nice retired officer. All the best in your retirement Rich. thanks Jay for the walk around & taking us along for a ride in this cool Mustang. RCMP in Canada used these too for a while on the hwys.
I like how Jay 1-ups the guy’s stories. Guy - “We helped President Bush”. Jay - “I had dinner with him several times”. Guy - “Been married 37 years”. Jay - “Been married 41 years”. Lol
I'm so happy you revisited the State Trooper line-up! Last time you took the Dodge sedan out, (Cornet I think), and I know most of us were sighing heavily when you passed by this fox body! Glad you came back to give us this video!!
I remember in the 90s, whenever we drive between DC and Quantico, VA, we always see VA State Police Mustang and Camaro patrol cars, but mostly Mustangs. My buddy told that those cars are their car chasers. Awesome!
I remember when I was shopping for my first car back in ~97-98 or so and Downtown Ford in Sacramento had roooows of retired Highway Patrol mustangs that were repainted in all the shades of the rainbow for sale... So wish I could have gotten one then!
I own an 82 Fox and I find the 160-180 MPH+ claim pretty dubious. You could MAYBE hit 120-130 with good tuning, lol. Sweet car, and great stories though!
I can remember when our highway patrol had mustangs, and at the time I had one and it was badass with 225 horsepower, but today my jeep grand Cherokee 5.7 hemi has 380 horsepower after modifications. I loved my mustang and I wish I still had it
Washington State Patrol also had fox body Mustangs in the fleet. I don’t recall them as early as 82, but definitely mid-80s into the 90s. State patrol liked to show them off at county fairs in their booth. And honestly, I think the WSP Mustangs are more attractive than the CHP, Mustangs.
In the 1980's the RCMP up here in Canada had the fox body 5.0 Mustangs. My Dad had an 1985 Porsche 928S and know for a fact the Mustang wasn't very fast!
I had a 4 cyl 4 spd GL in HS back in 84. 1st thing I did after a few months was I bought a 302 core from a wrecking yard and dropped it in. Turned it into a sleeper. It was a fun car.
Many years ago, mid '90s, I drove up and down the 14 to and from work. One night I was driving home, in the fast lane, rolling with traffic. Speed limit was still 55, traffic was rolling about 65. CHP officer driving one of these Mustangs pulled alongside me and paced me. Driver looked at me very sternly. I glanced at my speedometer, backed off, and he drove off.
When the fuel injection came out in these Ford were proud of them, they had a higher quality , even the floors were reinforced. Ive been in a LX 89' at over 125mph and it didn't feel happy! But those notchbacks are sturdier and just a better Mustang . And I also had a 87 Vic 5.0 FI and I got mine up to 120mph clocked by Friends Camaro following.
I had an '89 5.0 Crown Vic back in the late '90s. Low miles... a genuine Creampuff Grandma special. Leaked more oil than the Exxon Valdez. Needless to say, it was the last Ford I'll ever own. Junk. Pure junk.
As a kid in 90s LA with cheap cars, CHP was ALWAYS cool with providing a jump or even helping bump start a car. I had a fuel pump harness melt on me once. An CHP officer took a look and handed me his knife to splice together some wires. LAPD and Ventura County Sheriff? "You are impeding traffic, gonna have to impound your vehicle".
Hi Jay; Thank you as always for your fine videos. My '86 Cadillac speedometer went to 80 mph. The car would go up to 80 mph and NO faster. Try as I might, the limit was 80 ! Up hill, down hill, level ground, that governor kept it at 80. Now my 40th anniversary '04 Mustang GT conv. 4.6 liter auto is a 'horse of a different color' (red). When I add the 'speedster' cover over the rear seat and folded top, the cops are all over me. I thought that at 70 I might have one limb out of commission at some time so, the auto gave me some peace of mind. At 82, I wish I had the Mach I manual coupe. We get older, we never grow up.
What a nice, humble man with lots of wisdom! So true, if you have worked retail you quickly learn how to deal with all sort of people (the customer is always right). If you learn those lessons well, you'll succeed in many things in life. So many kids now don't want to do the "menial" type work (read retail, working outdoors, yard work, etc.) where very valuable experience is gained. Instead, they want to intern in a startup or investment bank.
Brings back memories of my first car, and the title of this video even is relevant too. I had an 1983 5.0L HO (4 barrel Holly) GT with the 5 speed (3.08 rear end), and was doing a 2 hr road trip to the big city for some fun...in the winter. Was just cruising at 10 over the speed limit, when I see a car catching up to me with something that resembled a light bar on the roof so I slowed to the speed limit as it approached and passed. Turned out to be 2 Porsche's with ski racks on them. My beautiful young female passenger found it so funny though, she was laughing so hard that she was sliding off the seat. As my ego was just hammered I felt the need to hammer the gas after I downshifted into 3rd, once my friend got back into her seat. A minute later I am passing the 2 Porsche's (who sped up to almost double the speed limit when they seen me catching up) at almost triple the speed limit, going up a hill in about 2" of slush. About 10 mins later after I slowed down as we approached another small town with a "T" stop intersection; the 2 Porsche's pulled up beside me with hockey puck sized eyes in their expensive suits; note that I waited a second for them to see them eye to eye. The look on their faces, was pretty funny to say the least! It turned out it was Motor Trend doing a sponsored drive up to the Yukon promoting winter performance tires via real world testing. The guy in the lead Porsche passenger seat closest to me at the stop sign looked to be the spitting image of Jonny Lieberman, big beard and all, just with much bigger eyes! Maybe he was looking at my cheap no name SK110 all season tires?
@@geoffnelson64 Did some questionable yet hilarious things back in the younger days...don't remember much else from the rest of that day...but the look on their faces was absolutely priceless and unforgettable. LOL #YoungAndDumb
I had one in '87. It had been a forestry car and was green but it got painted black and white. Had a spotlight on the left a-pillar. Fun car and pretty quick at the time.
Got out of the Army in the early 90's and picked up my 79 Camaro from Port Canaveral, FL. About 300 miles back to home. Was on I-10 doing around 100 when the fuel pump quit. It was around midnight in the middle of nowhere so I sleptish in the back seat, not fun. Wolk up to FHP tapping on my window around sunrise. Told him what was up, that I was a mechanic, had just been discharged and promised I could fix it. He wanted me to get a wrecker but was nice and gave in to my request for a ride to the nearest auto parts store. He said the nearest auto parts was a Napa about 10 miles away but it wasn't open yet. He said "get in"! Lights on up the ramp backwards in reverse with a J turn on the overpass. Punched down the ramp on the other side and where doing 140mph in no time. I think his was EFI Jay! He dropped me at McD's for bfast across from the Napa and came back at 800am when the Napa opened to take me back. 140 back to the car. He said "I'll be back by in about an hour, if your still here your getting a wrecker!" I had it fixed in 10 minutes and was on the way. Great trooper and thanks for the help that day! Maybe he was trying to recruit me?
Not to be disrespectful, but there's no way these were doing 160mph-180mph. They'd do 180kph no problem, but 160-180mph? The 2000 Mustang Corba R came out many years later in an era where automotive engineering was rapidly developing and it topped out at 170mph.
Indicated mph vs actual mph is my guess...or the speedo had the wrong gearset in it.The speedo in my '70 Buick A-Body was 120mph, and the needle would go past that, past the indicator for the turn signal. Based on the diameter and the sweep of the needle, that should- if it were accurate (LOL) - be about 150 mph: it was visually the same distance as 0-30mph. I put the needle on that speedo past the turn signal to the bottom of the gauge several times. No way that car - even with the fairly low 3.31:1 rear and the 462 under the hood - did 150 mph! Not even when it had the highway gear 2.56:1. But the _speedo needle_ was there. I was maybe at 125. That's a maybe.
Getting a kick out of this one. Living in San Diego in the 80's, I had an '87 5.0 and it was always funny to see people hit the brakes in the dark when they would recognize the headlight profile in their rear view mirror.
My father has a Gray 84 GT with the Boss 302 with 36,000 original miles, T-top, rear window luvers and the rare front clip that everyone wanted to have. It's got the red leather interior, Hooker headers and it's the 5 speed with cruise control. I have been slowly saving up to get it back to looking new for me and my father to enjoy again.
I lived in Los Angeles back then and virtually never saw these cars, they were out there but from what I heard they tend to be in the rural areas where truly high-speed chases were more likely. I remember in 1991 my dad and I went to a donut shop and I saw California state police, California highway patrol, LAPD, Los Angeles county sheriffs and some cops from other agencies. They went to that particular shop because obviously they ate donuts but… it had a lot of counterspace so they would spread out their paperwork and get that done.
I wonder if that's where the cop in the donut shop urban legend began? When did you live there? I was there in the early-mod 80's as a kid. i remember Winchell's donuts, Jack in the Box, Western Sizzling (I think that was the name) steakhouse, and some big buffet in Culver City that my parents went to a lot. Also the McDonald's McDLT, at least I can say I had one 😀
CHP Mustangs were abundant in the Bay Area. They are incredibly high geared and slow to get going from a stop. Must have required clutch replacement often. The 302 Ford is notorious for poor low end torque, even truck engines.
I live in L.A. and in 92 coming back from Lone Pine, had the Audi maxed at 125 on I395 in Red Rock Canyon at night & BLAMM there's a spot-lite on a Black & White Mustang LX 5.0 next to me, he comes on his speaker, "SLOW DOWN!" and takes off; GTs were much heavier; the LX was the sleeper & cheaper;
'89, I was whistling through Texas. 90 mph. One of these Mustangs in brown with a trooper in a lemon-squeezer hat kept station just by my back wheel, until I looked over at him, then he kicked it down and took off. If only he knew I had no registration or insurance. '69 Caprice.
I remember there was an SCCA road racer who, apparently, ordered one of the auctioned-off CHP Mustangs who raced one of these in, if I recall correctly, in a "Showroom Stock" class at Willow Springs with the panels left in the black and white and was the car to beat. I had always thought there was more to the story on the CHP equipment, like, improved spring and shock handling package or stiffened chassis. If it had the
AJ Hoyt My 1985 Mustang GT came with the 15 inch GoodYear "Gatorback " tires and in the rear it had 4 shocks two per side with two of them mounted in the horizontal position. It handled like it was on rails
@@lilorbielilorbie2496 Those "horizontal" shocks are just to control axle wrap and wheel hop.....they replace the traditional "traction bars". They factory '83 GL I had had a round bar that was bolted to the lower control arm or rear (forget which it was now) and curved under it.It had a large rubber "snubber" around that rod to stop metal on metal noise.It worked as it should,IDK why they decided they had to change it and use those stupid shocks instead,they never wore out like the shocks did. BTW back then,'84 prior had a 7.5 rear,which in it's self was sort of weak,but the posi unit was bulletproof.It was like the Auburn Gear diffs and had cone clutches.They never wore out,break spider gears yeah if you were stupid but those clutch cones never wore out or slipped.....unlike the factory 8.8 on the '85 and newer that had clutch packs and the "ears" would wear/break off and then you had the great old one wheel peeler...
I loved this episode. Not only the car, but the stories this highway patrol officer has. I could easily listen to Jay and this officer for hours without getting bored.
As long as you remember to take them with a grain of salt, e.g. the 180mph is 🐃💩
shut up
@@RideFaster all values are known : cod is .38, frontal area is 24 sq ft, curb weight is 3000lbs, need a minimum of +380hp. Sorry to burst your bubble.
@@countrymorgan2942 hahahaha exactly
@@countrymorgan2942 yeah the coupe had a .46 drag coefficient....a little bet better than a UPS truck maybe
I saw Jay on Sunset this Sunday in his 911t while I was on my Chopper. It’s impressive how a story can take a vehicle to a whole new level of interest. His Porsche is a simple basic model but was the car Steve McQueen used in Le Mans so it has a value to it and if you watch Jays episode on his particular Porsche the story makes you suddenly have a whole new appreciation of something you’d probably never look at compared to some other models. He does the same here with a Mustang. He creates an honest and fascinating story on the history of the car that makes you just think of having one in a collection ... he’d make a sensational car salesman! Love the show, the honesty and the passion! Just sad that television no longer has talent like Jay anymore in late night, but at least we have him here.
So we’ll said.
I didn't know he had bought that Porsche.
My Dad was in the market for a Mustang in 1988. He wanted a manual, cloth seats, and AM radio. As he was talking to the salesman, a truck showed up with a bunch of Oregon State Police mustangs. He ended up getting one, and it was a company car to boot! He got pulled over once, going a bit fast, and the officer took extra time figuring out what was going on. It was registered as a company car, and, with the all white, blue pin stripe, and black painted Mustang wheels, it was clearly a SSP model. He eventually got off with a warning.
It was a great car that he really enjoyed.
I owned a 1988 SSP as well, I bought it from auction right after it was decommissioned from the Florida Highway Patrol. It was one of the most fun cars I ever owned. I learned about buying them from a friend that also owned an 88 that he had purchased from auction. The first time he took me for a ride in it, he said, "reach for the dash" and he punched as much as he could without breaking traction in 1st gear. I couldn't reach the dash. The G-forces were pinning me to the seat. From that moment, forward, I fell in love.
Interestingly, he had sold his first one by the time I purchased mine in 1993. He missed his so he'd occasionally ask to drive mine and I let him. Then I sold mine and he purchased a 2nd SSP. Ironically, all 3 of the SSPs had bad 2nd gear synchros so you know that those Troopers were having some fun in the Mustangs when they had them. I learned about double clutching from my friend on his 1st SSP and I did that in mine, too until I had the transmission rebuilt. I actually got pretty fast at doing it and it kept 2nd from grinding.
I really miss my old Trooper car. It really was a blast to drive. I am really happy your dad was able to enjoy one, too.
I have a 1988 GA State Trooper sitting in my barn. This guy who was the #2 Ford diesel mechanic in the country bought it at auction and refurbished it completely stock. It has the weight bar in the trunk. It’s a fun car. It will do a 360 on a dime. My wife made me park it for awhile because I was getting too many speeding tickets in it. I outran a corvette in it going over the Cherohala Skyway from TN to NC. I passed him leaving Tellico Plains and it was on all the way to Santeetlah.
You haven't lived until you drive the J2 from Runhorse.
Jay Leno is driving, with cop in the car, while also not wearing his seat belt, with an actual patrol cop behind him lmao.
Legend
He gets to do that because he’s Jay Leno, not Letterman or O’reilly
I noticed that too - I think Leno usually wears his seatbelt so I’m guessing there is something wrong with the belt or whatever.
He's pregnant you bigot don't you know men get pregnant these days?
@DiogenesRewound Lol he caught the porsche with mustang
LOL,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, SEAT~BELT Only Jay knows for sure,
Great guest. He was talking and Jay was listening. Respect
This guy was great really enjoyed listening to him, cars were cool too.
I usually fast forward to the driving part but I was actually interested from beginning to end. Great episode
You've never seen Jay Leno before?
@@bowtiemountain I thought he was talking about the CHPer.
@@bowtiemountain Haha. Good one! 👍🏻
but he's smoking some of those confiscated drugs if he thinks an old fox body mustang could do 180 mph
180mph in a stock 5.0?
That must be one heck of a downhill.
Yeah. Complete liar.
Respect the retired officer, but 180..no way. I drove those 120 was the max
He never said 180. He said 150-160 which surprised me.
@@michaelburley9479 4:00 Yes he did, but he also said it was a fuel injection car and he was estimating by the tach. I still don't believe it.
@@michaelburley9479 yes he did
Once again, Jay nails it. Guest is as interesting as the car. Just excellent as always. Clearly the standard for shows like this. Jay, you are the best! 👍❤️
You're right. I liked how he knew to get out of the way and let the show be about the story.
This guest was cringe worthy....as soon as that cop said this car would go 180 mph I started rolling my eyes. He grew up street racing and then became a cop? You know he was a hypocrite on the force like all cops are and busted people for street racing, i wouldn't believe anything this guy says.
Are you kidding? This guy is laughable! That mustang won’t do 160 with a hellcat pulling it lol! Shitbox Ford.. BS stories.. these cars have maybe 250hp.. dog, that wouldn’t turn.
@@mdubz101 225 hp max maybe as fast a Crown Vic, a buddy in hs had an '88 vanilla ice 5.0 and an '83 he put a cammed 302 in...they were both fckn gutless
@@richardbaumgart2454 exactly! I had 360lbs 125hp motorcycle that topped out at 171mph. Guy is full of crap.
I've been a police officer in Texas for 42 years. Everything the retired officer talked about police work is true all over the country. Our city police department got a couple of Mustangs back then when it was "the thing" for the police to have them. I never drove one but the two guys who did loved them and said they were able to catch up to speeders quicker. We had the large and long Chevy Impalas during that time. Not good highway cars. The department later bought Ford LTD II's for us on patrol which could really keep up with the Mustangs. I loved the LTDs. Great cars. They could jump curbs and drive off road without much problem.
Jay is such a good interviewer, he should try getting a late night show someday.
They will never hire a comidian for that.
Who knows... If he would, maybe he could make a fortune as a late night show host 💁♂️🤣
@@photo_n_art yea. Maybe he could buy a bunch of cool cars and show us them on a RUclips page.
Right, that would be cool
Jay is a great interviewer while talking cars. I greatly enjoyed his opening monologues, 'Headlines' and 'Jay Walking' bits. As a working guy back in the days it was normally then 'lights out' for the next day on the job. I was very rarely interested in listening to a guest author, reality TV 'star' or movie personality on the Tonight Show to promote their latest project. And for the most part, neither was Jay. Paul Newman's appearance with Jay was exception. Leno shared a story about a 'Bachelorette' winner or contestant who approached Jay in the NBC parking lot after a show requesting an autograph. Jay asked to whom he should address the autograph. He hadn't recognized her as one of the guests he'd just interviewed on his show. He just hadn't found her all that interesting. Great vignette that Jay related on one of his 'Garage' episodes. For the most part, Jay sucked at guest interviews. And he is the first to admit it. But I really do like Jay's 'Garage' website and TV show.
That old CHP Mustang brings back memories... a lot of my friends were CHiPs, several used the Mustangs. Great bunch of guys. Thanks Jay for this video, and thanks to your guest.
Ponce or John?
I loved the CHP. I never got pulled over as a teenager. A few times CHP would pull up next to me and give me a finger wag. I wasn’t driving enough over the speed limit to get pulled over.
@@fronts3165 You're a good little slave. Did you shine their boots too ?
You have Stockholm Syndrome, along with 90% of the US Herd.
I enjoyed this one, Like most haha. In Aug 1990 on our honeymoon we were pulled over by a 5.0 Mustang. We were on our way back home from Oregon to Vancouver BC. The funny part we were driving my wife's 1988 Mustang. I passed the officer as he was a few lanes over. My new wife said ya that was smart! Yep on went his lights. We pull over and the officer walks up and says, do you often pass police in Canada? I said um no. He laughed. He then says well nice car! I replied yours is nicer, you have a V8. Ours sucks as it has the four banger. He laughed so hard. He said slow down and congrats on your wedding! Awesome guy. Be polite to your police. They have a super harsh career.
yes keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
ACAB
You are the reason the human race is asleep
Ahahaha! The old 2.3 four banger. I had 4 of the v8's epic cars!
Definitely one of the best guests on the channel. Some guests are good, others just okay, and some aren't very easy to watch. But this guy kept me engaged.
Regardless of who the guest is I still enjoy it because even if the guest isn't entertaining, Jay always is. Personally I like it when it's just Jay and a car. But enough rambling. Thanks again for the great video and the great channel
Yeah I totally agree. Actually my favorite episodes were a lot of these covid episodes where it was just Jay and one of his cars or a borrowed car. I like it when it's just Jay and no guest. You get more out of it and he has more time to tell you about the car.
But the car remains ugly. Lol
this guy is full of it though that old mustang never would see anything close to 180 mph even the fuel inj models i don't care what he says
@@richardbaumgart2454 he said 85mph. Go back to 0:20
@@richardbaumgart2454 downhill with a 65 mph tail wind. But yeah, I agree. That shoebox is not hitting 180
I was a Law Enforcement Specialist in the USAF 1983-88. In 1984 we got three 1984 LTD's with 302 V-8 motors. They were fast as hell
Fast..? I bought 2 HP retired 85 Crown Victoria's. Maybe 120 mph tops.
I like Jay he's a honest down to earth guy. One of only a handful in California
Jay is such a car guy, he can talk about anything and car facts will get sprinkled in. Love how car talk blends in with so much of his non-car world.
Thank you Mr. Leno, for your dedication to Law Enforcement, First Responder’s and the military. You’re always putting them in the spotlight and incorporating the vehicles they drive into your series🙏🏽
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Smart.
Jay’s such a pro. Guy says he had a fox body mustang with a little over 200hp pegged to 180mph .. and Jay didn’t even blink 👍🏻😂
I caught that too.
Yeah , up until that point I thought this ex patrol cop had lots of credibility , after that I was doubting all he said .
He's a cop. If his mouth is moving he's lying.
He also said that for every 100 people that come through the academy, 1 will make it lmaooooo
Maybe he was going down hill?
The show is always a pleasure to watch because Jay really loves cars and their history. Thanks Jay.
Jay and Carson are the only two hosts of The Tonight Show worth your time.
Great episode. Rich is a really nice guy and Jay you were so kind to him. It was refreshing to see two men enjoying good wholesome conversation. Thank you for the episode.
Yep. A real pleasure having such a knowledgeable man share his work experience. Thank you.
He literally said a 220hp Mustang could do 160 lol. That’s completely false.
Well that was a lot of fun, Rich is a real treasure trove of information about the "California Highway Patrol". Thanks Jay and happy New Year!
Dude, that cop was sterling! Awesome guy! Rich, thank you for your service!
It´s not only about the Car...it´s the Car AND the Storys.
Such a great Show.
Thank you for your uploads!
Great guest and an iconic car even if it feels a little underwhelming in this day and age. Everyone loved the Mustang Police Interceptor idea back in the day.
except for speeders
First time I saw a Mustang pursuit car was Texas. In my rear view mirror. With his lights on. About 1993 I think. Speed limit was still 55, I was going about 70. The fact he was in a Mustang blew me away. Grandma in her Buick LeSabre coming home from church goes faster than 70 in Texas now. I still see Mustang THP cars down there. GT350 though. IT might go 180. This one, not so much. I had a 77 Cobra 2, 302 2bbl, 4speed. Pretty much the same thing as this one. It looked great and felt somewhat fast, until you looked at the speedo. It MIGHT have gone 120. MAYBE.
When these CHP Mustangs had high mileage, the antenna and light bar holes were patched, they got a quick paint job, and were sold as surplus. I had one, and loved it. It came with the air conditioning upgrades needed to keep a CHP officer comfortable idling in desert heat. It had a worn-out 1st gear and a rear axle that was geared for high speed, but a 2nd gear that was ideal for my obnoxious driving maneuvers in city traffic. Fun car, good times, sorry it got wrecked.
When I was a kid, I bought a surplus CHP '70 Mercury Monterey w/ a 428 cobra jet. Whenever a cop, any cop, saw me driving it, he pulled me over. It seems that long haired punk kids and retired CHP cars don't mix My first and last cop car. lol
2nd gear in foxbody cars with t5's...most underrated gear if that's a thing, 2nd gear in my 88 turbocoupe is a riot in city driving especially with the T3 turbo kicking into full boost around 3500 rpm
@@LuckyBaldwin777 no way a cop car had a 428 Cobra Jet. They had the police interceptor series for that purpose.
@@MrJett1971 you realize that a police interceptor is a cop car correct?
@@MrJett1971 same engine only difference between the 428CJ and 428PI is the manifolds. The CJ had an aluminum intake and the PI, cast iron. The CJ had cast iron headers and the PI, standard 390 style exhaust manifolds.
The Ret.CHP guy was a great guest, so easy to watch. I loved seeing all the escort and tail cars around the video...guess they were afraid Jay would try and pull someone over 🤣
I swear, I think that Jay has a soft spot for the Mustang. With all the reviews, and all the Mustangs that Jay owns, I've got to believe that he really likes other cars, but has that little spot in his heart for the 'Stang. Thanks, again, Jay!
jay, awesome interviewer, prepared with good questions, breaks the ice with the guy, who was a little nervous at the beginning, and brings it all out.
One of Jay's BEST episodes yet!Thank you HWP
What a great Fella!! Greatly appreciate his service to the community. Thanks for putting him on your video Jay.
That officer you interviewed in this show was really cool.. I have met a good amount of officers that are very cool, changed my outlook on police officers.
Love this, as a former LEO who joined in 1981, and left the job in 1988, this brings back a lot of memories. I actually had one of these with the fuel injected V8 as my own car. It was a 1989 model, and I bought it after I left the job and got into business.
It went 180mph 🤣
@@jft7174 maybe 180kph...lol it would fly apart at anything over 130mph.
Jay is such a great interviewer, down to earth just seems like a regular guy shooting the bull with an ole pal.
One of my memories as an 18 year old in a mini-truck club in 1982 was driving to Vegas for a mini-truck meet and our group of trucks doing 90 on I-15 getting passed like we were doing 30 by a CHP Mustang. We later caught up to the CHP Mustang and he had pulled over a Corvette.
Will the mini truck craze and custom van ever return? I doubt it.
@@westerlywinds5684 Considering what shops now charge for a labor rate, I don't think so. To create a custom van would be $100,000 or more with all that paint.
@@westerlywinds5684 I have seen minis around lately. I’ve been in a certain mini since the 80’s and still have one.
@@westerlywinds5684 If it does I'm building Krieger's Van.
Such a great Era, VW , hot rods great times
Gotta give Jay props for not laughing in this dude's face for saying he hit 160-180mph in these. lol
in Utah, the highway patrol bought IROC camaros because the mustang wouldn't steer effectively when driving faster than 120. I can't imagine being in one of these little cars doing 140 plus it would definitely be nerves of steel. Remember, they didn't have the stiff summer tires like today's performance cars have.
180 is a stretch but i believe 150-160. I painted cars with a guy that had gone to prison. He stole an IROC camaro in the early 90s. Said he was doing 120+mph and some cop slowly kept gaining on him. He said after 10mins or so the cop was on his bumper and had to of been doing 140-150 to catch him. When he decided to give up he found out it was a Texas DPS 5.0 Mustang that had ran him down.
Also want to add. This was in the 90s. So it was the later fuel injected SSP Mustang. I know the early ones were dogs but you gotta remember, most any car will do 140mph if you have enough space. Just like stories of Crown Vics doing 150mph+. They'll do it but it takes MILES to get going that fast.
@@gordonbombay676 160mph in a brick with 225hp (192 wheel HP) ?
I struggle with that. But 180?? No.
I knew a mechanic at the old Grant's Ford in St. Petersburg that claimed a state trooper, FHP, would bring his car in for a tune-up when it wouldn't do 160. I'm not sure what year they were. I know an '84 with a 5 speed and a 4 bbl would get it. Later '80s models, the LX was actually faster than the GT models because it was lighter. One odd thing, at least I thought at the time, was when FHP bought all the (Gen3 or 4?) late '90 model Camaros. I was watching the news knowing that Chevy had just discontinued them. It is nice to see that brought them back. You couldn't not see one of the tri-year Camaros all through the eighties and now I wonder where they all went.
My dad started driving police cars when they were 6 volt with generators. He remembers the "radio" was a huge vacuum tube style.
He drove AMC matador's , and was actually caught by the watch commander racing another cop with the departments new Dodge cornet HEMI's..., ... ooops... He also said the 38 calibers would NOT penetrate a big rig tire, LOL...
He was a true Adam 12 era straight honest cop, I miss him.........
Anybody else got "The Shawshank Redemption" vibes during the first segment? :D Somehow I half expected to see Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman walk around the corner and join the scene. Awesome show and a great start into the new year. Keep it up! Best wishes from Germany. Stay healthy, Mr. Leno.
Jay thanks for being a cool dude at 29:49.... Nobody else would have been as cordial. Very admirable of you.
This was a good one! Lotta good banter and a very relaxed "coupla guys out for a drive" atmosphere. I don't think anyone said who owns that car, though. I expect the CHP but boy does it smoke. If he's reading this, greetings to retired CHP officer Steve Hill from an old Land Rover buddy from decades back.
Jay owns both the Mustangs featured.here.
Good ole' Jay. Drives a Highway Patrol car with a retired Highway Patrol Officer without his seatbelt on and the cop had his on. Great show. Cool to see the old Mustang cop car
Ha yea. But then maybe he's used to driving his steam cars and what not, where there aren't seatbelts
What a great chat. The entertaining and informative conversation made the video so much more interesting than what I expected. Good job Jay, and crew!
Love that episode. There was another similar episode with the fox body and dodge polara and another retired police officer. Love those episodes
Great Questions and great answers from the retiree…. And a strong proponent of career opportunities at the Highway Patrol! Another outstanding “Leno”😎
Great stories and nice to see these cars preserved and this is a beautiful example. LOL at the story of the guys blowing holes in the roof with the shotgun and I'm surprised they actually transported arrestees in them vs waiting for backup in a larger (4-door) vehicle. Also sounds like the speedometers were WILDLY optimistic.
yeah no way 160-180 mph like he said...maybe 130-140 downhill
Law enforcement car speedometers are calibrated to have an error of no more than 1 MPH at any point.
I found that out when I owned a 1978 Plymouth Fury with "CERTIFIED" printed on the 140 MPH speedo.
I called Mopar about a problem with the differential, and when I told the guy I talked to that it had a tag
on the radiator bracket that said "special handling car" he ran off a list of what that meant,
and he sent me a printout detailing all the "cop" features and options available for that model year.
There were several things about the engine that made it especially durable.
I eventually gave the car to a Mopar nut. Telling enough about that situation
would take more space than I have already filled up here.
No matter how people feel about local law enforcement here in California everyone loves the CHP. And every year I would say so to the CHP at the Ventura County Fair. I hope I get to do that again. Thank you for the second best episode ever. Btw the best one ever was the one when the mechanic said going flat out the Bugatti would run out of gas in fifteen minutes. Thank you Jay
Well if a cop is a good person and genuinely there for good reasons then it's great, but nowadays the wrong type of people get a job as a cop because they love telling others how to live and being above the law. Good to see a good guy being a cop for once but those days are long gone.
Bakersfield by the sea is where I lay my seed
Bugatti can run over 300mph too😳
What a great episode! I groaned when I saw that tired Mustang but that retired officer had some great stories and what a long and distinguished career. Good on him! Love how Jay reacted when the '65 Galaxy was brought up. Too funny...
Jay: "Did you have the triple-carb set-up?"
"No, just a single carb."
You could feel Jay's disappointment.
Everyone I know (car nuts) has one favorite car. The diversity is amazing. For some a 65 Ford, others a 59 356 Porsche, others a 67 Camaro. Maybe even a 00 Toyota. To each their own.
@@jeffwarren8154 Hey... those early '00s Toyotas can be kinda fun!
If you have the money, and the know-how to do a 'lil work... buying a 20 y/o car for around $500 to $1,000 bucks can be tuns o' fun! I'm talking about the "drive it like you stole it" kind of fun!
Drive it 'til it's _absolutely_ dead, then make your money back selling the parts. A "win / win" situation!
MR Leno, you never get old. Thanks for all your videos. PANDEMIC?! RIGHT!
I could listen to this guy talk forever on cars. What an amazing guest!
A friend of mine bought a 85 Mustang interceptor retired from the RCMP at auction. Really interesting car. It was an upgraded Mustang with improved suspension and engine output. Unfortunately most cars in the early 80's were very underpowered, so even 153hp in a small car was near the top of the food chain in '82. The finish on this car is really nice. Good job.
Any suspension and engine upgrades must have been aftermarket. Ford did not do anything to the suspensions or the engines for law enforcement duty.
Here’s a throwback for ya Jay. This reminds me of a Massachusetts State Trooper I lived near who’s duty vehicle was a pretty new at the time unmarked 5.0 liter Mustang. He LOVED chasing people down on RT 128; he told me at the time that he hadn’t yet been outrun. This was in the early nineties; he had just become a “Statey” by default when the MSP absorbed the MDC Police.
Brother of a guy I knew was a state trooper in Connecticut. They used to convert certain confiscated cars into highway patrol cars for I95. His favorite was a GNX that they used.
The shifter knob looks exactly like the ones in European Fords from the same era, like Escort, Fiesta and Sierra.
That was the era of parts bin cars. Sometimes I'm happy about that and other times not so much. Back then there were so many parts that interchanged if the salvage yard didn't have your exact model many other cars might.
Classic, interesting Leno interview. Another great police officer. I would imagine Jay has to stay home because he can’t relax out in public. Bless his heart. I was a small town business person celebrity for a few years from doing TV commercials. Whenever my wife and I would go out to eat I’d sit in the corner and face the corner because otherwise we could never relax and have time together. Appreciate the commitment of both of your careers.
This was a High Speed Pursuit vehicle for the CHP, these still exist today. Many highway patrol agencies have a couple high speed pursuit vehicles that are primarily supercharged Chargers /challengers , supercharged Mustang GTs etc my brother had one of the initial ones in the UHP which was the SRT version of the charger which was the 6.4 liter hemi verses the standard 5.7 liter. It actually did have the SRT badge and was an unmarked white car. Awesome!
I was commuting home with two others in my carpool in 1995 when our car broke down going over the Altamont Pass in the East Bay area. The CHP were using a plane to catch speeders in the area. We coasted in behind a CHP 5.0 Mustang while the officer was writing a ticket. When he finished, the officer gave the three of us a ride to the nearest truck stop in Tracy. The officer was pretty cool...he hit 130 mph headed to Tracy.
Not 180 🤣
he drove you to a truck stop going 130? lol
I swear whenever officers get issued a hot car that isnt a suburban or crown vic they turn into hooligans lmao, "YEAH RUN FROM ME NOW! MY CAR ISNT SLOWER THAN A MINIVAN THIS TIME!"
Back in the 80's , here in Brazil the highway patrol cars was a Volkswagen Beatle !
Sounds like heaven all I would have to do is drive faster than 65 haha
Great episode. Loved hearing his stories and the history of CHiPS.
Great video! The time went too quick with Jay talking to Rich. Very nice retired officer. All the best in your retirement Rich. thanks Jay for the walk around & taking us along for a ride in this cool Mustang. RCMP in Canada used these too for a while on the hwys.
My father is a retired trooper and he had an lx mustang in the early 90s and late 80s and loved his.
I like how Jay 1-ups the guy’s stories. Guy - “We helped President Bush”. Jay - “I had dinner with him several times”. Guy - “Been married 37 years”. Jay - “Been married 41 years”. Lol
Exactly. You are never going to out-boast Jay Leno so don't even try!
@@Burnedtoastify my 85 fox body does 180. Jay my Bugatti does over 300😭😂
Thanks again, Jay and crew! Another entertaining episode, as usual.
Happy New Year to y'all!
I'm so happy you revisited the State Trooper line-up!
Last time you took the Dodge sedan out, (Cornet I think), and I know most of us were sighing heavily when you passed by this fox body! Glad you came back to give us this video!!
I remember in the 90s, whenever we drive between DC and Quantico, VA, we always see VA State Police Mustang and Camaro patrol cars, but mostly Mustangs. My buddy told that those cars are their car chasers. Awesome!
Excellent engaging car conversation. Thank you for your service, Officer Rich Sapikowski!
Thanks Jay. "Did you ever take care of that ticket?" What a hoot
I remember when I was shopping for my first car back in ~97-98 or so and Downtown Ford in Sacramento had roooows of retired Highway Patrol mustangs that were repainted in all the shades of the rainbow for sale... So wish I could have gotten one then!
I bought one from there!! But ended up taking it back.
@@thebronzetoo Why did you take it back? Was it beat to hell?
@@stevemartegani I don't remember, it was in the early 90's. I think it wasn't as advertised.
I own an 82 Fox and I find the 160-180 MPH+ claim pretty dubious. You could MAYBE hit 120-130 with good tuning, lol. Sweet car, and great stories though!
Yea Jay was nice about it but that’s impossible with that weight gearing and HP.
Hit 160 maybe going down hill and a 100 mph wind behind you . maybe you might
Hit 150
Jay let him slide on that outrageous statement. That car is a brick with 225sh HP (maybe), WTF?!
I think his hotrod story sounds dubious as well. A bored out motor with a single carb doesn't sound right to me.
@@misterdanielsiii The haircut is also a red flag. Dude probably washed out of the explorer program and worked funeral escorts.
I had a 1989 and a 1991 H.O. 5.0 LX Coupe. Fast cars 💨
I can remember when our highway patrol had mustangs, and at the time I had one and it was badass with 225 horsepower, but today my jeep grand Cherokee 5.7 hemi has 380 horsepower after modifications. I loved my mustang and I wish I still had it
all the best buddy🎉🎉 congratulations🎉 let's talk on telegram you've been randomly selected among today's (GIVEAWAY)🎊.😍
Neat old car, I was surprised these were actual cop cars after seeing an old Kansas Highway Patrol one at a rural car show in college.
Rural car show in Kansas a?
The Mara dasine (or whatever) in Ottawa?
Washington State Patrol also had fox body Mustangs in the fleet. I don’t recall them as early as 82, but definitely mid-80s into the 90s. State patrol liked to show them off at county fairs in their booth. And honestly, I think the WSP Mustangs are more attractive than the CHP, Mustangs.
In the 1980's the RCMP up here in Canada had the fox body 5.0 Mustangs. My Dad had an 1985 Porsche 928S and know for a fact the Mustang wasn't very fast!
180mph?!?!? I don't believe that for one second!🤣
Like the guest said, the big old dodges with the 440 were real monsters when it came to just brute power. I'd love to see Jay do one on them.
I had a 4 cyl 4 spd GL in HS back in 84.
1st thing I did after a few months was I bought a 302 core from a wrecking yard and dropped it in.
Turned it into a sleeper.
It was a fun car.
Many years ago, mid '90s, I drove up and down the 14 to and from work. One night I was driving home, in the fast lane, rolling with traffic. Speed limit was still 55, traffic was rolling about 65. CHP officer driving one of these Mustangs pulled alongside me and paced me. Driver looked at me very sternly. I glanced at my speedometer, backed off, and he drove off.
When the fuel injection came out in these Ford were proud of them, they had a higher quality , even the floors were reinforced. Ive been in a LX 89' at over 125mph and it didn't feel happy! But those notchbacks are sturdier and just a better Mustang . And I also had a 87 Vic 5.0 FI and I got mine up to 120mph clocked by Friends Camaro following.
I had an '89 5.0 Crown Vic back in the late '90s. Low miles... a genuine Creampuff Grandma special. Leaked more oil than the Exxon Valdez. Needless to say, it was the last Ford I'll ever own.
Junk. Pure junk.
Jay not wearing a selt belt, retired cop must be having hard time for not bursting his arse. lol
Why was Jay not wearing a seatbelt?
It was a fair trade. Jay didn't laugh when the man claimed 180 mph in that car.
As a kid in 90s LA with cheap cars, CHP was ALWAYS cool with providing a jump or even helping bump start a car. I had a fuel pump harness melt on me once. An CHP officer took a look and handed me his knife to splice together some wires.
LAPD and Ventura County Sheriff? "You are impeding traffic, gonna have to impound your vehicle".
Hi Jay; Thank you as always for your fine videos. My '86 Cadillac speedometer went to 80 mph. The car would go up to 80 mph and NO faster. Try as I might, the limit was 80 ! Up hill, down hill, level ground, that governor kept it at 80.
Now my 40th anniversary '04 Mustang GT conv. 4.6 liter auto is a 'horse of a different color' (red). When I add the 'speedster' cover over the rear seat and folded top, the cops are all over me. I thought that at 70 I might have one limb out of commission at some time so, the auto gave me some peace of mind. At 82, I wish I had the Mach I manual coupe. We get older, we never grow up.
Jay, thank you for presenting law enforcement in a positive light. It is appreciated.
What a nice, humble man with lots of wisdom! So true, if you have worked retail you quickly learn how to deal with all sort of people (the customer is always right). If you learn those lessons well, you'll succeed in many things in life. So many kids now don't want to do the "menial" type work (read retail, working outdoors, yard work, etc.) where very valuable experience is gained. Instead, they want to intern in a startup or investment bank.
Great American 🙏 🇺🇸
God Bless both these Fine men.
Brings back memories of my first car, and the title of this video even is relevant too.
I had an 1983 5.0L HO (4 barrel Holly) GT with the 5 speed (3.08 rear end), and was doing a 2 hr road trip to the big city for some fun...in the winter. Was just cruising at 10 over the speed limit, when I see a car catching up to me with something that resembled a light bar on the roof so I slowed to the speed limit as it approached and passed. Turned out to be 2 Porsche's with ski racks on them. My beautiful young female passenger found it so funny though, she was laughing so hard that she was sliding off the seat. As my ego was just hammered I felt the need to hammer the gas after I downshifted into 3rd, once my friend got back into her seat. A minute later I am passing the 2 Porsche's (who sped up to almost double the speed limit when they seen me catching up) at almost triple the speed limit, going up a hill in about 2" of slush. About 10 mins later after I slowed down as we approached another small town with a "T" stop intersection; the 2 Porsche's pulled up beside me with hockey puck sized eyes in their expensive suits; note that I waited a second for them to see them eye to eye. The look on their faces, was pretty funny to say the least!
It turned out it was Motor Trend doing a sponsored drive up to the Yukon promoting winter performance tires via real world testing. The guy in the lead Porsche passenger seat closest to me at the stop sign looked to be the spitting image of Jonny Lieberman, big beard and all, just with much bigger eyes! Maybe he was looking at my cheap no name SK110 all season tires?
That was a pleasant read. Thanks for sharing!!! 👍
@@geoffnelson64 Did some questionable yet hilarious things back in the younger days...don't remember much else from the rest of that day...but the look on their faces was absolutely priceless and unforgettable. LOL #YoungAndDumb
Did it go 180?
@@jft7174 MPH...Almost for a few minutes...5th gear is a slow climb. They were long out of sight so I let up as we approached the next town...
Nice Ukrainian flag in your profile picture
My son and I have a 1988 Florida highway pursuit Mustang 5.0 great car.
Can I drive it? Since some of my tax dollars paid for it?
I had one in '87. It had been a forestry car and was green but it got painted black and white. Had a spotlight on the left a-pillar. Fun car and pretty quick at the time.
Got out of the Army in the early 90's and picked up my 79 Camaro from Port Canaveral, FL. About 300 miles back to home. Was on I-10 doing around 100 when the fuel pump quit. It was around midnight in the middle of nowhere so I sleptish in the back seat, not fun. Wolk up to FHP tapping on my window around sunrise. Told him what was up, that I was a mechanic, had just been discharged and promised I could fix it. He wanted me to get a wrecker but was nice and gave in to my request for a ride to the nearest auto parts store. He said the nearest auto parts was a Napa about 10 miles away but it wasn't open yet. He said "get in"! Lights on up the ramp backwards in reverse with a J turn on the overpass. Punched down the ramp on the other side and where doing 140mph in no time. I think his was EFI Jay! He dropped me at McD's for bfast across from the Napa and came back at 800am when the Napa opened to take me back. 140 back to the car. He said "I'll be back by in about an hour, if your still here your getting a wrecker!" I had it fixed in 10 minutes and was on the way. Great trooper and thanks for the help that day! Maybe he was trying to recruit me?
Not to be disrespectful, but there's no way these were doing 160mph-180mph. They'd do 180kph no problem, but 160-180mph? The 2000 Mustang Corba R came out many years later in an era where automotive engineering was rapidly developing and it topped out at 170mph.
I was thinking the same thing.
These would probably take flight at that speed! I don’t think so…
Indicated mph vs actual mph is my guess...or the speedo had the wrong gearset in it.The speedo in my '70 Buick A-Body was 120mph, and the needle would go past that, past the indicator for the turn signal. Based on the diameter and the sweep of the needle, that should- if it were accurate (LOL) - be about 150 mph: it was visually the same distance as 0-30mph. I put the needle on that speedo past the turn signal to the bottom of the gauge several times. No way that car - even with the fairly low 3.31:1 rear and the 462 under the hood - did 150 mph! Not even when it had the highway gear 2.56:1. But the _speedo needle_ was there. I was maybe at 125. That's a maybe.
The Car and Driver road test of the 225 hp Mustang GT said top speed was 144 mph.
He's Blowing smoke. 160 hahaa
Great show and a great guest. It’s nice to see Jay mixing in shows like this one.
I only raised an eyebrow when the guest mentioned reaching 180mph 🤨
Yeah talk about an exaggeration… 180mph in an old Ford Mustang with no more than 220hp. No chance.
Cops never lie 😬
How soon after he hit 180, Did his engine lockup?
He never said he reached 180.
This guy was awesome. Absolutely killed it with the background and stories.
I had a 82 Ford Mustang GT & loved it. Very reliable.
Even with a boring car, Jay can make a good show. And the guest, Rich, was a very knowledgeable guy. I learned a lot about CHP guys and their job.
Getting a kick out of this one. Living in San Diego in the 80's, I had an '87 5.0 and it was always funny to see people hit the brakes in the dark when they would recognize the headlight profile in their rear view mirror.
& i was probably one of those people. doing meth runs from Lemon Grove, i couldn't help but be paranoid.
My father has a Gray 84 GT with the Boss 302 with 36,000 original miles, T-top, rear window luvers and the rare front clip that everyone wanted to have. It's got the red leather interior, Hooker headers and it's the 5 speed with cruise control. I have been slowly saving up to get it back to looking new for me and my father to enjoy again.
I had an '82 5.0 and then an '88 GT. GREAT cars!!
I lived in Los Angeles back then and virtually never saw these cars, they were out there but from what I heard they tend to be in the rural areas where truly high-speed chases were more likely. I remember in 1991 my dad and I went to a donut shop and I saw California state police, California highway patrol, LAPD, Los Angeles county sheriffs and some cops from other agencies. They went to that particular shop because obviously they ate donuts but… it had a lot of counterspace so they would spread out their paperwork and get that done.
I wonder if that's where the cop in the donut shop urban legend began? When did you live there?
I was there in the early-mod 80's as a kid. i remember Winchell's donuts, Jack in the Box, Western Sizzling (I think that was the name) steakhouse, and some big buffet in Culver City that my parents went to a lot.
Also the McDonald's McDLT, at least I can say I had one 😀
Must've been the safest donut shop in town lol
CHP Mustangs were abundant in the Bay Area. They are incredibly high geared and slow to get going from a stop. Must have required clutch replacement often. The 302 Ford is notorious for poor low end torque, even truck engines.
I live in L.A. and in 92 coming back from Lone Pine, had the Audi maxed at 125 on I395 in Red Rock Canyon at night & BLAMM there's a spot-lite on a Black & White Mustang LX 5.0 next to me, he comes on his speaker, "SLOW DOWN!" and takes off; GTs were much heavier; the LX was the sleeper & cheaper;
'89, I was whistling through Texas. 90 mph. One of these Mustangs in brown with a trooper in a lemon-squeezer hat kept station just by my back wheel, until I looked over at him, then he kicked it down and took off. If only he knew I had no registration or insurance. '69 Caprice.
I just loved this episode.
I have a 89 SSP from Arizona great car fun to drive. The notchbacks are highly collected and simple to work on.
I suspect Jay has an ulterior motive cozying up to the cops. He may just be hoping for some leeway with regard to posted speed limits.
Great interview Jay. I really enjoyed hearing the officer's story.
I remember there was an SCCA road racer who, apparently, ordered one of the auctioned-off CHP Mustangs who raced one of these in, if I recall correctly, in a "Showroom Stock" class at Willow Springs with the panels left in the black and white and was the car to beat. I had always thought there was more to the story on the CHP equipment, like, improved spring and shock handling package or stiffened chassis. If it had the
AJ Hoyt My 1985 Mustang GT came with the 15 inch GoodYear "Gatorback " tires and in the rear it had 4 shocks two per side with two of them mounted in the horizontal position. It handled like it was on rails
@@lilorbielilorbie2496 Those "horizontal" shocks are just to control axle wrap and wheel hop.....they replace the traditional "traction bars".
They factory '83 GL I had had a round bar that was bolted to the lower control arm or rear (forget which it was now) and curved under it.It had a large rubber "snubber" around that rod to stop metal on metal noise.It worked as it should,IDK why they decided they had to change it and use those stupid shocks instead,they never wore out like the shocks did.
BTW back then,'84 prior had a 7.5 rear,which in it's self was sort of weak,but the posi unit was bulletproof.It was like the Auburn Gear diffs and had cone clutches.They never wore out,break spider gears yeah if you were stupid but those clutch cones never wore out or slipped.....unlike the factory 8.8 on the '85 and newer that had clutch packs and the "ears" would wear/break off and then you had the great old one wheel peeler...
Our Florida Highway Patrol rocked the fox body Mustang for years.
Fantastic. I have an original 1986 Mustang SSP Washington State Highway Patrol car. 5 litre 5 speed.