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What would be the biggest police car news from Chevrolet in years was the 1975 Nova with the COPO 9C1 police package. Few police cars in history have had the impact of the '75 Nova 9C1. The Nova would be the car of choice for large urban police and sheriffs departments all over the country.
With this Nova, Chevrolet became a major force in the police market. The Nova 9C1 instantly unseated the AMC Matador and successfully blocked first the Dart/Valiant and then the Aspen/Volare. Chrysler Corp. was shut out of this end of the police market by a compact Chevy designed specifically for police work. The durable, engineered Nova 9C1 literally opened the door at police departments for other Chevrolet models to compete. When the '77 downsized full-size Chevy arrived, Chevrolet was set to literally take the police market away from Chrysler.
Until the Nova 9C1, Chevrolet had been tied with Ford for second choice behind Plymouth. The Nova changed all that. It established Chevrolet as a source for highly developed squad cars specifically engineered for police duty.
In its first year of specialized police service,the carefully developed and highly engineered Nova came just one way: The Nova used the LM1 350-cid, four-barrel carbureted V-8 with the M40 Turbo Hydro-Matic 350 and the 3.08 rear axle ratio. No other engines, transmissions or axle ratios were available.
The 350-cid/155-nhp V-8 was specifically developed for maximum horsepower and maximum torque under the constraints of the California emissions laws. This was the first four-barrel version of the 350 since 1973. It was down about 25 nhp from that era but all engines were down in power.
Actually,the LM1 was heavily tweaked. Rather than simply adding a California Emissions Package to an already existing engine, Chevrolet built the LM1 with the Emissions Package as a starting point. Carb jetting, ignition timing, valve sizes, and cam profiles were selected to make the most from this engine and still be perfectly compliant with the emission laws.
The police Nova was a police package car in the truest sense. Each piece in the drivetrain was selected with the same care components in the LM1 engine. The built-up Nova was loaded with fluid coolers, and fitted with heavy-duty chassis components. Chevrolet used heaviest-duty Nova SS and Camaro Z28 suspension components and the brakes from the full-size Bel Air and Impala. The '75 Nova got a brand new body and styling. In fact,it was the first significant Nova body change in eight years. The total glass area was increased. The windshield, for example, was 15 percent larger. The wheelbase, however, remained at 111 inches.
The retail Nova was available as a four-door sedan and a two-door coupe plus a hatch-back coupe. The police package, however, was based stictly on the six-passenger, four-door sedan.
The Nova got all the emissions and safety upgrades for 1975 as did the other Chevrolet models
including a catalytic converter, double roof panels, High Energy Ignition, larger diameter exhaust, outside ducted air intake and threaded fuel tank cap with smaller diameter filler hole. The Nova also got a new steering gear location now forward of the front wheel centerline.
The COPO 9C1 police package included the special "California V-8" and heavy-duty suspension, brakes and cooling. The retail tire was either an E78x14 bias-ply tire or an ER78x14 steel belted radial. However,the police package tire for the Nova was an E70x14 "wide oval" bias belted tire mounted on a special 14x7 heavy-duty wheel.
The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department thrashed a number of 1975 police package cars; however, they disqualified even more of them before the vehicles were even unloaded from the trailer. The result was a four-way showdown between the Plymouth Fury 360, Dodge Coronet 360, AMC Matador 401 and the Chevrolet Nova 350.
The Nova 9C1 turned in a competitive overall performance compared to the two larger and more powerfull street veterans. And it did it with a numerically lower rear axle and bias-belted tires compared to much larger pursuit radials. To pass the first hurdle, the Nova 9C1 was given an accepable rating around the Pomona EVOC track at the L.A. County Fairgrounds.
The Nova 9C1 produced an average 0-60 mph and 60-95 mph acceleration but out-braked and out-evasively handled the bigger sedans. The Nova had a controlled fluid temperature heat rise and scored well in the areas of officer ergonomics and communication equipment installation. The real Nova 9C1 victory came during the 72-mile gas mileage test under combinations of urban and rural surface streets and freeway driving. It bested the Matador in-service car by more than 2 mpg.
The LASD recommended that one-third of its enormous 1975 fleet of police cars be made up of the Nova. This would give the LASD an opportunity to both validate its new vehicle test procedure and to give the Nova a formal, large-scale, in-service, field test. With the LASD, it would be continuous Chevrolet from then on: First, the Nova, then the Malibu, then the Impala.
This 1975 LASD vehicle test was a stunning victory for Chevrolet in general and Nova in particular.
Toronto Police Z28 
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ORIGINAL: foxpaws
Barricade - Saleen...
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ORIGINAL: Katzmans Caddy
For devilleish, You will find the 69 Chevelle Police brochure at the following link:
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/plicechevelle.jpg
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