JUNE 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 6.1

THE OPEN ROAD by Michael

THE OPEN ROAD by Michael Barron PATROL CARS LEFT TO DIE PURSUIT 2 ENROUTE This former pursuit car has long struggled at the hands of Mother Nature, and yet unlike the car directly next to it, it still wears a set of tires that hold air. This picture shows the effects that maintenance can have on a car’s exterior, as cars used in official capacities like police and fire departments are often kept cleaned, waxed, and sparkling. With plenty of rust forming, this cop car is just about beyond saving—and yet, compared to its neighbor, the exterior paint has held up much better over the years, which should serve as inspiration for car owners who think that waxing their vehicles is a waste of time. Junkyards all over the world are full of cars, trucks, and SUVs that have been neglected, abandoned, or demolished in accidents. There they sit, exposed to the hot sun and harsh weather while slowly being eaten by rust and accumulating dust. Every vehicle has a point at which it has run the course of its life and has become simply too outdated or beat-up to restore or refurbish. Official service vehicles used by the police, fire fighters, sheriffs, and highway patrol are often maintained at a much higher level than daily drivers owned by commuters. After all, the authorities need to be able to depend on their vehicles to perform flawlessly when they need to quickly respond to an emergency, deploy to the scene of an accident, or of course, tail a criminal during a high-speed chase. Almost every police car on the roads leaves the yard each morning absolutely spotless, while under the skin, its mechanical components have been gone over with a finetoothed comb. And yet, after the course of a rough day on the job, plenty of cop cars will limp back home covered in dents, dings, and dust—while some might not even make it home at all. The life of an official vehicle certainly isn’t easy, and plenty end up in a state beyond the point of repair. Photographers searching for great subjects have often found police cars that appear to have simply been abandoned at some point, left to slowly die. PLYMOUTH BEFORE THE HEMI Exactly when many of these abandoned police cars began their struggle will always remain a mystery. But this Plymouth looks like it was simply parked out back next to barn—it's not like it was hidden in a dark forest or anything, but clearly everyone forgot all about the car. Still, despite the elements, this piece of split-window history features a bit of brightwork that still shines in the sunlight, although most of its surfaces are clearly covered in rust patches and dust that has accumulated over the years. Of course, as automobiles developed in the ensuing decades, keeping this car running would have been an increasingly futile effort. 86 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 87