1954 Police Car

Under magnification the fender emblem looks the same as a V8 equipped US model would have. Maybe a y-block was the Canadian Interceptor that year? Interesting stripe job; what up with that?
 
Dobie Gillis said:
Under magnification the fender emblem looks the same as a V8 equipped US model would have. Maybe a y-block was the Canadian Interceptor that year? Interesting stripe job; what up with that?
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According to wikipedia, if it is a Canadian built Ford it will have the flathead V8 (or the OHV 6)
 
Ralph G is correct. U.S. built 54's had a 239 c.i. " Y " block. Canadian 54 fords used the 239 Flathead eng. it is possible Canadians used a " Y " block for the police model. maybe some of our Canadian friens know and will share with us.
 
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From the 1952-54 Ford Motor Manual Police supplement: 1953 Police interceptors used the 255 cubic inch Mercury,1954 Ford Police Interceptors were Mercury 256 OHV's.
 

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This is the '54 fender emblem. Note that the alpha element looks more like a Y than a V. This appears to be what is on the car when viewing the PDF photo under magnification.

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These are '52/'53 emblem; the alpha element is a definite V shape:

1951%201952%201953%20FORD%20FRONT%20FENDER%20V8%20EMBLEMS.jpg


I'm thinking Canadian police departments could special order a Y-Block or perhaps import the whole car from the States. Hopefully someone can go look at it in person.
 
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Yes, it would be great to see a picture with the hood up. We know what they did in the USA, but the Canadian built police cars are the question. One note too, on the old car manual project the they have a 1954 Ford Police car brochure, and all engines were available from the 223 6 cyl. on up, plus they added the Mercury 256 Y-Block as the police interceptor option. So I would imagine Canadian police cars may have done this too. It looks like this car does have a y-block based on the fender tag.
 
Open the PDF Ralph put in the original post and blow it up to about 350% (top of page, click the + where it says "automatic zoom"). That is definitely a Y-block insignia. Based on that I'd say that's what's under the hood.
 
I wish there was a better market for those 256 engines, I've got most of one that needs a new home. Any suggestions?

< edit - Sold >


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Auction sale of this police car was yesterday. Unfortunately there seems to be no information online indicating if it sold and for how much.
 
in the 60 years from build it is very possible emblems were exchanged as not a major job.I dont believe that in the pre free trade days that most municipal budgets would be able to justify the extra cost.the only exceptions would may have been our RCMP in the western provinces.but I doubt that even as the highways we now have did not exist.
 
I have a feeling that this is a U.S. car that was recently made to look like a police car and used for advertising condominiums.
 
dmsfrr said:
I wish there was a better market for those 256 engines, I've got most of one that needs a new home. Any suggestions?
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There have been a couple '54 Merc. Sun Valleys on EBAY lately. One just sold for 16K and one is still bidding. Maybe the buyers for these cars would need you're engine ? Both cars needed restoration.
 
56 Fairlane said:
I have a feeling that this is a U.S. car that was recently made to look like a police car and used for advertising condominiums.
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My gutt feeling is the same. I think if this were a true Canadian Police ordered car and had a Police Interceptor engine ordered with it, it would have been the Merc. 255 flathead, like they offered in '53. This car has a Y-Block emblem on th efenders, but who knows if anything was changed. I know '54 Canadian Fords had the old '49-'53 non-ball joint suspension and frames to.
 
And for some good reading and photos check out "Ford Police Cars 1932-1997" by Edwin J. Sanow. Of course it focuses on U.S. built Fords so not much help on Canadian models.
 
I believe Fords had the Y block 54 Metors which look like Fords but sold by Mercury were flatheads.. Police cars could be anything from 6 cylinders on up, depending on how they were ordered.. The police interceptor had the 256 Merc.. if my info is correct.
 
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