Police Interceptor

[Ross in East Texas]

All my life I have heard talk of the "Police Interceptor". This was mostly in the "Y Block" years. Does anyone know what, if any, differences were in these engines?

[JeffB2]

In the 1952-54 Ford Shop Manual there is a special section for the Intercepters the 1954 Fords used a 1954 Mercury 256 with 4 barrell and dual exhaust rated at 161 HP as compared to the standard 239 Y-block 2 barrel single exhaust at 130 HP,the Ford-O-Matics were also beefed up as well.I have a 1954 Intercepter Intake& Carb listed for sale with pictures in the Swap Meet here.There is a ton of info on the net about the Intercepters in late 1957 they were also the first with the 332 FE block.Some of the 52-53 Police cars used the 255 Merc flathead rather than the 239.Another interesting story is the "Ghost cars" of the 1960' & 70's produced by the "Big 3".The first picture is the U.S. Army Highway Patrol used on the Autobahn in Germany in 1955.

[Ole Don]

The Interceptor was usually a Mercuruy powered upgrade. I worked at Ford in '73. We built 500 two doors for Nebraska. They had a special frame, different rear axle with 2.9 ratio, station wagon front end with big brakes, a roof reinforcement for a light bar, and the coolest engine ever to come down the line. It was a 429 with cast headers, finned aluminum rocker covers, some had Quadrajets and some had Holleys, a huge alternator, and a C 6 with a first gear lockout. I asked an engineer about the lock out, he said its to prevent uninteded wheel spin. These cars were built to fly.

[OLDBULL8]

Originally Posted by Ole Don

The Interceptor was usually a Mercuruy powered upgrade. I worked at Ford in '73. We built 500 two doors for Nebraska. They had a special frame, different rear axle with 2.9 ratio, station wagon front end with big brakes, a roof reinforcement for a light bar, and the coolest engine ever to come down the line. It was a 429 with cast headers, finned aluminum rocker covers, some had Quadrajets and some had Holleys, a huge alternator, and a C 6 with a first gear lockout. I asked an engineer about the lock out, he said its to prevent uninteded wheel spin. These cars were built to fly.

I'm a new member here as of 11/30/10. I worked at Ford Lima Engine Plt. from 1957 to 1987, last 20 yrs. as Gen. Foreman of Maint. 460 block,crank,cam and Brg. cap, been a long time ago but I think that 429 you speak of was made there. I vaguely remember making a 500 run of them. We didn't make the cranks, they were steel forged cranks from Fostoria Crankshaft. Rods were forged steel, pistons ? special. 82 now and the memory is fuzzy.

The Lima plant was built to make the Edsel 385 engine.

[KULTULZ]

Originally Posted by OLDBULL8

The Lima plant was built to make the Edsel 385 engine.

You mean the MEL Series, the 410 being the first (was supposed to go to 57 MERC but was late in production and went to early production 58 EDSEL). The 57 MERC received the 368 LINC Y-BLOCK for performance.

[alt63bird]

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Originally Posted by Ole Don

The Interceptor was usually a Mercuruy powered upgrade. I worked at Ford in '73. We built 500 two doors for Nebraska. They had a special frame, different rear axle with 2.9 ratio, station wagon front end with big brakes, a roof reinforcement for a light bar, and the coolest engine ever to come down the line. It was a 429 with cast headers, finned aluminum rocker covers, some had Quadrajets and some had Holleys, a huge alternator, and a C 6 with a first gear lockout. I asked an engineer about the lock out, he said its to prevent uninteded wheel spin. These cars were built to fly.

I recall hearing stories from people about the '71s built for the Nebraska State Patrol with 429s fitted with dual quads. When the State of Nebraska auctioned those cars in the mid-late '70s one of the first things they did for prep was remove the dual quads. My home town police department, a little 500-person village west of Omaha, got ahold of an ex-NSP '71 sedan. The town cop I was friends with, who also was a deputy sherriff and a big MoPar buff, couldn't wait until he got ahold of a NSP-surplus '75 Plymouth Fury with a 440 in the late '70s because of the high mileage and retro-fitted single 4v on the '71.

As for early-mid '60s Police Interceptors, from the Ford Car Facts binders that were published during the period there were quite a few differences between a PI version and the standard 300hp 390-4v, including: Holley 4v vs Autolite 4100, open-element air cleaner vs standard w/snorkle, hotter cam, stiffer valve springs, and I think dual point distributor and maybe mechanical lifters. They might have had cast iron headers as well, but I'd need to go through the binder for the full and accurate description. In short the PIs of the period were a step between the typical 390 found in a Galaxie/T-bird and the 406/427.

[Angry55TBird]

Friend has two y-blocks. Both has the "Interceptor" word casted in the block at the front top of the block. One block for sure was used in a marine application. Will post pictures soon!

[Ross in East Texas]

I have a friend that swears that his dad bought a '55 Ford with a 312 "Police Interceptor" engine. He even says that his father had to get permission from the local Sheriff before he could purchase it!
I just can not believe this. Every bit of information that I can dig up says the first 312's were not cast until late 1956?
What do all the experts here say?

[40cpe]

My family bought a new '58 Fairlane 500. '58 was the first year for the FE block. The 332 was the base FE and the 352 our car had in it was the Interceptor and rated at 300 hp.

[Lamar Wadsworth]

Originally Posted by Ross in East Texas

I have a friend that swears that his dad bought a '55 Ford with a 312 "Police Interceptor" engine. He even says that his father had to get permission from the local Sheriff before he could purchase it!
I just can not believe this. Every bit of information that I can dig up says the first 312's were not cast until late 1956?
What do all the experts here say?

No expert (an "ex" is a has been and a "spurt" is just a drip under pressure), but yo ur skepticism is well founded. The first 312 was introduced in late '56 calendar year, '57 model year. I don't doubt that somebody put one in a '55, as it's a bolt-in swap, and the '55 may well have been an old cop car, but it didn't start life with a 312. As far as having to get permission from the local sheriff to buy the car, I have my doubts about that. Any car that the owner wants to sell can be bought by any person who has the money to pay the seller's price.

[paul2748]

No 312 in 1955, period.

Originally Posted by Ross in East Texas

I have a friend that swears that his dad bought a '55 Ford with a 312 "Police Interceptor" engine. He even says that his father had to get permission from the local Sheriff before he could purchase it!
I just can not believe this. Every bit of information that I can dig up says the first 312's were not cast until late 1956?
What do all the experts here say?

[Kahuna]

40 coupe is correct. In 1958 the 352 CI engine in the Fairlanes was called the Thunderbird Interceptor Special. It was the 300 Horse engine

[sanborn]

I don't know if my comments are really "germain" to the discussion. But, coming from a moonshine state(TN), I do know that the state had engines built for Ford trooper cars that were not stock. Example---55 and 56 Fords that had 3X2 intakes with aftermarket cams(Isky, I believe). A local shop did the engines. They also built some oval race engines---and probably for moonshiners too!

Later, in the 70s Georgia had Pontiac Trans Ams setup for moonshine chasing. They had 421HO engines, four speed, some with 2X4 intakes. I believe that Catousa County still had a couple about five years ago.

[Ross in East Texas]

By the way, this was in the 50's and the car was nearly new I believe. But I agree with you, this is in all probability, pure BS.

[Daves55Sedan]

When I was a Junior in High school (1972) I bought my first car a 55 Ford I am still driving today (pictured at left). I had the only 55 Ford in the school parking lot. Another fellow had a 56 fordor sedan he thought was a police interceptor. It had a y-block engine with dual exhausts, 4bbl intake, dual point distributor with dual vacuum diaphragm and had steel valve covers like the ordinary Y-blocks but the had "Thunderbird Special V8" sticker on them. The car did have a spotlight and the running light wiring had been modified with a second flasher for flashing lights. The car had Master guide power steering and swift-sure power brakes. I dont doubt that the engine was a 312, but was it a police interceptor ???

[bowsawkid]

Originally Posted by Daves55Sedan

When I was a Junior in High school (1972) I bought my first car a 55 Ford I am still driving today (pictured at left). I had the only 55 Ford in the school parking lot. Another fellow had a 56 fordor sedan he thought was a police interceptor. It had a y-block engine with dual exhausts, 4bbl intake, dual point distributor with dual vacuum diaphragm and had steel valve covers like the ordinary Y-blocks but the had "Thunderbird Special V8" sticker on them. The car did have a spotlight and the running light wiring had been modified with a second flasher for flashing lights. The car had Master guide power steering and swift-sure power brakes. I dont doubt that the engine was a 312, but was it a police interceptor ???

It most likely was a 292 as the 292 and 312 thunderbird engines both looked identical, both had the same valve cover decal but there were only 47 4 doors built with the 312 and thousands with the 292.

[Ross in East Texas]

It definitely does sound like this was, at least, a retired police vehicle doesn't it?
Your 55 looks very much like one that I traded for in about 1965 except mine wasn't nearly as slick as yours. Mine did have a 292 in it but it came from a truck. I sold this car for $100, sure wish that I had it back now.

[Milt/Las Vegas]

The little town I grew up in police dept.had a 59 station wagon supposedly with a 361 police intercepter.They would never let us look at it.

[LOWRIDER]

"Had to get permission from the sheriff to buy it". I don't believe that one. I've worked for car dealers for 40 yrs and some of the deals that have been made would make you sick. Car salesmen aren't considered sleazy for no reason.

[rick55]

"Another fellow had a 56 fordor sedan he thought was a police interceptor. It had a y-block engine with dual exhausts, 4bbl intake, dual point distributor with dual vacuum diaphragm and had steel valve covers like the ordinary Y-blocks but the had "Thunderbird Special V8" sticker on them."
All 56 292's were called Thunderbird Specials with everything you mention. It was an advertising ploy of Ford as the 292 was the 1955 Thunderbird engine (though it was possible to get a 56 with a 312). They weren't really lying, just stretching the truth. The distributor you talk about is the standard dissy fitted to all 4 barrel cars but it didn't have dual points.
For their day the 56's were a pretty quick car with the 292 and all the accompanying fruit. The lack of the crossover pipe contributed significantly to power output.
Regards