A fun article by Tom McCahill from Mechanix Illustrate about the 68 Oldsmbobiles with the Apprehender package:

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"In 22 years of testing, with this issue, I've only come across three really great American automobiles. I'm not counting four-wheel-drive specials or Cunningham-type sports cars but regular family-type cars. The first great one was the Mexican Road Race Lincoln of 1953. Next was the Chrysler 300F of 1960 and now the 1968 Oldsmobile State Police car. Of course, if you wish but, in my book, it's a great sedan buuilt the way every other American car should be, including the regular Olds.

If the Washington vacumn heads dictating safety would go for a ride in one of these rigs they should quickly realize that this is the answer. If they had the intelligence of a chipmunk they'd know that roadable cars, such as the Olds police special would save more lives and prevent more injuries than all the recessed door controls, instrument buttons, door buzzers and breakaway mirrors that could be made in the next 30 years.

Frankly, though I test dozens or cars each year, I'd almost forgotten how good a car can be when engineering is given a free hand and not influenced by sales, dowagers and advertising.

As you undoubtedly know, a number of companies specialize in police cars, which are usually rugged, functional pieces of equipment. Though I have driven other makes, this Olds, whihc is called the Police Apprehender, must be rated tops. The sad part is that is your typical olds dealer was not so typical he would encourage you to order this type of car for your own use. It would cost only a few dollars more than the standard blobs.

At this writing only California and Missouri are using the Olds for police work. In these states don't try to outrun the cops because they can eat you alive. Many owners of hot specials can run as fast or faster on a track or turnpike but to try to outrun the Apprehender on any normal highway cold be disastrous. These cop rigs had such top roadability, especially where roads bend or twist, you would't have a prayer of escaping with a standard Detroit underpinning.

You may be asking yourself why we are testing a police car and not an ordinary people's pail. We have had dozens of letters through the years asking about police and police cars. "Were they faster?" "Do they have secret equipment?" and similar queries.

We knew that some were faster than Joe Citizen's bus, but not all, and nearly all of us have heard freinds tell about outrunning cops. These stories are usually exaggerated, espically if the fuzz had top equipment. Years ago it used to be considered great sport to outrun a few law-and-order boys on trips between New York and Florida. In those days the kinds in the funny hats only had Model-A Fords and similar appredenders and no radios. Today if the fuzz find they are chasing a full-blown nut doing upwards of 130 they get on the radio to a patrol car ahead and back off. This is a cinch on a turnpike or interstate where exits can be blocked. However under most circumstances a bomb, such as our test job, can catch offenders before they can blink.

This Olds police canoe has a high-torque, mid-range cam and a special automatic transmission with shift points up to 90. In testing we found if you jump the throttle while crusing at 50 MPH you can get up to 80 in 6.1 seconds and to a full 100 in 10.8. As your Aunt Matilda can tell you, this is really sliding over the pavement. our cop rig was powered by a gigantic 455 cubic inch eigine that develops 390 hp. Zero to 30 took 3.1 seconds, 0 to 50 averaged 5.2 and 0 to 60 was 7.9. It turned the quarter-mile in 15.2 seconds and the 100 in 16.4 This means if you are cruising flat out in a family rig, Joe Law could slide out from behind that billboard and nail you before you had gone another mile. Top speed was a nose tweak over 130 MPH on the Daytona Speedway, which brings up a silly point and about the only silly thing I could find about the car. This bag of bolts had a certified police speedometer that only registered to 120 MPH. I guess after 120 you just get the full book thrown at you and you don't have to worry whether you were doing 129 or 126.

The rear axle ratio is 3.08, which is not exactly a dragster's happy tail but those high shift points with the transmission kept it moving up fast, which partially explains the 15.2 quarter-mile time.

On the Daytona Sports-Car course this squirrel cornered almost as flat as a Ferrari and when I purposely spun it out several times there was no uncontrollable roll and I cold get it back on line with a wrist flick, as it had power steering. The car was equipped with what Olds calls an ultra-high-voltage ignition system to prevent breakdown during high acceleration runs and at top speed. It also had an anti-spin differential to give the rear wheel with the most traction the go ahead. The tires which were 15x8.45. were Goodyear so-called police specials with a 6-ply rating.

The thing that gives this fuzz twirler its superiority is not its speed or its 390-hp engine but its roadability. Where this car differs from showroom traps is thhrough its heavy-duty front and rear shock absorbers, plus extra-heavy front and rear stabilizer bars which keep all four wheels on the ground. Few people know, or refuse to know,, that firm suspension is a lot more restful on a trip than a jello mushpot. The usual American sedan keeps you bobbing like a cork in a washing machine. Believe it or not, this takes quite a lot of physical effort on a long run. The passengers and driver in a firmly suspended car rarely bob or sway and remain fresher for this reason. I realize you's have a hard time selling these thoughts to your mother-in-law but these are facts not fancy. The Madison Avenue ad boys have brainwashed the American car buyers so well that nearly every car on the road today is at least twice as dangerous and tiring as it should be. With firm suspension there is some chop action over corduroy roads and those with a series of potholes but then these are the types of roads most people try to avoid.

In summing up, though our test car would not be considered a high-style rig, espically with its black-and-white paint job, it was the greatest American car I have driven since 1960. I tooled this car around the countryside and over interstates for many miles but before I had gone my first mile I realized I was in a truly great piece of transportation. The steering was quick and crisp and when whirling out in passing maneuvers you knew that all four wheels were on the ground and that you had complete command of any situation that might pop up. I could't help but think what an advantage the cops really have with these rigs for whipping in and out or reaching high speeds in an eyeblink. My Mexican Lincoln was like this but that was 15 years ago.

You eagle-eyed MI readers who noticed that the car on the cover is not the Olds Police Apprehender are right. It's a late model Ford used by the Florida Highway Patrol State Troopers.

In summing up the summing up, we've tested a lot of good cars on these pages over the years--some well suspended, some with great performance and many with toop lushness and reliability--but this fuzz bucket is one of the three great and the kind of a rig I would personally like to own for the next ten years. The crying shame of it is that makes this car far superior-and safer- thatn its contemporaries can be had for less than 100 bucks extra.

Just in case you are wondering why in some pictures the car has police lights and not in others, here's why. I felt that in our runs around the sports-car course and on the high banks they might cause some problems so we yanked them. Besides they look nice in my den."

Those little hubcaps must be hen's teeth, not to mention the rims.

Canadian Poncho wrote:

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Are the bumper guards aftermarket? They seem to match the contour of the bumper. I agree they are ugly. I'd love to see the GM docs for this one.

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 Here are the Docs on the Oldsmobile from GM. The bumper guards are correct to the car, valve covers are not, the breather looks to be missing parts etc. This according to my research on this rare old beast. Lots of dough though for the car, but if it was frame off as seller states, there would have been some money spent for sure. Couple of my posting were in Petawawa the Ottawa back in the day, rust was an issue so one would need to look over it carefully.