Hotrods and Customs must be good in cops eyes

Similar experience here. In our little nowhereville town some of the cops seem to know us. Last summer, my son was riding around town on my '37 Harley UL. A cop pulled him over and scared the crap outa him! Could'a had some illegal substance with him I'm guessing. Turns out the cop just wanted to check the bike out and gave him a compliment on it......
Nice story - happy ending!

 

The former Chief of Police, in St Paul was a big time rodder and Harley guy. Used to see him at lots of car shows. He was on the TV a few times at car shows and bike events. Pretty high profile. A good guy.
St Paul has always been pretty rodder friendly. A lot of the other communites around here are too. There's a lot of shows and cruise nights in Minnesota. Seems like more every year. Most particapants seem to keep it pretty low key. That helps.

 

I think you're right. If I had been a 20 year old kid when I was stopped in the Mazda I probably wouldn't have been so lucky.

 

So how is it in texas ,with classic cars what does a person have to do (inspection and license plates)we are heading that way in June .

 

Yeah well burn outs are fun so Im going to keep doing them.

 

I agree. If you act like an asshole, you'll get treated like one (ask me how I know ). It's more important how old you act than how old you actually are.

 

My .02 for Texas.
41 Pontiac, 54 ford pickup, 28 sedan hot rod. Nothing but thumbs up. Can't keep up with the inspections stickers, never been stopped. Don't like front license plates so we don't run them. Never been stopped.
The 28 is loud with dumps open, never been stopped. My son is 18 and drives the 28 a lot. Only attention he ever got was in a parking lot hanging with some buddies; Cop rolled up and told them they were going to speed trap a bunch of ricers that were buzzing the lot, so they might want to slip out the other end.
They really seem to be focused on the racers and hell raisers. Drive friendly and they overlook the small shit.

 

My mistake. I should have known that, since I have seen the movie more than once! Chalk it up to my "CRS".

 

you cant be fuckin serious........grow up all your doing is causing shit for guys around you and looking like a punk,if you want to act like that on the street around the public go buy a fuckin honda

 

Most of it's about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I grew up in the oldest neighborhoods of Dayton, OH- full of Appalachian immigrants and the otherwise working poor. When I was 18-20 yrs old, I did nothing but work my arse off at a body shop and work on my car. The police wouldn't leave me alone.

I moved to the 'burbs when I was 22, and never got a ticket again.

 

I found this to be painfully true. Many years ago, I felt I was above the law. I drove like an idiot, acted like an idiot and was an idiot. Not surprisingly, when I was stopped by the police, I was ticketed for anything and everything. I'm now ashamed at the things I did, but at the time, I was proud of how I acted, I thought of myself as a rebel, a true outlaw hot rodder. After spending enough time and money in both traffic court and on insurance, I finally wised up and acted like an adult. I remember my Dad telling me that I wasn't the first smartass the cops had ever seen and that they would be here long after I was gone, and they would still have the law on their side. After my attitude change, I quit getting tickets, even if I got stopped. The cops magically overlook vehicle violations if the vehicle in question isn't being driven by a moron who thinks the speed limit is a suggestion. I haven't gotten a ticket since '92, I pay next to nothing for insurance and have gotten by with a warning by treating the cop like a human being more than once. Not by kissing ass, but by being respectful and not argueing. Court is for argueing, and while you'll likelky lose there as well, telling the cop how "my taxes pay your salary" sure as shit won't work, so why not be a man and face the music.

 

Sometimes I wish I was a cop so i could pull over cars just to look at them. On Sunday I was driving down a fourlane and coming to a red light. There was a trailer behind a SUV at the light. I pulled into the next lane so i wouldn't have to poke along behind him from the light. As I rolled up to him I see that there's an engine in the trailer...then I see two smallish air cleaners sticking up. Then i see the Thunderbird valve covers and the weird exhaust manifolds, they look like metal boxes. Then it strikes me it's a marine engine, with waterjacket cooled exhaust. Then i finally see the wood boat console behind the engine with the marine type throttles on it. Now if I had been a cop i coulda pulled the guy over and found out the story behind the dual quad Y block....

 

That's my story almost word for word. At one point in Illinois I was on supervision in three counties for driving like a moron. Got married, had kids and now cops just wave at me and smile. Being fat, dumb, and happy has it's perks.

Nik

 

I have also gone through the youth pulled over and the older age letting it slide. However, I must say that it is more than the car or the age. I was driving my GF's plain, boring car at night, and they STILL honed in on me like sharks to chum. They have a sense, like us knowing there is vintage tin nearby. I also pulled the attitude three times. Twice it made no difference, the other it got me out of a wrongful ticket. My driving has slowed, but I'll still release the hounds from time to time.

 

Isn't this a Barris creation?

 

Ahhh. A fellow Antelope Valley resident.

I live in Quartz Hill. I have had good and bad experiences in different cars. I think it has more to do with what the cops out here consider "suspicious". It's no secret that we have a gang problem in some parts of town. It's no secret that there are certain neighborhoods that are more prone to "trouble". Car wise, it seems to me that the Sheriff's deputies out here always on the lookout for anyone even resembling a lowrider...or dare I say...minority. I feel like it's fucking 1977 on Whittier Blvd. I can cruise my 53(in my avatar) all day and night long without ever getting stopped or hassled in any way. I used to drive my 62 Tbird all over the Antelope Valley. Flaked, cragars, low as hell...got pulled over twice. Once for not signaling and another for no front plate. Sorta got hassled, but they were still alright. My other car is a 73 Monte Carlo. Lifted(hydros), Truspokes, 8" chain steering wheel, oldschool lowrider style. I've been pulled over more in the past 3 months than in the last 10 years combined. The cops out here DO NOT like this car. I get stopped for absolutely no legitimate reason at all. They give me lame reasons like "you were swerving" or "we thought you had a tail light out". or my favorite one..."There have been a couple cars like this stolen recently". Really? I know these fuckers ran the plate before they stopped me and it came up clean. After they dick me around for 15 minutes they always let me go with no citation. I'm clean as a wistle. I got pulled over across the street from Lane Park a couple blocks from where I live. Taking my daughter to guitar practice. The cop asked me where I was coming from and if I lived in Palmdale? Then he saw the address on my license and knew that I live in a nicer house than he does. He had a total attitude but he immediately let me go.

I am not very fond of Antelope Valley cops. They profile like mofo. I have a few different cars with very different styles. I drive them all very regularly. It can't be a coincidence that I only get pulled over in certain ones. But it is what it is. Whatayagonnado.

 

Never been bothered in my street rod, but I'm in a rural county in NW GA. I've gotten to know a good many of the Rockmart and Cedartown as well as Polk County police as a result of working with the Department of Family and Children Services. While I mainly do adoptions rather than investigations, we are all in the rotation for after hours on call, so I've gotten to know a bunch of them from after hours CPS cases when I've been on call. The only time I've ever been hassled was when I was a long way from home driving a Plain Jane nondescript vehicle (2WD Ford Ranger pickup). If you're in east Tennessee and you've got a tag from a distant state, go out of your way to avoid the little town of Benton. They have been running a speed trap racket there for decades, and if they see you go through on 411 with a tag from a distant state, you will get a ticket regardless of actual speed. I lived in Maryland at the time they got me, I was running at or below the posted 35 MPH and got cited for 51. If you're a long way from home, they'll make up whatever numbers they want to.

 

You nailed it. Draw attention to yourself by doing stupid things and you will probably get stopped. Common sense.

 

That's normally the case, but sometimes the cops respond to a situation, like trying to get kids to stop hanging out at a certain place. When I was a kid, they used to mess with us just to keep us from coming back. I got a ticket once for "unattended motor vehicle". I had my stone stock, plain jane 62 Ford Galaxy parked at the local hang out and the cops were messing with the kids with the jacked up Cuda's and Camaro's and there I was cool as a cucumber on the hood of my car figuring I was safe when John Law walks over and looks’ in my car to see my keys dangling in the ignition. Yep, I got a ticket. Oh well, live and learn.....<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

Cops love Kustoms! We cruised Gas Lamp District in my friends hammered 40 merc in San Diego this weekend with no plate on the back just a Kustoms los angeles plaque (Matranga stlye) and the cops were lovin the sled.

 

I've actually noticed that a lot of cops in my area are car guys, so we get along great. I've actually had lengthy conversations with several, especially one fella who is a die-hard mopar guy. Generally speaking, cops are good judges of character, and if you're not a douche and not flagrantly violating the law, they'll cut you slack. Show respect to them, the law, and others, and you shouldn't have trouble.

 

I used to live in San Diego for little bit. All the cops that I encountered seemed real cool. This one cop that lived by me had a badass 62 Corvette. Dude was a nice guy. And yeah, it seems like alot of cops do like Kustoms.

I really think it has alot to do with where you live and what agency you're dealing with. Sometimes these guys deal with so much bullshit, it's no wonder why they have the disposition they do. But it's still no fun when you're on the exploding end of a cop's short fuse. LAPD Foothill Division...assholes, but I can't blaim them. LAPD Devonshire Division...pretty cool. San Fernando PD...okay for the most part. Burbank PD...friendly. LA County Sheriff in Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley...ASSHOLES.

 

well, i drive my 51 buick on a daily basis. Rust through the paint, flames, and 4 feet of exhaust dumping right behind the right front tire. Haven't been bothered once!

 

before i got ETStreets i ran my 69Fury on real slicks, and about 5%tint on the windows. Cops in town see the car, thinking that is all about style and that i'm just chillin'. They are more interested in the import, and sport bike jockies that are "dippin" in traffic. They let me be, in my 61Falcon, too.

Full head of grey since i was 35 helps, too.


oh- once i my buddy and i took my 69 Fury and his 69tubeframe Nova out to a "test spot" to watch some friends (88TA and a MarkVIII Lincoln on spray) run. afterwards, an officer showed up and headed towards US in the parking lot (the other guys went unnoticed) We hadn't done anything but watch, but we looked the part... He hit my car with the beam of his light and asked "what's it run?"
me: "pretty slow, actually (built for attitude)"
him: "what, what is it?"
me: (didn't want to go through the whole speel of being one of 900 2 door sedan Furys) "it's um, it's for sale!"

he got all goofy "awww man i cant afford that kinda stuff, you guys stay safe, see ya" - the other two finally got out of their cars laughing their asses off "we thought you were going to jail for OUR race, lol"

 

i dunno i've been pulled over several times for no front plate, then i put it in the windshield and they started telling me it "not properly displayed" because it was at an angle. I've driven with inspection and registration expired by 15-20 years and i've driven with it expired just over a week. Guess which one i got a ticket for? In the rain at night and the cop bust me for registration being over a week overdue, my first ticket when i was 17. But i live/drive in some of the heaviest patrolled areas of NE San Antonio (Schertz,Selma,Live Oak, Converse,Windcreast) .

Just practice "What do you mean i don't have a front plate officer? I coulda swore it was on there before i left. I guess it happens with these older cars"

 

Doing work on my house and i needed to put my car somewhere untill i finished the garage.My buddy don offers his because he totaled his vette and had a open spot for the winter.I took the mufflers off the coupe to see what the flathead sounded like,with tailpipes and megaphones it sounded good but REAL loud.Just a phaze im going through i guess.I never went to his house driving west to east,so the road looked un familliar.I was careful not to speed and to compleatly stop at the stop signs because he told me they were giving tickets latley in the area.
So im driving slowly looking for his block,after two stop signs im driving real slow a cop appears in the rear view.Im thinking great,all my stuff is up to date,the only thing is a muffler ticket.
I stop at a light on a two way street and he pulls up beside me in the oncomming traffic lane and rolls his window down.
I see his lips move but hear nothing,he starts to yell,still cant understand a thing.I shut the car off and he is screaming "Will you get on that thing allready,Your drivig way too slow".
Light turned green,so not to upset the law i ran through 1st and 2nd pretty hard.
Here in ny or atleast long island i havent had a issue with real old stuff.The imports and mustangs seem to keep them busy enough.

 

I notice the same.. i have a 53 merc ( slammed ) and running straigt pipes with no mufflers, and have rolled thru sobriety checkedpoints and i'll i've heard is nice car, have a nice night.... Ed ( Lancaster )