LRGJr72 said:
Actually, I'm the little kid in the 70's pic with the blue car... then I'm the officer standing with the car and setting sun in the backdrop. They did have a thing for thick bars. They had a whole mix of stuff at the same time in the 1970s (TwinSonics, Federal 184s, Whelen strobe & rotator beacons in singles and pairs). Around 1982 they went exclusively with the Whelen 8000 series lightbar, blue domes loaded with clear cut-outs. From the front you had blue strobe/takedown/clear strobe/SPEAKER GRILL/clear strobe/takedown/blue strobe while there were side cutouts for alley lights. The rear was the same minus the takedowns. When the 8000 series production ended MPD replaced it with the Whelen Edge series strobe bar. Exact same format... blue/takedown/clear/CENTER/clear/takedown/blue. When the LED bars took over they finally dropped the flashing clears. The bars are now all-blue with clear takedowns and alleys.
The Memphis Police car graphics with the outline of Tennessee were a copy of the TN State Trooper design.
When they were new, the 8000's also had cruise lights.
After the 8000's, they went with A mix of Edge and AdvantEdge bars (the one on the car your standing by) or however Whelen spelled those things.
Now with the Liberty's, I will give them that they are more specific to function. The traffic cars have amber in the rear where the standard cars do not. Also, the takedowns will operate in flash or steady.
I agree that the retro blue cars would look great! Especially with red/blue bars like you suggested. Maybe that will be a photoshop project one day. Maybe I can find a Michigan State Highway Patrol charger and change the graphics. I also wish they would let fire put a couple of blue lights on the back, just to mix things up some and stand out more at night, but that will most likely never happen.
The current design is compliments of budget cuts. Plain stripes and letters.
Lastly, the ole 223 & 224 sirens were the best. There still a few out there, but not many.