A little history for Revell/Monogram's Chevy Caprice Police Car Kit

In 1989 I was writing a column for Scale Auto Enthusiast called "Light Commercial." Some friends and I got the idea to encourage Monogram to produce a then-current Chevy Caprice (like the white one). We put together a letter you could send for, sign, and send to Monogram's new products managers.

I got tons of requests for the letters. About sixteen months later, I was at Salt Lake for the Great Salt Lake Model Car Championship, and got a chance to sit down with Bob Johnson, who was one of Monogram's product manager team.

Bob told me confidentially that they were going to do a Caprice but said that Chevy had dramatically redesigned the Caprice, so Monogram was going to do the new car. They showed up a few months later, and were a big hit. Chimneyville Hobbies wound up doing state police or highway patrol decals from all 50 states, aftermarket people produced light bars and other equipment, and reinvigorated that segment of the hobby.

When Revell/Monogram changed the kit to reflect the changes on the new '93 Impala SS, the cop car parts disappeared. But it was still possible to build a police cruiser with some minor modifications. So the Caprice has soldiered on as probably the best police car model ever.

The first black and white is actually a '91/92 modified into a '93. The second black and white is a modified Impala.

3 additional images. Click to enlarge.