L I State Parkway Police Cars 8

I purchased this car on Ebay three years ago. As you can see from the photos, the car was blue and wasn't a police car. With the help of Major Rich O'Donnell at State Park Police Headquarters in Babylon, he helped me with some photos and old equipment found over at the maintenance garage. I did all the work on this myself. Enjoy.

Tom

Tom Grenci, Jr.

Mike Capasso, Jr. on the right.

My dad came up from Florida in March to drive it in the Montauk
St. Patricks

Tom Grenci, Sr.

Tom Grenci Sr. and Jr.

Tom Grenci Sr.

with son and grandson.

Tom Grenci, Jr. sent us the following images:

1946 Ford 1948 Ford 1954 Ford

1962 Ford 1963 Plymouth 1967 Ford

1970 Ply. 1972 Plymouth 1973 Plym.

I guess it was 1957 and I was a seasonal police officer at Jones Beach State Park.
Sgt. LaBella told me to take the 1954 Ford out to Babylon Repair shop for some
work on the vehicle. I told him that I never drove a shift car. He told me, don't worry about it, "I'll show you, and by the time you get to the Wantagh State Parkway you will know how to drive a shift car." And he was correct. I went down the Bay Parkway, then north on the Wantagh State Parkway and driving a shift car was a snap.
I turned east on Southern State Parkway, and came upon road work out in Suffolk County where they were widening the parkway from two lanes to three lanes, east bound.
I had to stop for traffic ahead, and found that to be difficult. I stalled the car, started it up again, went too fast on the clutch, and stalled out again. Nobody behind me would dare honk a horn at a parkway police car. I started it up again, but I could see traffic was stop and go, so I pulled up onto the grass shoulder, somewhat embarrassed at my lack of driving skills, and on the grass stalled the car out again. Who ever heard of a parkway cop who could not drive a 54 Ford? (I had learned to drive with an automatic 55 Chevrolet.
Oh, do I remember that great automobile. Wonderful car it was!)
Traffic seemed to clear up, so I went out into lane one, and soon came to stopped traffic again. I pulled onto the grass shoulder and stalled out the car. I felt like getting out and kicking the car, to show the passing gawking motorists that it was not me, it was this damn crap box of a car the state issued me.
Soon I got a radio call from Jones Beach Station inquiring if I got to Babylon yet.
I told them no, because of construction traffic, and the car kept stalling.
Jones Beach Station told me to add the stalling problem to the list of things for the mechanics to work on.

I finally got to the Babylon auto maintenance shop, and the car probably needed a clutch job due to my learning experience.

I got shuttled back to Jones Beach by way of post 37.
I had the privilege of "flying" with Al Ruthenberg.
We were going down the Ocean Parkway at 90 miles and hour,
and I told Al that I was in no hurry to get back to the Jones Beach Station.
Al said that he had to get back to Bayshore Road to meet someone for his
lunch period, but not to worry, he was a good driver.

I asked, "what happens if we get a blow out?" He looked at me, a cigar
sticking out of his grinning mouth and said, "We pull over to the side of the road, and you change the flat."

By the time I drove the 62 Plymouth, which we do not have an image of, I felt that I was
a permanent pro. I chased a speeder to the end of the Loop State Parkway, (yes, that was the parkway where the Godfather's relative or somebody he loved, got gunned down at the toll both. I wasn't working that tour) At the end of the Loop State Parkway,
as I went over the bridge, and approached the triangle exit, I applied my brakes,
and found out that there was no substantial rear end weight on the 62 Plymouth.
I slid sideways onto the grass shoulder, and came to a stop, inches away from one of those beautiful wooden light poles, which if you bumped, would snap, and fall on top of your car doing a lot of damage.

I never had an accident with a police car. But, I had close calls.

--- hank springer April 5, 2007

Tom Dixon