1996 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1 *unmolested* (2 owners, MVPD + me), 149k miles

1996 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1 Description

Apologies for the lengthy description, but I am a history teacher and car enthusiast and we do our best to provide detail! :)
Up for sale is a 1996 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1. If you're looking for an unmolested 9C1, this is the one.
My goal: I'd love for this car to go to a 9C1 enthusiast who will appreciate the lengths I've gone through to keep it as original as when I bought it.. (Or, if you prefer: someone who recognizes how awesome it is that I've been too busy with other cars to update the interior of the car in any way.. heheh!) Ideally, I'd love for this car to make it back to Mountain View so that it can visit the Mountain View PD office and find any officers that actually used it while it was in service.. Bonus points if you're a current or ex-LEO.. :)
History of the car:I purchased this car in June 2009 after the unfortunate demise of my daily driver '67 Barracuda Coupe (hit while she was parked by a reckless teenager in daddy's 2-year-old mustang GT convertible.. Still angry!).. My purchase requirements were V8 and air conditioning.. I'd always wanted a 9C1, and this one came up..
Originally issued to the small Northern California bedroom community of Mountain View, CA, this unit racked up 95,000 miles before it was retired. Tire size indicates it was a regular cruiser and not a pursuit vehicle (though, I've slapped the 235s on it because the 225s were scarce).. The person I bought it from on eBay is well known in Concord, CA, for cleaning up old police vehicles and sending them off to enthusiasts. This one appeared to receive a fresh coat of white paint, as well as a replacement back seat (the original was the plastic style with the recessed area for handcuffs. Some of the silicon seal used to seal it to the floor remains.. The replacement back seat is a caprice back seat in vinyl)..
I daily drove this car for the next 54k miles.. I've stopped driving it daily because I was able to score a decent deal on a new Focus ST.. That 0% interest really makes it hard not to.. And, the 6-speed manual... ;)
The Cop Car:This car has all the cop stuff and a few extra things that aren't hooked up anymore.. (They left the Whelan box under the hood, for example).. It has the rear door control disable harnesses (though, I removed them so the power door locks work back there. They are included with the vehicle, they've just been stored in the rear door storage pocket.)
The exterior:The car is pretty clean, with some age showing on the paintjob and trim now (see pictures). There's no rust that I can find anywhere (It's been in California it's whole life). Overall it shows very well and shines up nicely. When backing into my garage a few years ago I cracked the driver's side mirror.. The replacement unit fit great, works great, but it appears they used some cheap clearcoat on it because it's peeling a bit..
The interior:I have purposefully not changed anything on this car from when it was retired from service. This car wears all the scars it had at the time of retirement.. The steering wheel is physically worn down from all the hours the police spent in this car.. (I was going to do a leather steering wheel wrap, as one of the companies has a blue leather that matches the correct blue of the cop interior, but it just feels like a true police car as is..) The rear door panels have impressions in the vinyl from where window bars were fitted.. There's a wear spot in the driver's seat where it appears the pistol in the pistol belt wore a bald patch in the velour.. The lower passenger door panel still has the coffee stains, I didn't want to change the authenticity of it.. There's a vinyl patch done from when it was in service that I didn't bother changing. The panels have screw holes where external speakers appear to have been, etc.. The driver's door panel has the typical wear associated with officers needing to make a hasty exit from the vehicle (including a chunk from the speaker grill.) All in all, I didn't want to change a thing.. The one place where it's showing a bit of "a bit too authentic" wear is in the sun visors. They came to me like that and I've never bothered changing them out. The headliner shower a bit of wear where a Kustom Signals Eyewitness camera system was mounted. I have the unit in question, plus spares that can go with the car if the buyer wants them. The interior features a radio console with head units for the GE radio, and the arrowstick controller. These were disconnected when it was brought out of service, it appears, as no wiring runs to them. I added the cup holders to make the vehicle a bit more functional for my civilian life. The Panasonic Toughbook (running Windows 95! Woo! Sadly, it has a Kernel32.exe error so I didn't bother trying to recover anything further) and the mount are similarly included if desired. It still has the original rubber floor, places where the mounts for the prisoner partition must have been, and so on.. It's about as original as it gets..One change I did make was to install a DetailSS double-din radio kit because honestly-- the original radio left much to be desired and the cops had installed something in the dash where the screw holes were unsightly.. The DetailSS kit made short work of that.. It's ready for a new radio and speakers-- either a double DIN or a single-DIN with a storage pocket underneath. I left all the wiring for the radio, plus the wiring for the amplifier and such. Sorry for the terrible interior photos taken at night! I have a flickr account (if you google flickr and my username you'll find it) with a ton of photos from when I bought the car originally-- interior hasn't changed at all except for the radio upgrade. Ebay limits me to 24! Hmph..
I have a trunk mat for it, but I found a good trunk interior in the junkyard so I ran that.. I had to cut it a bit for the chunk of plywood MVPD used to mount the Eyewitness Camera box..
The drivetrain:The 5.7L is original to the car, and received fleet maintenance its whole life. Any parts replaced were replaced with police specific parts where available.. So... What have I replaced or serviced? There's a list that follows.. A transmission cooler/radiator seam allowed the ATF to become contaminated, killing the transmission last summer. My mechanic found a shop that rebuilt the transmission to the exact specs the cop cars run (there's a difference in programming, plus heavy duty parts) This car does exhibit the typical Caprice issue of an exhaust leak at head/exhaust manifold surface.. Many folks fix it by doubling up on the exhaust manifold gaskets, I've just been too busy to do such.. I have too many cars demanding attention and since this one runs great other than that, it hasn't received the attention.. When the car warms up, the exhaust leak tick goes away, so it hasn't been a priority for me.. Most other sellers would just not mention this and hope the buyer doesn't notice, but I'd rather be honest and up front.. Whatever helps me sleep better at night, right? Also, I'm told there's something a bit off with the radiator fans when the AC is turned off, however I always run the car with the AC so it's never given me trouble. I haven't bothered to diagnose the issue because it doesn't give me any troubles in hot weather (100+ degrees), inclines, etc. But, it's worth mentioning for so the buyer isn't taken by surprise should they accidentally turn off the AC. Again, what kinda seller reveals this sort of info? An honest one. This car has almost exclusively been serviced at George Bates automotive in Upland, CA, the go-to people for B-Bodies (and, the shop that refurbished these cars for departments desperately trying to keep them in service).. Now that George has retired and moved the shop onward to some of his employees, I've been less inclined to make the hour-and-a-half drive out there..
Front end suspension has been kept in order. It drives like it should..Just smogged it (passed with flying colors) for registration renewal. Tagged til 2018.New radiator put in around 148kNew air conditioning compressor around 115kNew alternator about 130kNew plugs and plug wires [NOS 9C1 stuff, done by a GM dealership mechanic] at 144k (I thought the police had serviced them at 90k? Nope. 100k! So, originals went to 144k and it ran just fine.. 80 thousandths gap and it was still running just fine..)New fuel pump at 148k (sadly, the GM dealership guy didn't bother checking the fuel sender so the car runs empty at about 1/4 tank.. Annoying, but not worth yanking the fuel pump out)New battery about 9 months ago..NOS Radiator overflow tank at 148k-- The old one was good, but the coolant sensor apparently went out.. And, apparently they don't make it easily changeable!? Anyway, luckily George Bates Auto had one sitting around.. Including the old one in the trunk if you like..Tires are a few years old now but no signs of giving up the ghost.. Firestone Indy Firehawk 500s..
I would not hesitate to drive this car coast-to-coast.
The Fine Print and details:No unrestored car of this age is without it's flaws. I've done my best to document and make light of any particularities with the car. A $500, non-refundable deposit is due at the close of the auction to secure the vehicle. This may be done via paypal, with the balance completed via cashier's check or cash in person. Sorry, no wire transfers or any of that sketchy stuff. Once the vehicle is paid for, I'm happy to keep the vehicle safe in my locked, patrolled RV Storage area until the buyer is able to secure airfare/time off work/transport/etc. Please, though, no more than 2 weeks. It would be displacing one of my cars to be rotated on the street. I'm happy to allow your mechanic to check it out, skype or facetime a tour of the vehicle, etc. Message me via ebay or text 949-415-4686. I have a complete Carfax on the vehicle from 04/2016 when I was originally thinking of selling it to a friend. The vehicle is NOT currently being listed locally, though it does appear on a few internet groups devoted to these cars. It's not likely to sell out from underneath you during the auction, but I thought I'd mention it in case someone comes at me with cash. (Actually, the reserve is the best cash offer I've received locally.)
**Not included for sale is the dashcam hanging from the rearview. Sorry, I run them in all my vehicles and didn't realize that I snapped photos of it as part of the prep for sale.
Please ask your girlfriend/wife/mom/dad/boyfriend/husband before bidding on this vehicle. If you're clicking buy-it-now, you've got cash in hand or a cashier's check ready to go.Check your bank balance and make sure you don't have something that will make you unable to follow through with a commitment to buy. Thank you :)