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Sons of the Gray Ghost
Courtesy of:
Hawaii Motorbeat Monthly
By
Paul Maddox
We're all used to seeing, sometimes
too late, our unmarked Hawai'i police cars. They range from SUV's to
stealthy Mustangs and Chargers, and without their blue light on top
you really don't have a clue.
My first introduction to Hawai'i law
enforcement vehicles was in 1962, cruising down Kuhio Avenue in
Waikiki headed toward Diamond Head ~ which was still clearly visible
down the 2-lane street in those days.
I had just chipped in with a couple of
guys to co-rent a studio apartment in the now long-gone 40's-era
Islander. The 2-story apartments were buried in the palm shrouded
'jungle' behind the Waikiki Theater and International Marketplace
and fronted the somewhat seedy Kuhio Ave. Parking was limited and I
was trolling along on a Sunday morning looking for a space when I
spotted one I'd just passed. Rats. No room to stop and back up with
a truck coming up behind. I pulled to the right to let him pass and
looked down the road for oncoming. Nothing but a yellow '62 Fairlane
with fat Goodyear's on chrome rims comin' at me a block away.
No sweat. I cranked a hard U-turn and
started back down Kuhio. The Ford pulled up behind. Whooooop! Whoop!
Blue lights behind the Fairlane's grill? Wot the...! "Son of the
Gray Ghost", I cursed.
In the 50's it was usually a fair
fight between citizens and the cops. They drove their huge black n'
white four-door sedans adorned with lights, sirens, whip antennas
and logos on the doors and when you saw one you slowed down. But
some young men were actually modifying their cars to go faster than
'normal' in the fifties (oh my!) and the police started ordering
factory option 'police packages with their cars ~ big V8's, stiffer
suspensions and better brakes. But they always played fair and were
still really easy to spot. Until The Gray Ghost ~ the first
'unmarked' police car of the Massachusetts State Police ~ and a
legendary spectre that haunted New England high school hot rod
hoodlums like me and my friends.
We first heard of it in 1957, when
rumor had it that a new 'Plain Jane' Ford sedan had run down a
famous local Corvette on the newly-opened Massachusetts Turnpike.
They said the vettes 140 mph speedo was pegged on the far right
when the gray Ford pulled alongside and the 'Statey' at the wheel
pointed to pull over. No lights, no siren, just 1950's Shock 'n Awe.
Seems like it shoulda been illegal.
You never saw the Gray Ghost comin'.
An unmarked cheap model 2-door with dog dish hubcaps, blackwall
tires and two raw tailpipes below the back bumper. Under the hood
was a rumored 312 V8 with a McCullough supercharger that had been
built especially for the State Police to run down scofflaw hot
rodders.
On a sunny morning in 1962, on Kuhio
Avenue in Waikiki, I realized that most of Hawai'i's police cars
were unmarked and unassuming Sons of the Gray Ghost... and I've been
driving very appropriately ever since.
Yeah, sure.
See you June 1st ~ PM
Hawaii Motorbeat Monthly
More from Paul Maddox at:
www.hawaiimotorbeat.com
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