The horrible bias ply tires of the day sure didn’t help either.
I think we need a bit of reality here. This is a clip from Adam-12 where they were at the driving range. Big ass Satellite and bias ply tires. Sure there’s a lot of screeching, but Pete’s getting the job done. Like I said, race cars had bias tires well into the 80s. NASCAR didn’t switch until 1989. And they were running 200+ AND on road courses.
Yeah, but then didn’t racing slicks have a much lower profile than street tires? The sidewalls of the street tires would damn near try to bend 45 degrees from the vertical while cornering hard.
Then there’s that infernal “ridge nibble”.
How much of that was audio sweetening, though? People expected screeching tires on fast moving autos and I remember hearing it many times with a car drifting on dirt or gravel.
It’s been done. I’ve seen TV and films where cars tires were screeching on grass, on dirt roads.
Taught by Bob Bondurant, no less.
Not all. And until sometime about 70-71 they weren’t true slicks. They were treaded, or at least, they had a tread-like pattern. Not that the basic premise,“bias tires suck compared to radials” isn’t true, because it is, but things weren’t as bad as you’d think.
When I switched from bias F60-14s to radials, in my big ass boat Road Runner in about 1986, the difference was astounding! The car cornered about twice as well, and was less noisy, and took less effort to turn (no power steering).
As for profile, 60s race tires in NASCAR at least were closer to stock, just wider:
It really is/was that dramatic. I had the same revelation around 1982, switching from bias-ply G70 “Tiger Paw” to the same size radials in my GTO. I didn’t even get out of 3rd gear before I noticed how much crisper it handled, and turned. ( manual steering as well ). I was astounded.
If we include the cars for those that worked directly with the police department, we would have to include this little number: 1966-batmobile_100747304_h.jpg (1920×1080) (hgmsites.net)
Is that one of the replicas built by Fiberglass Freaks in Logansport, Indiana? The company is recently in the news because the sheriff of San Mateo country, apparently as a favor for a friend, flew four deputies to Indiana and raided the place. The friend was pissed off at the length of time it was taking ti build the vehicle.
San Mateo residents are vexed.
I had a 1977 Plymouth Gran Fury with the police package that I bought at auction from a sheriff’s department. It had all the performance and handling features you’d expect, plus a couple odd touches (like a manual control for the accelerator pedal so you could set it on high idle while parked). It had been a supervisor’s car, so it was sort of a gold color…no decals or other markings.
I can’t imagine using it for any kind of pursuit other than in a straight line on an interstate. It leaned so far in corners that you were afraid you might lose a side mirror. It had vinyl bench seats, so everything (including your own butt) just slid from side to side as you maneuvered. The 440 had plenty of torque, but didn’t do so well above 100 MPH. Finally, the Thermoquad carb had an unsettling habit of loosening its screws the faster you drove, causing you to flood and stall the engine when you finally slowed. (Loc-Tite helped, but didn’t completely solve the problem.)
TL;DR: If the sheriff was chasing you in a 77 Gran Fury, you could feel pretty confident if you just stomped on the gas and took a few corners as you escaped.
Did the cigarette lighter work?
Isn’t that what the back seat of a cop car is for??? 
I can assure you, if driven with the proper ‘enthusiasms’, tires will screech on dirt roads. 
The cars I used when I drove race cars were basically the same cars you saw on TV. I could take one of those cars and with a few hundred dollars for upgrades, I could make the cars handle on the race track pretty good. Lower the suspension, stiffer springs in the front, softer in the back. Posi-traction rear end with a lower gear ratio. Tweek the steering and suspension geometry from stock. Add or stiffen the sway bars. Add better tires and wider wheels. The cars used on those TV shows and movies were given the same treatment. And don’t forget, the drivers of those cars were professionals, The cars used in the movie Bullitt were highly modified. Neither of those car right off the showroom could have done the stunts in the movie, even with pros behind the wheel.
Yes it did. It also had a huge dome light right over the dash. It was about six inches in diameter and took two bulbs.
I love Roadrunners. What year/engine/mods?
1969, 383, four speed with pistol grip shifter. 3.23 suregrip. 11 in drum brakes, headers, Edelbrock manifold, I forget - Carter AFB carb?, Purpleshaft cam (.484 lift, 284 duration). It had Ansen Sprint wheels and the aforementioned Dunlop 245 wide radials. And it was primer grey, and has some quarter panel rust. It would put you back in the seat, loped at idle like a race car, and wouldn’t even come close to passing emissions. With the mellow rear end gear it was freeway drivable and got acceptable mpg.
Very cool.