Click the Dodge Charger cop car for a high-res gallery  Every
September since the 1950s, the Michigan State Police have
conducted vehicle performance testing on the latest cop cars.
Prior to the early 1970s when the first oil embargo occurred,
they would go out for bids every year and then test just the low
bid vehicle. In those days, testing was limited to acceleration,
top speed and braking distance.  According to Lt. David Halliday
of the Michigan State Police, as carmakers were struggling at
that time and scrambling to sell their bigger vehicles, they all
started submitting bids around the same price with only a $45
spread covering all the contenders one year. Around that time
they decided to start testing all of the available vehicles and
they also made their test results available to all interested
police agencies. For the past three decades, a chunk of that
annual testing has been conducted at the Chrysler Proving Ground
in Chelsea, MI.  Related GalleryMichigan State Police car
testing  click on any im