1982 Mustang

10/22/2019
Tad Burness
The 1982 Mustang, especially the V-8, was a choice of some police departments that wanted a nimble, powerful pursuit car without a premium price. The only drawback was that the 1982 Mustang was only available as a two-door coupe or as a hatchback (illustrated).
 
Obviously, a four-door sedan with metal security bars between the front and rear seats would be more practical for hauling prisoners to jail. But since the Mustang was a peppy and easily handled car, it was used for chasing down lawbreakers; then a backup sedan would be radioed for if prisoners had to be moved.
 
The 1982 Mustang was also suitable for a fire chief's car, though fire chiefs were not required to chase down arsonists. That was a job for the police.
 
 
The idea of Fire Prevention Week in early October came into being in commemoration of the disastrous October 1871 fire in Chicago, IL and further north in Peshtigo, WI. The Chicago conflagration is more notorious in history, regardless of whether Mrs. O'Leary's cow was actually responsible for kicking over a lantern and causing it. However, the forest fire that encircled and devoured the town of Peshtigo was more horrendous because a large number of citizens there were trapped by the surrounding holocaust and could not escape.
 
As for the illustrated 1982 Mustang, it was a continuation of a styling cycle begun in 1979, following the era of the very small 1974-to-1978 Mustang II, which had been notable only for a few "Cobra" models introduced late in its run, but was often derided as a "glorified Pinto."
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