Adam-12 was a Jack Webb produced police procedural, starring Martin Milner as Officer Pete Malloy and Kent McCord as Officer Jim Reed, produced by Universal and aired on on NBC for seven seasons between 1968 and 1975
The first car used in the pilot episode was a real LAPD unit, a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere, borrowed from the North Hollywood Division.
When the show was picked up, a civilian 1968 Plymouth Belvedere was used.
The “war wagon” used by Sergeant William “Mac” MacDonald , played by William Boyett, was also a civilian 1968 Plymouth Belvedere. It was used by the production to tow the sedan for the driving scenes.
They used a 1969 Plymouth Belvedere, but it was practically identical to the 1968 with the most noticeable difference being the side markers. They stayed with the 1969 for two seasons.
The 1970 Mercury Montego was used by the LAPD in 1970, but was not used as a car of the main characters. The car was not successful in LAPD service for a myriad of reasons. However, the Montego was seen used by some other officers on the show.
The LAPD vehicle of choice for 1971 was the Plymouth Satellite. The producers again bought civilian cars and outfitted them.
Of course Mac’s war wagon got an update as well to the 1971. 
The last cars purchased for the show were the 1972 AMC Matador. These were police package cars that piggybacked on a LAPD order.
Mac’s war wagon also got updated.
Four of the Matadors from the show wound up having a second career as real police cars for the Pasadena Police Department, who purchased them for $1500 each from a dealer to replace units damaged in accidents.
This show and C.H.I.P.S. is what is needed today. We have had 30 years of superhero detective and cop shows portraying law enforcement in an alien manner.
Adam 12 and C.H.I.P.S. strips away the lies believed by too many Americans regarding law enforcement. Coming from a family of public servants, including Chicago police officer and sergeant, rarely is anything on television showing these very normal, good, well-intentioned public servants performing thankless tasks.
I don’t know if it would be popular, but we could sure use a show that makes our police look like the family members we know and love.
A little more Adam-12, and a whole lot less of Marvel and DC, please.
I concur. As one who did the job, and who still would if I could (in my seventh decade, that can’t happen), I still have a fondness for what we did “to protect and serve” the public. It was not all roses and some days it got down and dirty and thankless, but it is the warm, wonderful events that still shine through. Adam-12 actually did provide that feeling.
In one episode, a retired Philadelphia officer who helped Reed and Malloy by chasing down an arrestee told them, “Enjoy it. You’re going to miss it.”
I remember that episode. I thought it was a poignant moment and I try to keep that mindset in my job. We focus on the negative in the present, but will mostly remember the positive after it’s over. Don’t forget to enjoy where you are and appreciate it.
Detective procedurals, not superhero shows, have crowded beat-cop shows off the TV schedules. More time off the street and on a sound stage, higher dramatic stakes.
What I wonder is where are all the newsroom procedurals? Each of the Big 5 media conglomerates operates a news division so there’s corporate synergies to be exploited and ready access to consultancy along with a serious need to build up the institution’s image, but apart from the brief Murphy Brown revival I can’t think of a single series in the past 20 years that used a newsroom setting…and wasn’t built around Superman, Spider-Man or some other legacy comic-book superhero.
I watched Adam-12. I don’t watch the BS they put out now. I haven’t watched any big 4 shows in months.
I used to watch “Hunter” for the realistic car chases.
Sgt. Hunter’s green Fury could easily do a 100 mph four-wheel drift. It was lighter as it often was missing a door or two. Strong stock 318 in that one I bet.
Such oversteer possible from McCall’s FWD Daytona! Most 80s K-cars were almost uncontrollable at the back end.
A badee’s 1.8L non-turbo Sunbird was an extremely fast car as well, no?
Y’never watched The Newsroom?
No need for a TV show. It already exists in the main stream news every night.
I became a big fan of the “Lou Grant” series after Mary Tyler Moore’s show ran its course, but it is really dated now.
As for police shows, a favorite was “Barney Miller” I recall an actual former police officer who went on to have his own police drama series commented that “Barney Miller” was one of the more accurate shows. Mostly shot on set in the precinct office, no cars shown but lots of references to cars (Studebakers, DeSotos, and green and white patrol cars).
There is The Rookie currently on TV which follows a group of beat cops. I am a huge Adam-12 fan and I like the new show. It’s in the spirit of Adam-12, very pro-cop and shows the hazards and craziness that the job entails, but with enough personal character drama, circumspection and PC content to survive on a regular network in 2021. I would recommend it to Adam-12 fans, but no modern show could replicate the original, just like no modern firefighter show could approach Emergency! for realism.
When Adam-12 switched to the Matadors, I was shocked. Rambler police cars??!! Growing up with mostly Chrysler Corp police cars around us, occasional Fords, rare GM outliers like the Olds used by the CHP for a few years , it seemed bizarre. One of my favorite shows from about 6th to 9th grades.
Our local police department used Matadors in the early ‘70s, before adding Plymouth Furies to the small fleet a couple of years later. As a newly licensed speedy driver, I learned how to detect both Matadors and Furies in the rear view mirror.
Matadors were actually quite capable police cars. Fairly light, decent (if not spectacular) handling and a potent 401 V8. And AMC had screaming fleet deals for many departments to keep the production line running. Older Mopars were most likely better, but many newer cars really suffered from emission controls later on.
I still catch Dragnet in the mornings before work and Adam-12 in the afternoons after I get home from work. Along with the law enforcement, there also were good moral traits portrayed. Not like the get by at any cost attitudes displayed today.
I watch “Adam-12” on METV if I’m inside the house at 5:00, even though I own all seven seasons on DVD. If there were ever a perfect TV show for car watching, this is it.
Agreed. Adam-12 is my “get home from work and work out for an hour” treat. Love all the car spotting.
Wonder why the Montego didn’t work out for LAPD?
Brakes, the story was. Ford brakes in police service were generally worse than Chrysler or GM at the time. What’s puzzling is that the LAPD Montegos had front disc brakes; the prior Plymouth Belvederes had drum brakes with metallic brake linings.
The same year, 1970, the California Highway Patrol also bought Mercury, full size Monterey sedans. For the CHP as well as LAPD, Mercury was a one-year player; the Mercurys were disliked but not as much as the 1967 Oldsmobiles. Both CHP and LAPD went back to Mopar for 1971.
The Matadors were very good police cars, well engineered and optioned, and proved sturdier than the Plymouths.
I know it’s a movie but the original Gone in 60 seconds is a pretty solid serving of ex-LAPD cars with quite a few of the Montegos in the mix, and they in particular seemed to go sideways under hard braking, it seems unintentional in some scenes like when they were going through the tollbooth.
I owned one of the CHP Montereys for several years. It had a CJ spec 428 and didn’t lack for power. They were heavy and not quick off the line but quickly built up a head of steam. They had manual steering and though that was fine on the road they were a chore to maneuver around town.
I spent time researching them in the pre-internet era and talked to police car enthusiasts and a couple old timer CHP officers who had driven them as well as a mechanic who serviced them.
The Mercs were more expensive to run than the Dodges and they didn’t perform as well. There were several warranty issues. They were plagued with front suspension problems like defective or weak control arms and ball joints would tear out causing front suspension collapse. The mechanic I talked with remembered seeing many towed into the garage with a dangling wheel. The combination of a heavy car with an under engineered front suspension and the extreme conditions of round the clock usage was the acid test. I don’t recall what was said about brakes. I found them to be pretty good for my purposes.
The CHP was required to make open bidding available to any qualified manufacturer in order to maintain transparency and prevent favoritism and sweet-heart deals. That explains the Oldsmobiles and the Mercurys. It was one way to demonstrate the policy of impartiality. If given the choice the CHP would have only bought the Dodge Polaras or whichever Mopar Police package was currently the best. It wasn’t Chrysler’s fault that they did it better than anyone. They aggressively pursued the business and devoted considerable time and resources to development. Olds and Merc did not have all that experience building vehicles suitable for the CHP. They managed to win contracts but fell short of the requirements. As far as I know that was the end of Olds police car business. Ford won CHP contracts later on but I don’t think Mercury ever did business them again.
The CHP bought 2 separate 500 car batches of the Mercs. They didn’t keep them very long. I got my Merc from the person who bought it at the CHP auction. I have the original sale paperwork somewhere dated 1974 I think with 63K miles on it. I bought it in 1991 with 65K miles. It still had some of the original Goodyear Bluestreak tires and the original rear brake shoes. With some new plugs and a fuel pump it ran like a beast. The Mercs weren’t complete flops. The Missouri Highway Patrol had a fleet of them and I’ve seen some examples from various police forces or Sheriff’s departments around the country.
Many years ago I looked at one of the CHP 1967 Oldsmobile Delmonts. The owner said that they were disliked by the officers who had to drive them. My understanding is that the Olds Police Package was unsubstantial and the cars were not much different from stock and did not hold up under use. I don’t know how many were bought by the CHP.
He also said that the Olds came equipped with a device that would change traffic lights from red to green. He and his son had tested it on El Camino Real one night. I didn’t test drive the Olds and remain a bit skeptical. Is there any truth at all to devices that can change traffic signals? Is this urban myth or just misunderstanding of something else?
No, the oldsmobiles didn’t come (from the factory) with such a device, though such devices, generically known in America by the trademark of one maker (“Opticom”), have been part of the equipment added to ambulances and police/fire vehicles in municipalities that use such systems.
Yes! Adam-12, Emergency, Chips, Perry Mason,… all great for car watching.
My favorite show when I was a kid, in the 1970s was Adam-12, and when my grandfather bought a 1973 Matador I was in heaven. I used to play Adam-12 in that car.
Great article ! .
I too love Adam 12 when it was on T.V. . I didn’t often get to watch but that was a favorite .
I didn’t know about the PPD getting ex L.A.P.D. Matadors, I do know that they were out standing in patrol duty .
When first I hired in to the L.A.P.D. they still had some Matadors in service, I forget which division still had a super low mileage black & white Matador station wagon they used to collect gas welding bottles from Piper Technical Center .
The last Matador I remember the P.P.D. having was also an incredibly clean low mileage black and white wagon, they still had it as a stand by vehicle in the early 1990’s .
-Nate
THE ONE ADAM-12 IS Number one in my book
There were a couple episodes where the ‘70 Belvedere was seen including Mac’s wagon. Of course the LAPD didn’t use these in real life. Strange that Jack Webb would go this way being such a stickler for detail.
The amc cars had Chrysler transmissions and rear ends other than that they were amc
I have a very nice Australian-assembled white 72 Matador sedan. It’s name is Adam-12. Goes pretty nice with the 360.