The Florida Highway Patrol Fleet Includes Ford Mustangs And A C8 Corvette

Police forces around the world use fast cars to catch the public's eye and help catch speeders and other scofflaws. While the Florida Highway Patrol's (FHP) American-made sports cars aren't true exotics like the ones Lamborghini donated to the Italian state police, the agency in the third-largest U.S. state now boasts a 2023 C8 Corvette and some Ford Mustangs and among its marked patrol cars. The Mustang has a long-running role as an American law enforcement vehicle, including the Mustang SSP (Special Service Package) Fox-body Mustang that was used in 32 states and ranks as one of the most incredible police cars ever. The FHP ordered more than 1,600 Mustang SSPs between 1983 and 1993, and now the Mustang has returned to the FHP fold in a slightly different form. At least three Mustangs have been purchased by the FHP for use as pursuit vehicles as the state implements its new "Super Speeder" law. 

This law introduces larger fines for drivers exceeding the speed limit by 50 miles per hour or more or driving over 100 miles per hour. Your car won't be impounded for speeding in Florida, but it's not likely anyone will be outrunning the state's police at the moment. The new FHP pony cars have 5.0-liter V8 engines producing 480 horsepower, which is sent through a six-speed manual transmission to the rear axle with a limited-slip differential. The FHP's seventh-generation Mustangs join a 2023 Chevrolet Corvette C8 which was seized as part of a drug enforcement investigation. The 495-horsepower Corvette and the Mustangs both wear the FHP's familiar livery, but the two-seater 'Vette and two-door Mustangs won't be used to haul arrestees to lockup. Both cars can go faster than 150 miles per hour, though, making them formidable highway chase vehicles. 

these vehicles have been upfitted for police work with communications systems and emergency lights, and the Corvette also features front bumper-mounted speakers that broadcast siren sounds. The Mustangs and Corvette doing FHP duty aren't by any means the only cars of their ilk used for traffic enforcement and community outreach by police forces. In 2004, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol purchased 25 Ford Mustang GT coupes for its fleet, and the Greenwood, South Carolina police department uses a seized 2014 Camaro as a patrol car. In that same state in 2024, the Richland County Sheriff's Department added 17 new Mustang GTs for use by its Community Action Team (CAT). This outreach program is meant to build relationships with the local community and prevent future crime; its Mustang GTs are dressed in a Sheriff's Department livery but eschew roof-mounted light bars in favor of less intimidating ones in the grille and top inside edge of the windshield. 

Sheriff Leon Lott's department has used Camaros and Dodge Challengers in the past, and he told The State he hoped the Mustangs would help his team connect with its public. "We're not picking a car just because it's a cool car to drive, but cool cars attract people to come and build a relationship with us ... The goal is to prevent crime in the first place. So, we wanted to make [CAT deputies] a little unique, which is why we have specialized cars for them." He went on to say that the cost of the Mustangs was about the same as the department's patrol SUVs like the Chevy Tahoe and Ford Explorer.