This Dodge Ramcharger Is the Best Vintage Cop Car

It has a light bar, spotlights, radios, and a big V-8 engine. And it's for sale.

Photo by: Bring a Trailer

By: Anthony Alaniz

Feb 23, 2025 at 9:00am ET

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If you lived around Eureka, California in the early 1980s, you might have caught sight of a Dodge Ramcharger decked out in the California Highway Patrol livery sitting alongside the road. Vintage police cars come in a variety of flavors, and if those more traditional options from Ford and Chevrolet aren’t for you, you can buy this retro SUV right now and pretend you’re an extra on CHiPs.

This 1982 Ramcharger 4x4 “is said to have been used by the California Highway Patrol,” according to its Bring a Trailer listing, and it has all the hardware you’d expect to find in a police car. There's A-pillar spotlights, a blue-and-red light bar on top, and a push bar.

Photos by: Bring a Trailer

Inside the Ramcharger, a name Ram has revived for its pickup, are auxiliary toggle switches, a Motorola two-way radio with CHP branding, and a police scanner. It also has vinyl flooring and a full-size spare in the back.

A 318-cubic-inch V-8 engine powers the beast with a three-speed automatic transmission and a dual-range transfer case. It wears 31-inch Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure tires that wrap around 15-inch black steel wheels.

Photo by: Bring a Trailer

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The actual mileage on the SUV is a mystery. The odometer displays 60,000 miles, but the Carfax lists a “potential mileage rollover” from May 2017, according to the listing. It’s also not perfect. The power steering system leaks and a windshield wiper is missing. The rear window wiper is also gone, and the rear defroster doesn’t work.

But that’s all part of the charm. Check out all the details because the auction ends soon.