Lots of people, including yours truly, make a habit of memorizing the shape of illuminated headlamps installed on vehicles associated with patrol duties by law enforcement. It’s always kind of useful to know when it’s potentially one of the folks in blue (or gray, or brown, or green in these parts) is occupying your rear-view mirror. Most recently, you spend a lot of your time looking for the cat’s-eye shape of Ford Explorer headlamps and their surrounding bezels. It can pay, literally, to get acquainted with what more vehicles than the Explorer resemble. To that end, we offer the latest law-enforcement news from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which is rolling out the 2021 editions of the Dodge Charger Pursuit and the Dodge Durango Pursuit.
Yep, they’ve got distinctive headlamps that are worth memorizing, too, especially in Daytime Running Light guise. Both of the new Dodge-badged police vehicles exceed their previous performance parameters, even when powered by the standard Pentastar 3.6-liter SOHC V-6, a Chrysler powertrain staple that can trace its roots to 1993. With this engine, mated to standard all-wheel-drive an an eight-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission, the Charger Pursuit will still reach an electronically governed maximum speed of 140 MPH. The Durago pursuit adds an instrument panel-mounted transmission selector to free up space in the center console for communications gear and such, along with three-zone heating and air conditioning that will be ideal for Durango Pursuits assigned to K-9 duties. Naturally, Hemi power is available on both vehicles for those agencies looking to shorten long-distance highway chases.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 