Your webmaster here at Rock 'N Rod, was one of the original members of the what we referred to as the D.A.R.E. Car Project early on. Rock 'N Rod was a major contributor to the project through the funds we generated at the 30 Rock 'N Rod Nites Car shows that we held 6 time a year, May through October, 1995 through 2000. We gave 100% of all funds generated to the WPD D.A.R.E. Unit. As the project moved forward, WPD had a very active D.A.R.E. program, but for some reason when the project came to completion, WPD had given up on the D.A.R.E. program unfortunately, to try something else they felt was a better way I suppose. But at least the car has been completed and can now be used as a bit of Watsonville PD history on wheels..

Brief History of the 1968 Ford Patrol car

The 1968 Ford Custom 500 4-Door was ordered by the City of Watsonville for the then Police Chief. Upon arrival in Watsonville, it was outfitted as other W.P.D. units, but the chief did not really use it. Instead, it was used by the detectives division. It ended up in the Public Works Department for a while and when it's useful life ended, it was retired and sat in the city maintenance yard till early 1995. The committee set out to find a car for the W.P.D. D.A.R.E. unit, the 68 was discovered and was about to be auctioned off when the committee decided to take it on as the project. It was removed from the auction block and now the rest is history as can be seen in the following photos. The project took until October of 2001 to be completed, with most everything donated, from parts to labor. It was unveiled in the Patriotic Day Parade in Watsonville, after the 9-11 Tragedy.

The CAR has been restored from the ground up and has been outfitted to what it most likely would have looked like back in 1968 when it would have been patrolling what was then, the  small agricultural City of Watsonville, California.

I personally would like to thank Captain Solano for all the hours he put in to make sure the project came to completion. The final completion date kept getting put off to a point where it seemed as if it was never going to get here. Unfortunately when the Car was unveiled, I was not notified as I would have really liked to have been there, but unfortunately for some reason was never told until after the fact. The main thing though, is it is completed and the City of Watsonville now has a rolling museum piece for the younger generation to enjoy as time passes.

If you would like information regarding the WPD 1968 Ford Patrol Car Project,
you can contact Captain Solano at WPD
Captain Manny Solano or contact him voice at Watsonville P.D.: (831) 728-6165