This ’90s LAPD Chevy Tahoe Z56 Is Amazingly Still in Service
LAPD won’t let its vintage Chevy Tahoe Z56 go, and for good reason – it’s a unicorn in today’s world, and a very special one at that.
The Detroit Big Three automakers have been churning out special police packages for a number of years now, each competing in what is a small but desirable and important market. For we enthusiasts, these police vehicles have long been desirable targets for personal use as well, because most of them feature a host of notable upgrades in terms of performance, and many that make them more rugged than their civilian counterparts as well. However, we have some bad news for those awaiting the Los Angeles Police Department to sell the oldest vehicle in its fleet – a vintage Chevy Tahoe Z56 from the 1990s.
Problem is, this Chevy Tahoe Z56 is apparently too good to send off to retirement, because it’s still going strong to this day, as we can see in this short video from YouTuber Jake Asner. In the clip, we can see the rather pristine looking Tahoe rolling slowly down the street next to a far newer Ford Police Interceptor Utility with its lights on, doing precisely what it has done for decades to this point – protecting and serving the public.
This Chevy Tahoe Z56 features a police package that was available for a few years toward the end of the ’90s – 1997-1999, in fact – and featured a large array of modifications suited for duty. Sitting an inch lower than a regular Tahoe, these models had a unique plastic grille, and were only available in two-wheel-drive configuration – not four-wheel-drive – though 4WD could be spec’d in the SSV variant (special service package).
Power for these special Tahoe models came from GM’s 5.7-liter Vortec V8, which was rated to produce 255 horsepower and is mated to a four-speed automatic gearbox. Performance was pretty solid for the time – 0-60 took around 9.4 seconds, and they could reach a top speed of 123 miles-per-hour, which was good enough for what most police departments used them for. These weren’t high-speed chase vehicles, after all.
Rather, most police used these Chevy Tahoe Z56 models for things like K-9 units, traffic duty, and as vehicles for supervisors to tool around in. They were a common sight in many big cities over the years, where – in many cases – departments had already begun employing Tahoes before Chevy even offered them with any kind of police package. However, this era of Tahoe also marked the last of the two-door, full-size SUVs, and when an all-new model was introduced in 2000, it was only available as a four-door, with no police package until 2005 – meaning that one day, this four-door will probably be rather coveted, if LAPD ever decides to let it go.
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