What Do Old Police Cruisers Teach Us About Memory | Back To The Past

Live At Back To The Past

Mike Marrs 0:06

Good morning, good morning. From the Texas Gulf Coast, this is in wheel time. And we're at the Back to the Pass car show over here. And we're at 916 West Woodview, Westview Drive in Houston. So if you're out and about and you want to do something on a beautiful Houston fall day, maybe the only one we get this fall, but it is nice. It's beautiful. We got plenty of cars. And joining us now, we're going to talk with Frank Lam. Clam, Clam, Clam. And he's going to tell us, we're going to tell us some tell us what we're doing today to get it started here.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

The Spring Branch Alumni Association, a foundation, is puts on an annual car show as part of our fundraising, and also a chance for everybody to come in and for the people to show their cars or people come and gaze at the cars and awe at the cars. And we also open the museum, which we operate. And that's a history of the Spring Branch Independent School District. So we are thankful that we have a beautiful day. It is. But we have some real really nice cars out here. And uh it's uh this has become a a show that we really look forward to. Howdy, sir.

Mike Marrs 1:30

Great. How are you? Everything's good? Yeah, we hope. Yeah, when a man walks up with a gun in a badge, you always wonder what. Anyway, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 1:47

Yes. So uh yeah, we're just so happy that in wheeltime was able to come again and just it y'all do such a great job uh and uh really let the public know what's going on.

Mike Marrs 2:00

Well, we appreciate you having us, and uh it is a beautiful day out here, lots of nice cars out here already. So the show runs from 10 till 2. Awards will be at 2 o'clock. We've got some trophies, got a few classes gonna be handed out. Got uh a couple of other things going on here that uh kind of a lookout here. Got two classic, I I almost said it the other day, but he's standing here, so it's okay. Two classic cop cruisers is what I can from the Houston Police Department. I mean, they've got these cars from and and I think you mentioned earlier they're they're very recognizable from a rearview mirror. You don't you may have to look at it from that perspective to really know what they are.

SPEAKER_03 2:42

If you lived in Houston, you will recognize the front of those cars from your rear view mirror.

Mike Marrs 2:46

Yeah, even if you were kind of passing through. So we got uh a caprice and uh yeah, I guess this one's an improvla. Um I'm not sure. Yeah, we'll get one of them over here after a while to talk to us about their uh that looks like what a 74 or man. I don't know. We'll find out. We'll get them over here in a little bit. And uh we've got lots of other cars out here. There's one in particular out there that uh I see, and I can't remember the name of it. It's on your flyer, but it's a one-of-a-kind. I mean, literally a one-of-a-kind. We talked to him either last year or the year before, and uh it's an amazing story about it. It runs and drives, and he drove it down. So I'm driving in the parking lot a while ago.

SPEAKER_03 3:28

Yeah, there's um just just amazing. I'm looking out at the colors. It's you know, it's just uh it's beautiful, especially with the sun out, and of course, everybody's got their cars polished up and they're gleaming.

Mike Marrs 3:45

Yeah, yeah, of course, and and like the the wind is uh keeping things plenty cool out here today. So it's a really nice day. Hope everybody can come out and join us. If not, we'll be happy to uh share the show with you right here on uh in wheel time. And I think we need to talk to uh Kathy. Okay, yeah, let's get Kathy over here before she gets busy and doing something else. Yeah, yeah. See you later, Frank. Thanks.

unknown 4:23

Okay.

Mike Marrs 4:24

Okay,

Spring Branch Community And Museum

Mike Marrs 4:25

I was told Kathy.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

Catherine.

Mike Marrs 4:27

Catherine. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. No problem. I that's the reason I was asking, uh, it didn't quite sound right. But anyway, so Catherine, what is your involvement with this back to the past car show?

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Well, I have been coming here probably for about eight, nine years with them. We sponsor them, our VFW, those, and I know all these people because they're in Spring Branch. Probably half of them belong to the VFW at some capacity of some sort if they're a veteran or a family member. And uh my neighbors went to Spring Branch high school. Unfortunately, I grew up in Pittsburgh, so I missed that part. But my daughter went to Spring Branch High School, so Northwork high school in that. Yeah, and I'm very much involved with Spring Branch Elementary, which is the oldest school in Spring Branch. They're doing their 80th anniversary this year. This is the 75th anniversary of Spring Branch Independent School District. So it's a key year all the way around for this area in Spring Branch.

Mike Marrs 5:23

Very good. And I've heard lots of interesting stories from Frank. I love the museum that's on the inside. Uh, that's something else. If you come out to the show today, they have the museum open to the public. It's not open every day because this is a functioning school property uh that that they're gracious enough to allow the alumni foundation to use. Right. And uh, but it's it's fascinating to me to go in there and see the the historical signature. I my high school's over 100 years old, the school district and all that stuff. We have football rivalries that are about 109, 10, something like that. And it first time I saw this, my thought was that this is such a neat idea because I graduated, my children graduated from the same school, my grandchildren have now graduated. So it's three different buildings. I mean, be because of the school district growing. And some of the things that we grew up with and knowing, they just it it's foreign to them. They have no clue. Uh some of the people that from down there, we could see them on TV. I see them on TV. Oh, he's from Port Natchez, you know, he's a mile away from us, or he's from here, and he's from there, Port Arthur. And um, and it's the same thing in here. Correct. And it it just amazes me, and I wish we'd have been smart enough to do something like that.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

It is amazing. The first time I was up there, of course, they asked us to put a table up there for the VFW, and I saw all these people that were in the service, and they have a lot of that up there. And Spring Branch was actually founded before the city of Houston. Interesting, yes. It was a German community came out here.

SPEAKER_03 6:57

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Yes. We have a little church up the street not far from here. It's this historical church, and behind it is the graveyard where a lot of them died that had either skull or I mean some kind of scarlet fever or something. That's the key people, this community. So Spring Branch Elementary was the first school ever created, way before they thought Spring Branch was gonna be. So we just say, yeah, we're we stuck we were before the city of Houston.

Mike Marrs 7:22

Well, there you go. Everybody's gonna have the claim to fame in there somewhere.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

And about 21 years ago, uh Dwayne Bohack, went who was our legislator at that time, created the Spring Branch Management District. And we take care of all the commercial stuff and they pay an assessment into it, and we're very diligent about what we do to create a beautiful neighborhood and a beautiful safe place for people to live. Safety is one of our top priorities, as well as uh transportation and and that kind of stuff and beautification. And I've been on that board now 20 years because I was put on there then, and until they kick me out, I'll be there. And also the we have a super neighborhood program in Houston. I think there's 86 that were formed back with Mayor Brown like 20 some years ago. And we have four out here, two of us are active, we're trying to get the other two back out. COVID sort of killed by that program, but that represents all the communities, like the neighborhoods and so forth. So we have a management district for the business, and we have a group to help with the civic associations, the homeowners association, and community, and we all work together to make this a really great place and a safe place to raise your kids, put your businesses in. And we're so centrally located everything in the city or to the airport or downtown. And I encourage you all to come out today, come out to this beautiful event. Some really neat cars are out here. We've got some really, really old cars. How old is that one car over there? Probably in the 30s, 40s?

Mike Marrs 8:53

The the the limousine? It's it's listed on the flyer. And if I could find that wouldn't blow away when I had all this. Well, and and I if I'm if memory serves, it's the only one in the world.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Oh my god, that's even better.

Mike Marrs 9:10

Yeah, it's a 1901 something. I can't remember exactly what it is. It's it's I hope to get him over here and we're gonna find out.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

I know, it's just I mean, and then you have a 57 T Bird, which I know everybody likes to drive off today. I would.

Mike Marrs 9:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

It is just convertible settings.

Mike Marrs 9:27

One of the days you could drive a convertible in Houston without burning up.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Yeah. It's just very interesting vehicles out here. We even have a police vehicle here that belongs to Mike Knox's son. Mike Knox's son died in a helicopter crash, a police helicopter clash a few years ago. And he has his son's car out here too. So, and Mike, I'm sure. Did you go into Spring Branch High School? No.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Jason.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Jason, yeah, so the camera.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

Jason.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

He Mike used to be a councilman and he's done a lot of things in Spring Branch. He's a community activist like I am and others.

Mike Marrs 10:13

I I heard that. I heard that.

SPEAKER_00 10:19

So just come out and see these cars, if nothing else. And as you said, the the museum is a very interesting to see because it starts in the beginning like eight miles seventy-five years ago.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

What's up there? Do you see the old uh cheerleader costumes are up there? You see also a lot of military band uniforms, yes. And of course we have the bear.

Mike Marrs 10:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

A real bear in the lobby. Yeah. But you need to come see the real bear.

Mike Marrs 10:44

Uh it's a it's a polar bear, right? Yes. If I remember, yes. Because it's big. It is big. So yeah, so there's plenty to see in in that regard. And then and out here, like you say, with the cars, and there's muscle cars down here. I can see a Super B from here, and a couple of late model chargers. Uh, it looks like a Cobra replica kit car type thing, a couple of Camaros. Um, and there's several others that are real interesting looking from here. It's kind of hard to see them all from here. We had to kind of get out of the wind over here when we set up this morning. And then there's a couple of late models, but there's plenty of cars out here that reaches across a pretty wide spectrum.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

They used to have it out front and they grew too big, so they had to bring it back here.

Mike Marrs 11:26

So yes, yes, yes. All right, Catherine. So uh we need to take a quick break here. So I'm gonna do that while we transition and we get Mike situated. So um hang with us. We're gonna take a quick break, and we will be right back after these words.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

It's

Sponsor Messages And Show Details

SPEAKER_01 11:46

that time again. Fire up those engines. Heroes and hot rods is rolling into Bastro for Veterans Day weekend. Friday night, cruise downtown. Saturday, 400 of the coolest rides in Texas, take over Main Street. Honor our veterans, enjoy local food and shopping, and help support local charities and scholarships. Presented by Craig's Jewelry and over 200 local sponsors, November 13th and 14th, Downtown Bastro. Don't miss it.

Mike Marrs 12:14

It's Back to the Past. Cruise Back in Time Saturday, October the 17th for the SBISD Alumni Association's annual Back to the Past car show. See classic cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more as automotive history comes alive at the Cornerstone Academy, 9016 Westview Drive in Houston. Bring the family, check out the rides, and enjoy a great day celebrating the vehicles that we remember and the memories that go with them. That's Saturday, October the 17th, Back to the Past, 9016 Westview Drive in Houston. And we're back. You're riding with in wheel time. We're at the Back to the Past car show here uh at 96 9017, 9016 Westview Drive. And uh we're getting started.

Vintage HPD And Jason’s Legacy

Mike Marrs 13:01

And right now, joining us is Mike Knox, who is a retired HPD.

SPEAKER_02 13:07

Right, retired HPD and um general, all around nice guy.

Mike Marrs 13:12

I I didn't see that on the note card, but that's okay. That's okay. One of the interesting aspects that Mike shared was that um the he is actually retired, or no, he's a recovering politician.

SPEAKER_02 13:25

I believe it's correct. I I served for eight years in the Houston City Council in an at-large position, uh, position number one, and uh me and Sylvester Turner butted heads quite often, and and uh he's gone now, and I'm I'm out roaming around uh and just enjoying life.

Mike Marrs 13:43

So very good, very good. So this is the um police department cars.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

I guess these are restored? Yes, they're restored vehicles. My son, who was also HPD officer, he he worked in the uh when he would when he died, he was working in the helicopter division. He he perished in a um helicopter crash in 2020. Sorry. Uh on duty. Yeah, but before he died, he had come to me uh with an idea that uh it would be really cool if HPD had a visual history of its vehicles over the course of time. And I said, yeah, it's a great idea. And I said, but nobody's gonna give you any money because you want to start a nonprofit. You know, I could start a nonprofit and people give me money and I could restore these old cars and drive them around and show them off. I said, it's a great idea, but uh nobody's gonna give you any money until you produce one.

Mike Marrs 14:36

Yes, you're gonna have to show us what you got first, kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 14:39

So he bought these two old old police cars from other agencies uh around the country, and um and he re- restored them to the period uh of the 90s and the 80s. So we have an 88 capri representing the decade of the 80s and uh uh a 96 capri uh that represents the 90s. So the paint colors and all the equipment are period correct for those particular cars. Okay. Um and um uh but yeah, there's it and it's really they're not restored to what we call pristine quality, they're restored to what he liked to refer to as um patrol quality. So there's a driver. So there's there's a little dirt in the dash and the floorboards. Occasionally we'll we'll roll up a bat a Shipley's donut bag and throw it in there, you know, to show it and whatnot. So because this is where policemen lived, you know. They l they live in their police cars. Oh, yeah. And so, and like in the Northeast, they call police cars cruisers, uh, but here we call them shops because you you do work in your shop. So this is where you live your life. So these are uh uh accurate to every detail of HPD for that

Inside The 80s And 90s Shop

SPEAKER_02 15:47

period. So uh what's fun about the 88 is it has a converticom radio in it, which was common back then. I don't know if you're familiar with those. That was an experiment where HPD wanted to save money by not having to put uh radios in every car. They just gave everybody a walkie-talkie and a converter so you could use your walkie-talkie as your car radio. Well, that's great, except for when you jump out of the car to chase somebody and you forget your radio in the car, you have nobody to talk to. So then we started all using two radios a piece, you know, and we'd leave one in the car, and there's a lock on it and and all that, but nobody ever locked those things. So you'd jump out. You're a car, you're running. And some kid would get in your car and steal your radio, and you know, it was a big mess. So that that didn't last very long. No. Um, and the 96 was uh one of the first years that we had uh MDT computers, and my son actually found an old HPD MDT terminal and it it works. I mean, it's in the it it'll turn on, and it turns out there's an old HPD report in it. Whoever got decided to get rid of it didn't wipe it clean, you know. So um they were supposed to have, but anyway, it's back in an HPD car now. And anyway, they're fun to drive and they're fun to show off, and it's fun to talk about my son and his goal. Of so right now we're backing up.

Building The HPD Timeline Collection

SPEAKER_02 17:10

We just bought a uh we started a nonprofit called Vintage HPD.

Mike Marrs 17:14

Um I saw that on one of the flyers when it was talking about the cars coming out.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

So it's called Vintage HPD, and you can get online and and check us out and you know see where the cars are and get pictures of them and that sort of thing. Um it's kind of fun. Um it makes Grizzly Hood news. Once in a while, somebody will see it driving around. Oh, look at this old police car, you know. And uh we enjoy all that kind of stuff. So anyway, so we've we've stopped at 2000. Uh we have a 2000 interceptor, a Ford interceptor that we've recently restored. Um, but it's getting too close to looking like an actual police car. Uh-oh. And and I don't want any of my drivers to get flagged down about a robbery in progress or something. So we're gonna start now or we're gonna go backwards to the 70s, 60s, 50s, 40s, 30s. We're gonna end up all the way back in the 1840s, you know, when HPD first started. And uh that at that point I'm gonna have to buy a horse and a wagon and and dress it up to be a paddy wagon, you know. In the 40s? 1840s, yeah.

Mike Marrs 18:16

I I I'm I'm visualizing like uh a 40 model Ford or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 18:21

And I wasn't even thinking about a horse. Yeah, 1800s, you know, like 18s. My bad. Yeah, I'm in the 19s, sorry. Yeah, you got stuck in the 1900s. Yeah, because I was trying to go back and go back fast enough, sorry. Yeah, so sometime around 1900, we're gonna have to have horses or you know, like a 19 uh uh, you know, uh Model A or Model T Ford and you know, that those kinds of cars. Right, right, right, right. But uh hopefully one day we'll have a long parade starting with a a horse-drawn paddy wagon van, you know, um, followed by 1900 or 1910 or whatever, on on down there, just a whole line of them. If we can if we can get it done, we're gonna try.

Mike Marrs 19:04

So so being the recovering politician that you are, are you gonna put the uh the mayor in the paddy wagon instead of a convertible? Kind of, you know, whoever the mayor may be at the time. But I mean if they want to ride in the paddy wagon, I'll be happy to put them in there.

SPEAKER_02 19:19

Yeah.

Mike Marrs 19:19

Well, you gotta have somebody in there. Yeah, yeah. So that way they won't get sunburned riding in the convertible in Houston.

SPEAKER_02 19:25

Yeah, there you go. Do it for their own good. Just peer out through the bars in the back of the back of the wagon. But uh, but yeah, we we're we're in the parade every year in the Thanksgiving Day Parade, um, every year, so that's good. That's our that's one of our our big deals. Um so uh we get we get two cars, we put two cars in every year. So we have a board of directors, we've got uh uh a bunch of people that are really interested in in uh Jason's dream, and that's what we do is we keep his legacy alive and and at the same time educate people about what it's like to be a policeman in real life. I

Taking The Cars To The Public

SPEAKER_02 20:01

there's nothing I enjoy more than some old policeman showing up, looking at one of these cars, sitting in them and going, man, this reminds this like I just got out of roll call, you know.

Mike Marrs 20:11

Brings back memories, yeah, yeah, yeah. It sure does.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

And then, of course, like you say, you got the memory of looking in the rearview mirror and uh well it's and it's uh you know, for some reason, people aren't as um as worked up about these police cars as they are about the current ones, you know. Like everybody's honking and waving and wanting to talk to me at 70 miles an hour on the freeway, you know. So uh, you know, wanting to take video and stuff like that, you know. So and and it is fun, it's fun. Um now I grew up driving both of these cars um uh when I was a policeman. So these are the kind of cars that I was in, you know, in the 80s when I started, in the 90s when I when I uh retired from HPD. And um there you go. That's that's where we're at. Everybody should come out here and see them. And by the way, there's a lot of really nice cars out here. Uh I saw a 1910 or something uh model Model T or whatever.

Mike Marrs 21:09

And there's all kinds of little hot rods running around.

SPEAKER_02 21:12

I think I saw a Rolls Royce a while ago. Um uh some kind of Rolls Royce. And um, there's little race cars and there's all kinds of cool stuff for people to come see. They should come out. Muscle cars, muscle cars years. Yeah.

Mike Marrs 21:28

I have the Brewster. You're the man I'm looking for.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

There you go.

Mike Marrs 21:33

Hang on just a minute.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

All right. So uh, but at any rate, uh I'd encourage everybody to come on a hair and look, not just at our police cars, but everyone, all of them. They're all looking for yeah, there's like you say, there's muscle cars, there's convertibles. And I can I gotta tell you, if you're not familiar with the area, you're gonna look for the school that the old uh Spring Branch High School, and um, it's the Cornerstone Academy right off of Westview. It's behind all that. So you're gonna have to take a get get into the parking lot. Come on back here. It's just like you you turn the corner and holy moly, there's all kinds of cool cars.

Mike Marrs 22:05

There's a row of flags out front that you cannot miss, even if you miss the the car show signs. So it'll all uh and it's all in the back back here.

SPEAKER_02 22:12

Yeah. And how long are we going till today? And I think it's like till two.

Mike Marrs 22:16

Two o'clock. The awards are at two. And the weather is great. Holy moly, the weather. You have a choice, you know, in Houston, either it's nice, one or two days a year, or you're sweltering.

SPEAKER_02 22:28

Well, you know, we have two seasons here. We have hot and not so hot. That's it. That's all we've got. So it's not so hot today. Come on out and enjoy the show.

Mike Marrs 22:35

It is a beautiful day. The sun is shining, and and you can really see the the cars. I mean, some of them have got some really, really nice paint on them, and it really shows.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

Yeah, it does. Anyway, so uh yeah, if anybody's interested in supporting our police cars, they're welcome to go to Vintage HPD. Uh there's a place to dump make donations if you like, or you can uh follow along and find out where we're gonna be showing next, or um, you know, just catch pictures of it.

Mike Marrs 23:02

So you do different shows.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

You mentioned the parade, you're here at the show, you just uh we we pretty much do anything that's lawful activity that um you know the like the parties events. Uh we've been to a couple of weddings. We had a couple of policemen get married, one of the cars out there. So, you know, with the parties events probably appreciated that, yeah. Well, I don't know. They you know police families, you know, that kind of thing. So um, you know, we we bring them out and display them and and uh let people take pictures with them and get in and out of them. A lot of a lot of these cars you don't want to touch them because they've done so much work cleaning them up, you know. But ours are are they're meant to be touched and seen, and um little kids get in there and play with the sirens.

Mike Marrs 23:45

That's what I think would be really cool. That is the little kids that uh you know that a lot of times little kids are afraid of police officers, right? For a lot of different reasons. But you know, they get a chance to get into see that you know, this is here, this is somebody that can help you, and this is what they do, and it's really not anything to be scared of.

SPEAKER_02 24:03

Right. And it's fun to play with a siren. So um the best part I can tell you that when we do a lot of these like trunk retreats and di different things that we do, um kids wander through these back seats and and they always leave little toys behind. So we have a whole stack of little toys that I don't know where they came from or how they got in the car, but when we come home, there's always uh like a little car or a little little toy that somebody left behind. And I'm I'm feel bad about that, but I think it's kind of cute too.

Mike Marrs 24:31

Kind of hard to find out the owners.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

Yeah, so especially when you know, no telling what time of the day they did that. But but uh but any rate, uh, but yeah, it's great to be out here. And and uh of course I'll I was I've been living in Spring Branch for a long time. My son was uh a student at Spring Branch uh middle school um uh when he when he was growing up, and um, so yeah, it's all I served on the uh the Spring Branch uh Education Foundation. Uh I was one of the original board members on there, so it's all circles back to home, you know.

Mike Marrs 25:05

That's it. That's it. And in a community like this, people coming out and enjoying it. That's it. It's it's a lot of fun. Well, Mike, we appreciate it. Thank you for taking the show. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 25:13

Y'all y'all come out and see my cars.

Mike Marrs 25:15

Yes, they're very interesting, you know. Very uh vintage police cars.

SPEAKER_02 25:21

Yeah. It's what I would call them cruises as well. Well, a lot of people do, but uh here at HPD, we use them, we use the term shop.

Mike Marrs 25:29

All right, come and see Mike's shop.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

Okay, there you go.

Mike Marrs 25:32

All right. Uh

Final Invite And Wrap-Up

Mike Marrs 25:34

okay, so we're gonna take another quick break here while we get another guest lined up, and we will be right.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

It's that time again. Fire up those engines. Heroes and Hot Rods is rolling into Bass Drop for Veterans Day weekend. Friday night, cruise downtown. Saturday, 400 of the coolest rides in Texas, take over Main Street. Honor our veterans, enjoy local food and shopping, and help support local charities and scholarships. Presented by Craig's Jewelry and over 200 local sponsors, November 13th and 14th, downtown Bastrop. Don't miss it.

Mike Marrs 26:14

It's Back to the Past. Cruise Back in Time Saturday, October the 17th for the SBISD Alumni Association's annual Back to the Past car show. See classic cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more as automotive history comes alive at the Cornerstone Academy, 9016 West View Drive in Houston. Bring the family, check out the rides, and enjoy a great day celebrating the vehicles that we remember and the memories that go with them. That's Saturday, October the 17th, Back to the Past, 9016 West View Drive in Houston. Cars, trucks, SUVs, motorsports, road trips, and the people who make the automotive world interesting. In wheel time is changing and we're expanding. We're bringing you more automotive stories, more interviews, more destinations, and more of what you may have missed. From Texas to the automotive world beyond, in wheel time is your place for automotive talk without the politics or the nonsense. Join us for the next generation of In Wheel Time Cars, the trucks, and the people who love them.