The Day Dan Aykroyd Bought Our Cop Car

Words: C. Van Tune

Summer of 1982. The Blues Brothers was a hit movie. John Belushi had just died of an overdose. And PPN Editorial Director Cam Benty and I had a cop car for sale.

The only problem was no one was calling on the ad. Finally, the phone rang. The caller had a bunch of questions about the provenance of this particular car: Ex-California Highway Patrol, competed in a cross-country illegal high-speed race called “The Four Ball Rally,” and even got shot at by some angry civilians on the highway at midnight somewhere in the plains states. Sounds like just the kind of car this caller wants.

Leaving the start of the illegal “Four Ball Rally” cross-country race in 1982. This is the car that  Dan Aykroyd would buy from us.

Leaving the start of the illegal “Four Ball Rally” cross-country race in 1982. This is the car that Dan Aykroyd would buy from us.

I had written an article on competing in the race for Popular Hot Rodding magazine, where Cam and I worked at the time. We had to hurriedly prep the car, adding a hotter cam, carb and intake, Direct Connection heads and headers, and put the most powerful set of lights we could find in the grille. My dad and I drove the car non-stop from Los Angeles to Boston (where the race was to begin) and met up with my two co-drivers just in time.

The race is a whole ’nother story in itself, but I’ll surmise by saying that by the time the car made it back to California and the event was over, it was filthy with road grime and was burning oil. Yet, it still sounded cool and had a vibe like a relative of the infamous “Blues Mobile.”

Listed at only $1,900, our 1979 Dodge St. Regis was priced to sell. The guy on the phone wanted to come see it the next day. Said his name was Danny.

0316-PPN-Final-Van2 (1200x772)When a new Datsun 280ZX Turbo rolled up and a guy wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and thick-rimmed glasses got out, he looked like anyone. What we noticed was the knockout blonde gal with him. The guy started in with questions.

“Seventy-nine Saint Regis, so that’s got the 400 engine, right? No 440s in ’79. Hey, is that a hundred-amp cop car alternator on there?”

Have you ever met someone who looks or sounds really familiar but you can’t place him? That’s the deal with this guy. Then it hit us at the exact same moment: That’s Dan Aykroyd!

After a test drive, Danny whipped out some cash and counted out $1,900. No haggle. He was as cool of a person as you could hope for. A true car guy.

The next day, Danny called with a question about the brake lights. They didn’t work. “Oh, I forgot to tell you there’s a switch under the dashboard to shut those lights off, for stealth driving,” I replied.

Aykroyd liked that, and invited us to visit the set of a movie he was filming, Doctor Detroit, which was shooting that night in a junkyard, so hell yeah we’re going. A crew photographer captured a candid of the three of us together, with Danny in costume as his character Clifford Skridlow, in front of a huge mountain of used tires.

Yes that’s a real bullet hole in the tail light.

Yes that’s a real bullet hole in the tail light.

Two days later, an envelope arrived at PHR with two copies of that photo, with a cartoon word-balloon that Danny had drawn in. Nice. After staying in contact for a few years, we lost touch. Amazingly, when I bumped into Danny two years ago at an event for his Crystal Head brand of vodka, he remembered the car, and us PHR guys, like it was yesterday. He told me he’d driven the St Regis for about 20 years, while at his vacation house in Martha’s Vineyard. He then donated it to a charity auction.

I asked what he drives now. A special-order last of the Ford Crown Vics with the police package. So, forget about Ferraris and Porsches, Dan Aykroyd prefers police transportation. Just the ticket for a fast cross-country escape. Oh yeah, and I still have the bullet.


C. Van Tune has reported on cars since 1980. From his early days on staff at Popular Hot Rodding, to later serving as editor-in-chief of Motor Trend, and hosting automotive TV shows on ESPN and the NBC Sports Network, Tune is now a contributor to Power & Performance News, and will be focusing on vintage cars, stories, and legends in the car magazine biz.

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