MILLS â When Hurk Wahl gets behind the wheel of his 1964 Ford Galaxie, it either feels like heâs on parade or patrol.
The 60-year-old black-and-white police cruiser with the round bubble cherry light looks like it drove out of a TV set from an âAndy Griffith Showâ rerun. It even has a âRe-elect Andy Taylor for Sheriffâ sticker on the bumper.
The side-door emblems proclaim itâs part of the âMills Police Departmentâ instead of Mayberry.
Wahl, 72, who has lived in Casper and Mills all his life, said the car became his after he bought a $50 raffle ticket in 2019 as part of the Mills Summer Fest.
âI was going into the town hall to pay my water bill, and they had a (raffle) sign up,â he said. âI bought one ticket and won it.â
An advertisement from the 2019 Summer Fest in the Casper Star-Tribune labeled the vehicle a âMills Car 54 police cruiser.â There were 250 tickets at $50 each. Wahl said he bought one to support the community. He had no thoughts of winning.
While home barbecuing with friends, the phone call came that his was the lucky ticket.
When he picked up the car, Wahl saw that the police cruiser had a radio, functioning siren and a rack for a shotgun mounted in the front next to the passenger seat. The car even came with a billy club and police leather sap.
The siren and lights worked. The radio was disconnected â the old frequency and system were obsolete.
Siren, Lights âLegitâ
âI figured they would take that stuff off. I checked with the sheriff when I first got it to see if everything was legit,â Wahl said. âAnd it is, unless you pull somebody over.â
Wahl said he believes the car was something the city had restored and used in parades or for special occasions.Â
He doesnât believe it was an original Mills cruiser, and when he questioned the police department, no one seemed to know. When a new police chief arrived, he apparently wanted to get rid of it, Wahl said.
The raffle wording called it a âCar 54â for the 1961-63 police comedy âCar 54 Where Are You?â that  had officers played by Joe E. Ross and Fred Gwynn driving a 1961 Plymouth Belvedere.
But itâs really a Mayberry town police car.Â
Sheriff Andy Taylor on âThe Andy Griffith Showâ drove new Ford Galaxie cruisers each year, as the show was sponsored by Ford. And in 1964, the fourth year of the show, it was a 1964 version similar to the one Wahl has parked at his house.
Wahl said when he got the car, he removed a Reagan-era âJust Say Noâ to drugs sticker that was on it and replaced it with the bumper sticker calling for Andy Taylorâs re-election to office.
While the carâs restoration seemed true to original condition, there are a few features that werenât.
âItâs got a lift kit. You just push a button and it lifts the whole rear end up,â he said. âItâs hydraulic, it looks better up.â
The car also came with a device to delete the muffler to âget that engine real loud,â he said, noting it would not have come as standard issue for a police cruiser.
The 390-cubic-inch engine that was part of the Ford police package in 1964 still hums down the road. Wahl said he replaced the carburetor with a modern electronic one. Heâs tested the old machineâs ability on the highway.
âIâve done 120 mph, just to see if it would do it,â he said. âItâs a sweet running vehicle.â
One feature he has upgraded is a sound system with a CD player and radio.
Now A âCar Guyâ
Wahl said he never considered himself to be a âcar guyâ before winning the vehicle, but now he enjoys taking it to car shows and turning on the siren and lights for the kids. He said heâs driven in a Mills parade and plans to put it in a Casper parade this year.
A Casper-area movie maker included the car in a film about Shoshoni-born actress Isabel Jewell.
While he has covered and winterized the car for the winter, Wahl said he enjoys taking it out for a drive in the spring through fall.Â
Heâs found that when he pulls up behind people, they typically slow down. He gets a lot of honks and waves driving around.
Wahl bought an old police hat with a badge on it that he put in the rear window and purchased a shotgun that could fit in the rack.
The odometer was frozen when he got the car, so he has no idea how many miles are on it. He calls the body âprime.â
âI baby it,â he said. âIâm going to keep it forever if I can. If I have to, I will rebuild the engine, but so far, so good.â
When he drives it around town, he said he gets a lot of comments related to âThe Andy Griffith Show,â especially the remark about being allowed to have only one bullet, like Deputy Barney Fife.
While he never thought or intended to win the raffle, and heâs not the only guy in Wyoming with a classic police cruiser, he has enjoyed the blessing of his classic ride.
âIt just always feels like youâre in a parade,â he said. âWhenever youâre driving, everyone is checking it out.â
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Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.