CHEVROLET C10, A.P. van Eijsden & J.W. Hofs, 2000
Another in the "Back in Time" series from the European Library (The Netherlands).
For more than 20 years the Chevrolet C10 has dominated the image of the Metropolitan Police in Rotterdam (The Netherlands). Many of the (former) policemen therefore still think back with nostalgia to the days when they used to drive around Rotterdam in these famous American cars to guarantee policing, safety and to offer help where necessary.
The first six Chevrolets Custom 10 (C10) were delivered in Rotterdam in 1963. The Chevrolet C10 would dominate the image of the Rotterdam police for more than two decades. Through all those years the Rotterdam police maintained its reputation as the police force with the big American cars. The uniformed service of each of the then existing Rotterdam police departments had a number of these C10s at their disposal, primarily for assistance with surveillance.
Throughout the years the force would own some 45 to 60 C10s at a time, of which some 30 to 40 would be driven around by the different police departments. The Rotterdam Metropolitan Police must have had some 200 of these vehicles in service during the more than 20 years they had the Chevrolet C10 at their disposal. The last C10 disappeared from the Rotterdam streets in 1986.
One of the last remaining Chevrolet C10s was saved from the scrap yard and handed over to the Information Office of the police at the time. This C10 was stored in a shed and was used for television productions and film shootings several times. After the C10 had been completely restored by the pupils of a Youth Detention Center this vehicle was placed on permanent display at the Police gallery in the hall of the Witte de Withstraat Police Office. There, for many years, this C10 has been the symbol of some 20 years of progressive mobility of the Rotterdam force.
NOTE: The text in this book is in both English and Dutch.
8 1/4" x 6" 128 pages, 76 B&W photos, hardcover BC1390 / $9.95
ASSOCIATED BOOKS: The European Library