Why was Morrow butting heads with the police department, something about cars? They seemed to have plenty of police cars. Why wouldn't Morrow carry a badge or gun? Why would Morrow be pissed that Fonda and co. was driving a '67 or '68 blue car? One of the cops at the beginning made a reference to this.
shareThere had been a prior ongoing beef between Franklin (Morrow) and Chief Markey (Tobey) over Franklin's unorthodox policework. The two just did not get along.
Also, I think it is a given that Franklin was pretty much an assshole to everyone around him anyway, thus the comments about how long it would take him to find a "blue '68 Chevy."
"It's people..."
Why would Morrow be pissed that Fonda and co. was driving a '67 or '68 blue car? One of the cops at the beginning made a reference to this.Franklin wasn't mad that Larry was driving that particular car. He was mad at the vagueness of the description of the getaway vehicle (a blue '67 or '68 Chevy). They didn't even know the model of the car, just that it was a Chevy.
"That's all they got for me to go on is a blue '68 chevy? I could locate fifty of 'em by the time it takes me to pick my nose."
Those fleet of police cars were junkers. Although on the movie they looked like late model Chrysler's the police fleet was portrayed as run down and riddled with high mileage. Considering how often police drive, I found this plausible even for cars that looked so well. Throughout the movie you hear the police complaining about overheating, bad brakes, etc. In the scene where the officer picks up the unfinished interceptor there is a mechanic working on a line of cars at the garage which invokes that this a police department that is in bad need of vehicles.
As for Franklin, he was the most original character in the movie. He was a perfect fit for Morrow. I agree that the lack of accurate information about the cars was just one of many little ticks that could easily set him off.