pshome Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Little i knew about UK police cars until i stumbled across this picture on the internet some time ago. Now that is interesting, the UK police making wise choices when it comes to selecting their patrol cars?DVLA says: Tax due: 01 July 1987, it didn't have a long life... A bit more searching found this: Obviously, this reliable, fast and comfortable means of transportation "made in France" had been selected to tackle the police challenges of the early 1980's. The hunt for more information was now on, first stop, the name on the bottom of the second image.Turned out, James Burns is an ex police officer and a very nice chap who sent us this kind message: Hi Peter / MichaelI was interested in the Police Tagora because it was very unusual at the time. The photo which you already have shows the Police demonstrator which travelled about being evaluated by different Police Forces in the UK. At one point the car was used in Glasgow for a few weeks around 1983 before going to Cumbria Police for a few weeks after that. I heard that it was then bought by Northumbria Police , ( as you know they apparently had others ). Despite my best efforts over the years I have never managed to obtain photos of the other Tagora cars at Northumbria. I was in the Police myself for 31 years and I had some friends in Northumbria Police Traffic Dept search but we never had any luck. The car wasnt very well liked but in Glasgow they had a large Chrysler factory which was bought over by Talbot making the sunbeam. That factory closed and all Talbot production moved away. That may have been a reason why Talbots were not bought.The new Photo was taken when the same demo car went to Cumbria Police for trial. It was taken by a friend Andy Hunton who was with Cumbria. I realise though Andy doesnt have any further information about the car except it left them and went to Northumbria. If I get any more info or luck with photos I will let you knowBest Wishes from ScotlandJim Burns A search through old newspaper archives found this in a 1983 Autocar issue. May 1983? That was about the time the Tagora went out of production. The Talbot factory archives revealed this: 100 cars / year to be produced with police specs, V6 engine, grey plastic seats.The images indeed show metric steel TRX made just for that purpose, wonder if any remain.To be commericalised "as soon as possible". I thought, this is the full story until a few days ago another image was found. A second police Tagora, with two very sceptical proud officers.Now the hunt for more details to the story is on again. Who can help? This car has a seal on the door, which police force this is?What does the registration starting with HWU stand for. Wikipedia says isle of Wight? Anything else the combined autoshite wisdom can add to the story? Thanks! Peter & Michael Conrad D. Conelrad, egg, Slappy and 39 others 42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felly Magic Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 HWU at that era was Leeds, so that is West Yorkshire Police, markings are their traffic division, so very possibly plodded up and down the M62/M1 pshome, pickup57, M'coli and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vin Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Fascinating. 'WU' is West Riding of Yorkshire... KV in the top two pics is Coventry, so that makes sense, what with it being a demonstrator... Edit, Felly beat me to it... pshome, Junkman, pickup57 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asimo Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Nothing Tagora but: I recall in 1977 the Traffic police in Worcestershire having fully dressed Renault 30 and a Vauxhall (Ventora or VX4/90) on trial as potential traffic cars.They were both laughed at by the cops who drove them: that force had P6 Rovers, Range Rovers and BMW 2.5 / 3.0 at the time. I have been trying to find a picture of this R30 for years, without success. pshome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faker Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 That's awesome pshome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
406V6 Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 I passed through Glasgow several times in 1982 and 1984 (no visits in 1983) and recall spotting a police Tagora on one occasion. No pics though. brickwall, Faker, pshome and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overrun Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 I live in the area under the control of Northumbria Police, and I was 1 year old at the time of that article.Strangely I do not remember Tagora 'Jam sandwiches' though. pshome and Faker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Great detective work! I think the logo is of South Yorkshire police ( white rose) which matches the -WU leeds reg of the car. pickup57 and pshome 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felly Magic Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Logo is West Yorks, the news article also confirms this. WY did have a history of unusual cars, including Sherpa cabriolets (MGB's) and Dolly Sprints. Their early Sierras were buttery biscuit base spec, but with Cologne V6 engines pickup57, pshome, Ghosty and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warren t claim Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 To be brutally honest, the Tagora fits the early 80s police car role well insofar as it was quick, roomy and couldn't be given away at the time. I'm pretty sure the only downside would of been the RWD police the plod had at the time. IIRC Vauxhall virtually gave the police Senators because they were such slow sellers. Talbot would of probably been even more keen to find a home for their UK Tagora quota. pshome and Faker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C1am Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 To Scotland. holbeck, Skizzer, brickwall and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigstraight6 Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 I never knew that our UK defenders of law and order actually tried/used Talbot Tagora's, a crime in itself!.... (Only joking chaps, really interesting stuff this..) brickwall and pshome 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Longbridge Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Excellent research, and great that you managed to find info from a former occifer. There must be more photos out there... pickup57 and pshome 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordonbennet Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 That pic of the officers standing by the Tagora is nostalgiac, they look like normal coppers used to look and a decent grin on their faces not a hi viz stab prof kit or weapon in site...not the grim faced paramilitary current look, i miss the 70's/80's warren t claim, eddyramrod, mercrocker and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overrun Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Excellent research, and great that you managed to find info from a former occifer. There must be more photos out there... Wonder if that jimspolisssd1 fella on the blue could shed any light.He is a former plod, no? pshome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkman Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Holy shit!Am I glad they didn't catch on.Those could effectively potentially even intercept a Rover P6 V8! pshome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pshome Posted October 26, 2016 Author Share Posted October 26, 2016 Holy shit!Am I glad they didn't catch on.Those could effectively easily intercept a Rover P6 V8!FTFY Junkman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Split_Pin Posted October 26, 2016 Share Posted October 26, 2016 Excellent stuff, v interesting. Great research by the OP too, more please! Banger Kenny and pshome 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownnova Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 I'd be much more interested in watching police interceptors if they had Tagoras rather than Imprezas/3-series.... Banger Kenny, pshome and eddyramrod 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChinaTom Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 I remember that Tagora police article - about 7 years ago I mentioned this on this forum somewhere, but could not find anything about it on the Web. Thanks for proving I didn't dream it up! Sent from my STV100-4 using Tapatalk pshome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiggy Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 That`s fascinating ! Thank you. pshome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickwall Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 I had a toy one. It said Strathclyde Police on it. M'coli and pshome 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Jimmy Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 Ideal pursuit/arrest car I'd have thought. Big boot for lots of paperwork/doughnuts, in V6 form quick enough to catch a mk1 Granada. Lots of hard edges to rip into cardboard boxes and smack offenders heads on as they are bummed over bonnet/chucked into back seat. inconsistant, eddyramrod and pshome 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselnutjob Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 The Tagora was a fair bit more powerful than the Renault 30/Peugeot 604 due to it's triple carbs. I wonder what they didn't like about it? pshome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Split_Pin Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 I'd love it if there was ever an old episode of 'Police Interceptors' with some on-board footage of a Tagora in pursuit. Imagine the induction roar from those 3 double-barrel Webers BWAAAUUUUHHHHHHGGHHH!!! oldcars and Braddon81 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Split_Pin Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 Like this: holbeck, warren t claim, Vantman and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAspley Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 That ^^ is pure porn for the ears. brickwall 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercrocker Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 Nothing Tagora but: I recall in 1977 the Traffic police in Worcestershire having fully dressed Renault 30 and a Vauxhall (Ventora or VX4/90) on trial as potential traffic cars.They were both laughed at by the cops who drove them: that force had P6 Rovers, Range Rovers and BMW 2.5 / 3.0 at the time. I have been trying to find a picture of this R30 for years, without success. Sorry for thread derailment (and especially apologetic for shit pic - already a poor repro in the book not helped by camera shiteness) This was evaluated by Hampshire Police - On a more Talbot-ish note, I cannot find any evidence but am certain I remember Southampton Docks Transport Police using a white Solara at some point. pshome, Asimo and Sudsprint 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 Blimey, I didn't know they sounded that good! I know 6s are fruity but that's got a lovely throaty roar. I should probably get one. Great thread btw Louise2cv and pshome 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pshome Posted October 27, 2016 Author Share Posted October 27, 2016 News! i was able to identify and contact the person who posted the last image and got this friendly reply (edited for privacy). Hello,The photo is one from my fathers archive. Unfortunately he passed away in 2013. My Dad at this time was PC xxx xxxx xxxx (West Yorkshire Police) and is the officer on the left. I am sorry I do not know who the other police officer is but I would think he is now retired. The vehicle may have been used as a motorway patrol car on the M1/M62 in the Leeds area and probably based at the Wooley Edge Police Post on the M1. As that was my fathers post around that time.Next stop: inquire at West Yorkshire Police. Maybe a shiter has contacts there? holbeck, pickup57, Faker and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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