Rozzer Shite

[sierraman]

I think they’d had a belly full of the ‘reliability’ of British cars by then do they went with Volvo etc. 

[gm]

as a kid, i only remember seeing vauxhalls, fords and bl stuff, but there were a lot less foreign cars on the roads back in those days generally.

Rover SD1 gets my vote 

 

[quicksilver]

2 hours ago, gm said:

was there once a rule / guideline that the police should only buy cars that had been made in the uk ? obviously not the case anymore 

the earliest ‘foreign’ police cars i can think of would be the big traffic volvos 

 

The first foreign police car IIRC was indeed a Volvo but of a much earlier generation, an Amazon estate bought by Hampshire in 1965. It was extremely controversial at the time but a sign of things to come and so significant in police history that they've preserved one in their historic fleet.

Here's some prime rozzer shite seen at the weekend, a 1.1 pov spec Metro. The owner reckoned a crim on a pushbike could outrun it.

[Datsuncog]

Surprised these haven't had a mention yet, amidst shite peelermobiles...

I understand that a few UK forces trialled the new 'Big Talbot' after its launch, at PSA's insistence, but none reckoned they were worth taking onto their fleet long-term.

 

I also found this intriguingly blurry image amidst the search results...

Another big furreign car that didn't get much of a look-in against the Grannies and Rovers.

[Six-cylinder]

3 hours ago, gm said:

was there once a rule / guideline that the police should only buy cars that had been made in the uk ? obviously not the case anymore 

the earliest ‘foreign’ police cars i can think of would be the big traffic volvos 

I was caught speeding in 1987 on the A34 Hampshire by a BMW E28 5 series. A friend bought the car in the photo when it was decommissioned.

In about 1987 Volvo UK had a Police demonstration, a 740 Turbo manual saloon in white with all the trimmings. When it was no longer needed as a Police demonstrator dealers were allowed to borrow it for promotional work.

[Bradders59]

I fitted a pair of ex police car front struts and springs to the front of my Omega Elite a few years ago.

It transformed the handling of the car completely, without making the ride harsh in any way. I cant think of any good reason why that spec of springs / dampers wasnt fitted to retail spec cars across the range.

I would like to do the same on the rear, but finding the parts is like searching for a hens tooth in a pile of rocking horse shit.

And if they ever do come up for sale people often want silly money for them.

[red5]

On 9/27/2022 at 3:21 PM, Bradders59 said:

I fitted a pair of ex police car front struts and springs to the front of my Omega Elite a few years ago.

It transformed the handling of the car completely, without making the ride harsh in any way. I cant think of any good reason why that spec of springs / dampers wasnt fitted to retail spec cars across the range.

I would like to do the same on the rear, but finding the parts is like searching for a hens tooth in a pile of rocking horse shit.

And if they ever do come up for sale people often want silly money for them.

How old is the Omega? A lot is Irmscher/Bilstein spec stuff - eg Senators were fitted with Carlton Gsi suspension and so on...

[MiniMinorMk3]

[Bradders59]

2 hours ago, red5 said:

How old is the Omega? A lot is Irmscher/Bilstein spec stuff - eg Senators were fitted with Carlton Gsi suspension and so on...

Its a 2002 3.2 Elite. Should have mentioned, I have also fitted Monaro top mounts to the front struts and polybushed the front anti roll bar.

Just need to uprate the rear a bit more and it should out handle my Boxster. 😂

[J R Hartley]

[DVee8]

A couple of months ago I spotted a Cupra Formentor unmarked car with a slim light-bar across the roof. Heading into Newcastle.

I bet this would give you a canny run for your money.

[anonymous user]

Saw a marked up Tesla in Bridgend recently, no idea if it is on trial or on the fleet

[quicksilver]

15 hours ago, anonymous user said:

Saw a marked up Tesla in Bridgend recently, no idea if it is on trial or on the fleet

This one?

It's a demonstrator that's doing the rounds. AFAIK it's still the only police Tesla in the country as no force has yet been brave enough to buy any.

[reb]

Bridgend in Wales?

That's where my old office is.

Not that I ever went there.

[D.E]

[MiniMinorMk3]

[shampooefficient]

On 11/4/2022 at 4:54 PM, Bradders59 said:

Its a 2002 3.2 Elite. Should have mentioned, I have also fitted Monaro top mounts to the front struts and polybushed the front anti roll bar.

Just need to uprate the rear a bit more and it should out handle my Boxster. 😂

Mine is on Bilstein B4s and Eibach springs and it handles silly well for a big old bus.

2003 ex plod, too.

[J R Hartley]

Hang on, we've got five pages in without the most iconic police car.  I give you....

 

[EyesWeldedShut]

39 minutes ago, J R Hartley said:

Hang on, we've got five pages in without the most iconic police car.  I give you....

 

Ahhh - yes, we had those. Met, early 1980's. Twin headlight, 1750 automatics as the 'CID' car ' - I'm pretty sure the crims spotted them a mile off, especially as they were pretty much all painted beige or a sort of French navy colour.
Panda-wise as in the image - last one I saw was around 1988 at Chiswick, 1300 (Super?) square steering wheel job used as the 'message car' i.e. if nothing else would roll out the gate - that's your steed. Had about 1/10th of the mileage compared to the 'superior' Metros  

[MiniMinorMk3]

[shampooefficient]

21 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

 Had about 1/10th of the mileage compared to the 'superior' Metros  

You know you've lowered your standards when a pov spec Metro becomes the appealing option...

[Missy Charm]

On 27/09/2022 at 11:28, reb said:

They were using BMWs in the early 70s.

And apparently trialling a VW Beetle panda car in 1970!

The number can't be an accident!

VW Beetles were not, alas, adopted by any British police forces.  

[goosey]

On 9/27/2022 at 2:11 PM, quicksilver said:

The first foreign police car IIRC was indeed a Volvo but of a much earlier generation, an Amazon estate bought by Hampshire in 1965. It was extremely controversial at the time but a sign of things to come and so significant in police history that they've preserved one in their historic fleet.

Here's some prime rozzer shite seen at the weekend, a 1.1 pov spec Metro. The owner reckoned a crim on a pushbike could outrun it.

Apparently the Police had issues with the Metro fuel caps leaking fuel onto the rear tyre during heavy cornering, which caused them to lose grip and spin.

was told this by a mate of mines dad who was a Traffic Cop many years ago, so not sure if there’s any truth to it 

[sheffcortinacentre]

Yes this was a problem with all of them which led to relocation higher up .

[D.E]

[stuboy]

31 minutes ago, goosey said:

Apparently the Police had issues with the Metro 

also they was known to suffer tremendous brake fade, so naughty people would force the force to brake a lot knowing they give up risking a crash

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

And apparently trialling a VW Beetle panda car in 1970!

The number can't be an accident!

VW Beetles were not, alas, adopted by any British police forces.  

I had a Corgi model, with steering controlled by twiddling the blue beacon on the roof. Can't remember the livery though.

[sierraman]

9 hours ago, stuboy said:

also they was known to suffer tremendous brake fade, so naughty people would force the force to brake a lot knowing they give up risking a crash

The metro would have had trouble keeping up with someone on foot! In the mid 90’s, knowing most of the pursuit cars had airbags, the joyriders would just reverse in to the front, at worst taking out the radiator, at best immobilising it when the bag went off. 

[riek]

The local police station where i grew up had a Mk4 escort popular that survived past the arrival of their first focuses. It seemed to get used mainly for popping round to see old dears who complained a lot.

[Richard_FM]

On 11/5/2022 at 8:50 PM, EyesWeldedShut said:

Ahhh - yes, we had those. Met, early 1980's. Twin headlight, 1750 automatics as the 'CID' car ' - I'm pretty sure the crims spotted them a mile off, especially as they were pretty much all painted beige or a sort of French navy colour.
Panda-wise as in the image - last one I saw was around 1988 at Chiswick, 1300 (Super?) square steering wheel job used as the 'message car' i.e. if nothing else would roll out the gate - that's your steed. Had about 1/10th of the mileage compared to the 'superior' Metros  

I heard the Met had all the ones for front line use fitted with round steering wheels from Marinas.

Supposedly some unmarked police cars were easy to spot because the registrations were in the same blocks as the patrol cars, I'm sure this was eventually noticed!