26.10.2008
In a display of ‘charitable’ goodwill, Lamborghini has donated its latest 560 bhp supercar to the head of Italian State Police, Prefect Antonio Manganelli, for official police duties.
A private ceremony was held at the Viminale Palace where Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. replaced the previous Gallardo in use by the Italian police force since 2004 with the new 203mph LP560-4.
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16 Comments
Mark
October 26, 2008X Cars was a really good watch back in the day. Cavalier 4×4′s I believe as well as some fast Fords romping around Manchester knicking little scrotes who were stealing cars.
I believe Merseyside had Escort Costworths, seem to recall seeing them on TV. Full marked up and proper patrol cars, not just a stunt to promote road safety. I think that would surely have to be the coolest police car ever?
Mark
October 26, 2008X Cars was a really good watch back in the day. Cavalier 4×4′s I believe as well as some fast Fords romping around Manchester knicking little scrotes who were stealing cars.
I believe Merseyside had Escort Costworths, seem to recall seeing them on TV. Full marked up and proper patrol cars, not just a stunt to promote road safety. I think that would surely have to be the coolest police car ever?
Steve
October 26, 2008I always remember the 3dr Sierra Cosworth that was provided to the Met Police in 1986, and then hearing that one of their specially trained drivers had written it off.
That seemed to define the image of the Cossie as being a bit of a handful, which seems quite ‘quaint’ considering it was pumping out all of 204bhp…
A good friend of mine recently bought the original white Porsche 968CS that was given to the Police, there is club that tracks and follows all of these special police cars which I will try and dig out the details if anyone is interested. Might be worth a feature sometime.
Steve
October 26, 2008I always remember the 3dr Sierra Cosworth that was provided to the Met Police in 1986, and then hearing that one of their specially trained drivers had written it off.
That seemed to define the image of the Cossie as being a bit of a handful, which seems quite ‘quaint’ considering it was pumping out all of 204bhp…
A good friend of mine recently bought the original white Porsche 968CS that was given to the Police, there is club that tracks and follows all of these special police cars which I will try and dig out the details if anyone is interested. Might be worth a feature sometime.
Pedro Sousa
October 27, 2008Here in Portugal I’ll have to give credits to an old 356 B cabrio.
Take a Look:
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/5727/356bcabrio1961copyto6.jpg
Pedro Sousa
October 27, 2008Here in Portugal I’ll have to give credits to an old 356 B cabrio.
Take a Look:
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/5727/356bcabrio1961copyto6.jpg
Steve
October 27, 2008Pedro, what a great looking police car, I’ve always wanted a 356B.
I’ve posted your picture in the main article above.
Steve
October 27, 2008Pedro, what a great looking police car, I’ve always wanted a 356B.
I’ve posted your picture in the main article above.
Mark Williams
October 28, 2008The thing that winds me up no end, is cruising down the M4 or whatever at a nice and friendly 79mph, and being passed by police in…variously….
A BMW 5 Series Touring.
A Mercedes E Class Touring.
A BMW X5.
A Volvo XC90.
Countless big Volvo estates.
etc etc etc.
Where the blazes do they get their money? Must be costing the taxpayer a fortune.
In Italy, where flamboyance is a fact of life, such behaviour is no doubt accepted.
Do it the UK and you’ll just wind-up the oppressed masses. And I’d have to say, I’d agree with them.
And I don’t agree that they need these vast barges in order to catch speeders either. Cameras do that these days, in case you hadn’t noticed…
Mark Williams
October 28, 2008The thing that winds me up no end, is cruising down the M4 or whatever at a nice and friendly 79mph, and being passed by police in…variously….
A BMW 5 Series Touring.
A Mercedes E Class Touring.
A BMW X5.
A Volvo XC90.
Countless big Volvo estates.
etc etc etc.
Where the blazes do they get their money? Must be costing the taxpayer a fortune.
In Italy, where flamboyance is a fact of life, such behaviour is no doubt accepted.
Do it the UK and you’ll just wind-up the oppressed masses. And I’d have to say, I’d agree with them.
And I don’t agree that they need these vast barges in order to catch speeders either. Cameras do that these days, in case you hadn’t noticed…
Kermit79
October 29, 2008I can not agree with Mark more on his comment.
In these times of supposed economic crisis passing a 08 plate Range Rover seems a little more than unneccessary.
Not only that, with the government punishing the general public for owning ‘gas guzzlers’, I see no reason why they shouldn’t try and set an example. I appreciate that the Police constabularies have a budget that they spend as they see fit, but this is a serious own-goal if they are wanting to portray a public-first attitude.
For the price of a single spec’d up Range Rover patrol vehicle, they could have two BMW 330d M sport estates. 40mpg, 155mph, reasonable loading capacity, and enough performance to deal with a Golf GTI, that a Range Rover couldn’t hope to catch.
If the argument is that they may need to go offroad, or they need more space, what is wrong with the Nissans that the Traffic Officers use. Mind you, these Traffic Officers may be better off in a mini-bus, because as far as I can work out they require 15 people per vehicle to see what’s happening. Probably something to do with health and safety not allowing any one person to lift a traffic cone by themselves.
I have little respect for this kind of spending, when the Police can not come to a burglary due to insufficient funding…. Gripe over.
Kermit79
October 29, 2008I can not agree with Mark more on his comment.
In these times of supposed economic crisis passing a 08 plate Range Rover seems a little more than unneccessary.
Not only that, with the government punishing the general public for owning ‘gas guzzlers’, I see no reason why they shouldn’t try and set an example. I appreciate that the Police constabularies have a budget that they spend as they see fit, but this is a serious own-goal if they are wanting to portray a public-first attitude.
For the price of a single spec’d up Range Rover patrol vehicle, they could have two BMW 330d M sport estates. 40mpg, 155mph, reasonable loading capacity, and enough performance to deal with a Golf GTI, that a Range Rover couldn’t hope to catch.
If the argument is that they may need to go offroad, or they need more space, what is wrong with the Nissans that the Traffic Officers use. Mind you, these Traffic Officers may be better off in a mini-bus, because as far as I can work out they require 15 people per vehicle to see what’s happening. Probably something to do with health and safety not allowing any one person to lift a traffic cone by themselves.
I have little respect for this kind of spending, when the Police can not come to a burglary due to insufficient funding…. Gripe over.
Mark
October 29, 2008The traffic dept. need cars that are big, quick, comfortable and reliable. They carry a lot..A LOT…of gear, they are on the road for many hours at a time dealing with a wide range of incidents and the cars receive a lot of abuse…far beyond what a regular owner would put a car through.
Range Rovers aren’t the bread and butter of the police fleet and I think they have a valid place in Police garages around the country.
When winter rolls round here in Scotland, the local traffic dept. acquire Range Rovers to keep themselves mobile. If you have an accident and are awaiting assistance you’d be grateful they can still reach you…something that might not be possible in a low slung front wheel drive estate.
Only recently have diesels become an option as engine technology has been pushed forward…and you can see that filtering through as more and more traffic cars are diesel these days. The new BMW cars up here and some of the current Volvos appear to be running the oily stuff.
Large estates and 4×4′s are fit for purpose. The huge mileages the cars cover also means they will get renewed regularly, can’t have the police running around in old/unsafe vehicles.
I doubt they pay full retail either…
Mark
October 29, 2008The traffic dept. need cars that are big, quick, comfortable and reliable. They carry a lot..A LOT…of gear, they are on the road for many hours at a time dealing with a wide range of incidents and the cars receive a lot of abuse…far beyond what a regular owner would put a car through.
Range Rovers aren’t the bread and butter of the police fleet and I think they have a valid place in Police garages around the country.
When winter rolls round here in Scotland, the local traffic dept. acquire Range Rovers to keep themselves mobile. If you have an accident and are awaiting assistance you’d be grateful they can still reach you…something that might not be possible in a low slung front wheel drive estate.
Only recently have diesels become an option as engine technology has been pushed forward…and you can see that filtering through as more and more traffic cars are diesel these days. The new BMW cars up here and some of the current Volvos appear to be running the oily stuff.
Large estates and 4×4′s are fit for purpose. The huge mileages the cars cover also means they will get renewed regularly, can’t have the police running around in old/unsafe vehicles.
I doubt they pay full retail either…
Mark Williams
October 29, 2008No don’t accept that argument.
Granted, up in Scotland where you guys actually do get decent snow in the winter, a 4*4 has it’s uses. But every single police car I see on the motorways down south is from a German manufacturer or is an RR or a Landcruiser for the traffic officers on the motorways.
I simply don’t accept that the police need these vehicles to do their job – it’s complete rubbish. A 330d saloon would indeed by the absolutely maximum they would need. Is comfortable enough for them on longer-distance stuff, has a boot which is big enough for all their clobber, fast and powerful etc…
Driving around towns, yes you see them in Ford Focus’ etc and that’s good. But when I see several of them blatting past on the motorway – no lights, no sirens – in nearly 200k’s worth of vehicles…
Over here in Belgium, the local police run around on little mopeds, and the motorway boys mostly stick to Volvos. There are a few Touregs around but the general feeling is a lot less spent on looking good on the motorway, and more spent on actually doing some work.
Mark Williams
October 29, 2008No don’t accept that argument.
Granted, up in Scotland where you guys actually do get decent snow in the winter, a 4*4 has it’s uses. But every single police car I see on the motorways down south is from a German manufacturer or is an RR or a Landcruiser for the traffic officers on the motorways.
I simply don’t accept that the police need these vehicles to do their job – it’s complete rubbish. A 330d saloon would indeed by the absolutely maximum they would need. Is comfortable enough for them on longer-distance stuff, has a boot which is big enough for all their clobber, fast and powerful etc…
Driving around towns, yes you see them in Ford Focus’ etc and that’s good. But when I see several of them blatting past on the motorway – no lights, no sirens – in nearly 200k’s worth of vehicles…
Over here in Belgium, the local police run around on little mopeds, and the motorway boys mostly stick to Volvos. There are a few Touregs around but the general feeling is a lot less spent on looking good on the motorway, and more spent on actually doing some work.