What’s the best-ever police cruiser?
Not many drivers enjoy red and blue lights flashing in their rear-view mirror, but if the officer has a sweet set of wheels, it might at least make for a cooler story.
Police cruisers have come in all shapes and sizes over the years. Modern police departments seem to favor trucks and SUVs, rather than the traditional large sedan. Modern departments order unique police-issue vehicles that are often customized with a specific set of options that make them suited to the unique challenges of law enforcement in various regions and municipalities.
Nowadays the once-ubiquitous Crown Vic is all but vanished outside of a few stragglers, replaced largely by the Ford Explorer, Chevy Tahoe, Dodge Charger, and Ford Taurus.
After serving their time, many cruisers are auctioned off to the public. Though the lights and lettering have to be removed, the heavy-duty brakes, higher-output engines, and column shifters remain. The right buyer might see these retirees as a great starting point for a project car. There’s also the satisfaction of cars just getting out of your way when they think you’ve got a badge.
There have been many different types of police cars over the years, with all of the Big Three partnering with law enforcement at some point, as well as Kaiser, Hudson, and AMC. If you look the world over, more exotic brands begin to appear. For example, Rome utilized two 1962 Ferrari 250GTEs, Britain is rumored to have added the lights to a BMW i8 more recently, and Dubai is well-known for its Lamborghini pursuit cars.
With such a wide variety of black-and-white liveried cars, we want to hear which one is your favorite. Let us know below—what’s the pursuit vehicle of your dreams?
