Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of the Kuwaiti cop-issue Chargers

Choosing them for their portrayed image of "strength and power," officials in Kuwait have ordered 150 Dodge Chargers to be modified as police vehicles. As the Charger is the leading volume vehicle for Chrysler LLC in the Middle East, the choice doesn't come as much of a surprise. Delivery of the cop cars, however, isn't expected to take place for another couple months. In the meantime, the lot of them are heading to Canfield Equipment Service in Michigan where they'll be fitted for their new Kuwaiti roles in traffic, security, and emergency response. (Here's hoping none of our readers get a chance to check them out from the back seat once they're in service).

[Source: Chrysler]

Bob Lutz has just posted a photochop on his GM Fastlane Blog of what the Corvette ZR1 could look like donning Michigan State Police livery. Bound to be the bane of speeders in the Wolverine state, the Corvette is sporting all the cop car traits necessary to scare the living Hell out of law breakers, including the prerequisite light bar, bumper guard (!) and spotlights. We, however, are particularly partial to the blacked out 20-spoke rollers. Despite lacking nanotechnology and more spoiler blades than a Cuisinart, we think this imaginary ZR1 cop car could give the new sci fi-inspired GT500KR-based KITT car a run for its money.

UPDATE: GM let us know this is not a prototype or anything official that implies a ZR1 cop car would actually be built. Someone sent this photoshopped pic of the ZR1 cop car to Lutz and he liked it enough to throw it up on his blog, much to the surprise of the PR department who didn't know anything about when we called.

[Source: GM Fastlane Blog]

Every year for the past 20, Law and Order magazine has held the International Police Vehicle Design contest, and this year's winners were just announced. As far as we can tell (this ain't a rag you can run down to your local Borders and buy), there are two categories for the competition, one for municipal police departments with less than 50 members and one for Federal or State agencies.

The winner of the small town cop car category comes from the Hummelstown Borough Police Dept. in Pennsylvania. At first we were surprised that such a simple design was declared the winner, but after examining the Hummelstown cruisers, we grew fond of their design's bold simplicity. The word "POLICE" on the side of the cop-spec Dodge Charger couldn't be clearer. It almost looks like a movie car, in fact. Second place went to the Itasca Police Department near Chicago, whose Dodge Chargers wore much more expressive graphic than the Hummelstown cars.

As for the Federal and State agency awards, first and second place both went to state universities in New York. Top prize was awarded to the State University of New York at Buffalo for its Dodge Charger, while coming in second was SUNY Albany, which was the only Ford Crown Victoria to be honored in the top two of either category this year.

You can check out the design of each winning car in the gallery below.

Note to criminals: if you're planning to be the lead car in a high-speed pursuit, your odds of getting away just got ever so slightly better. Ford Motor Company has decided to conduct a voluntary recall of its Crown Victoria police package Interceptor model (2003 model shown) because of small cracks that could form in the car's steel wheels during high speed pursuits. These cracks could cause "rapid air loss," or what the street folk call a blow-out, effectively allowing the no-goodnicks to get away and obviously putting the officer behind the wheel in a signifcant amount of danger.

About 109,664 examples of the 2003 to 2005 model will be recalled, though it's suspected that a very small percentage of active duty cop cars actually are rolling on defective wheels. Only two crashes have been attributed to the issue and no officers were injured. Nevertheless, Ford has been down the recall road with the Interceptor before, issuing a different wheel recall in 2003, as well as being forced to address potentially faulty gas tanks that could explode after a crash. Neither helped the automaker's relations with this country's law enforcement community, which doesn't bode well for the ancient Interceptor that's now facing stiff competition from the new hotness in police-issue whips, the Dodge Charger.

At the moment this new recall is a voluntary move by Ford, which has already notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of its actions. The recall will be targeted to owners of Interceptors with specific wheels that could be affected, who will be notified and told to visit nearby dealerships where the wheels and spares can be replaced.

[Source: MSNBC]

As automakers are moving away from fleet sales, there is one segment they just can't seem to say no to. The relatively high-margin law enforcement vehicle field has been pretty much dominated through the years by large rear-drive domestic sedans. Up until recently, that had meant a Ford Crown Victoria. There weren't many other options, that is until Dodge decided its new Charger/Magnum would look great in black and white. Each of the (formerly known as) Big Three, in fact, is pushing an entry in this field now.

As BusinessWeek points out, law enforcement agencies are purchasing between 65,000 to 70,000 vehicles every year as part of multiyear contracts. And these aren't base-model strippers we're talking about. Dodge's police Charger has an MSRP of $26,825, about five grand more than a base 2.7-liter civilian Charger. Sure it comes with the 3.5-liter V6 and tops out at 150 mph, but that extra five thou represents a considerable profit margin. Right now Ford's Crown Victoria is the undisputed king of the cop car fleet, and pretty much the only reason Ford still makes it. Out of the 63,939 Crown Vics Ford moved in 2005, 50,000 were police versions, according to John Arnone, a manager of Ford's Canadian manufacturing operations.

Dodge began selling police versions of the Charger and Magnum last year, and they are starting to make a dent in Ford sales, but still trail even GM's front-wheel drive Impala and Tahoe in this segment. The newer platforms give a performance advantage over GM and Ford, but the Vic has momentum, loyalty and room on its side.

To see a lineup of what Business Week thinks are the coolest cop cars, click through the read link.

[Source: BusinessWeek]

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Many precincts in the U.S. are ecstatic over their new Dodge Charger police cruisers, but Italian police are just as pleased to replace their fleet of Fiat Mareas with the new Alfa 159. Police cruisers in Italy are called Panteras, which means "Panther" in English, and the crime-fighting Pantera patrols the boot with a bulletproof windshield and windows, separated passenger compartment and remote-controlled, roof-mounted search lights. You may remember the Baby Blue and White paint scheme from the last Italian police car we told you about – a Lamborgini Gallardo. Man, Italy knows how to serve and protect in style.

[Source: Italiaspeed, autoblog.it]

Well, it’s not actually the Detroit police. Those brave souls would do well to soldier on with their heavily armored Crown Vics. It’s actually the campus police of Wayne State University in Detroit who have received the first hydrogen fuel cell-powered police vehicle in the world. The vehicle will operate in and around the campus and serve as a “learning laboratory” for WSU students enrolled in the country’s first masters-degree program in alternative energy.

The campus po-po’s paddy wagon is based on DaimlerChrysler’s innovative F-Cell hydrogen vehicle, which has a 100-mile range and a top speed of 85 mph. The electric motor develops 88 horsepower, just enough to run down jaywalkers and truant students. Sixty mph is reached in 16 seconds or next semester, whichever comes first.

[Source: DaimlerChrysler]