Cop car evolution

It probably depends on the police force. The Met were loyal to Wolseley for many years - but other forces certainly used Riley. I can't remember ever seeing a Pathfinder, though, but the earlier RM series certainly.

Of course with so many old films and TV being London based, it's not surprising many think Wolseley was the only police car.

You must have been posh when you were born then?

Bill

Not just old films and TV, I had an Eagle annual which showed one.

G.Harman

Very likely

Brian-Gaff scribbled

The police auction off all their cars and have done for years.

They remove their specialist equipment which is reused on the replacement car. I have heard of police vehicles being serviced and sold off shortly after, that's because the police cannot afford to have cars on the road that may fail or have accidents due to maintainance issues.

The traffic cars can be a bargain, they have high mileage, but they're not driven stop start, so there's often less wear & tear on the engine.

They're also usually ultra low spec. No sunroof and all the 'toys' that can be deleted are. Might well be holes where equipment was but removed.

My son has an ex police Volvo V60 its incredibly fast, and came with a full history showing every bit of work done complete with the cost. This includes removing blood from back seat!! and record of £960 worth of work on brakes and servicing just 1020 miles before it was sold. It was also quite an eye opener at what the police pay for tyres, £42 each (probably plus VAT), same make £104 at discount tyre centre!

Mike

There's a Riley used in the Father Brown series sometimes, they seem to chop and change from Wolseley to Riley.

You would never see a (broadcast) car radio in an old police car. Not sure about what they so now the are integrated into the standard spec. Do the knobble them in some way?