Gallery: the world’s best police cars

The police Rolls joins a list of wonderful cop cars, from Lambos to Corvettes

Yes, a police Rolls-Royce is now a thing. Sort of. You can read all about it here, but very first, remind yourself about the rest of the wild and wonderful police cars the world over. Pesky criminals don’t always have an underpowered Astra to evade…

Get scrolling, and tell us which you like – or are panicked of – the most, via the comments box below.

Italian State Police Lamborghini Huracan

Lamborghini has just donated a 2nd Huracan to the country’s Highway Patrol. Like the very first, it will be used for “normal police operations”, as well as the urgent transport of blood and organs. Naturally, it isn’t entirely standard. There’s the same 610bhp N/A V10 and all-wheel drive system, sure, and all the normal stuff you’ll find in any regular police car. Lights, sirens, radios, a movie camera and gun rack – it’s all there. The tyres even have special blue sidewalls to match the ‘Police Medium Blue’ bodywork.

UK Police Ford Mustang V8

This is a picture of a Ford Mustang decked out in police livery. You’ll agree, it looks fantastic.

It is – evidently – a pre-production model, displayed at the National Association of Police Fleet Managers trade demonstrate. So it’s a bit off policing the streets of the UK.

But, as cop cars go, it’s certainly up there amongst the coolest around. Or is it?

Carabinieri Alfa Giulia QV

Italy’s smart-suited Carabinieri – the stiffer, military arm of the Italian police – had some amazing company cars.

Being suave, sophisticated types, they didn’t just spank some stickers and two-tones on a bunch of Fiat 500s. Oh no. See, the Carabinieri have form when selecting patrol cars. Previous fleets include Lamborghini Gallardos, Huracans and Lotus Evoras. But this time they stayed on home turf and went for Alfa’s fresh M3-rivaling saloon, the 503bhp Giulia QV.

Dubai Police BMW i8

The quote is brief, but clarifies what we’ve desired to know: that Dubai’s police fleet is the coolest police fleet in the world. “The Dubai Police Force has always sought, through the introduction of sports leagues within its vehicle fleet, to enhance the security presence for the police, and to keep up with the highest international standards of technical and scientific developments.”

They’ve got a Lamborghini, a Bentley, an Aston Martin, a Ferrari, a McLaren and others, but now they’ve just added Top Gear magazine’s two thousand fourteen Car of the Year to the garage: a BMW i8.

Yep, the petrol-electric hybrid with looks straight out of a science fiction comic has landed in the Middle East, and has added yet another astonishing motor to a collection of cars that is prompt becoming, well, prompt.

You’ll know all about the i8 and its prowess, but if not, click here.

Dubai police Ferrari FF

Announced on Twitter, Dubai’s police force admitted that yes, they had bought a V12-engined pursuit vehicle in the form of the four-seat Ferrari FF. The four-wheel drive will doubtless prove vital for all those snow-and-ice police pursues across the UAE.

Dubai police Lamborghini Aventador

That FF was preceded by a Lamborghini Aventador cop car, handy for pursuing criminals driving Lamborghini Aventadors.

Carabineri Lotus Evora S

Ah yes, the Evora S. However this time, used by the Carabinieri – surely the world’s hardest and most scariest police force (they’re trained as soldiers for blubbering out noisy) – for expediting the transfer of essential human organs. They’re even tooled with fridges to keep said organs fresh. Don’t get on the wrong side of the Italian rozzers, mind, or you’ll find your own offal-parts in there too…

UK police Caparo T1

Another ‘safety-message’ stunt witnessed this Caparo T1 liveried up as a police car. But just imagine if it indeed was a police pursuit vehicle.

Italian police Lamborghini Gallardo

203mph, 0-62mph in Three.7 seconds, 560bhp and four-wheel-drive: this is how the Italians do law enforcement. Well, did anyway. However substituted by the fresh Huracan, this Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 was donated by Lambo to the Italian State Police to help ‘accident and crime prevention and sustain security on Italian roads’. Yikes.

US police Chevrolet Corvette

Not a Real Thing, unluckily, instead drawn by former GM man Bob Lutz as a flight of fancy. Fairly a good flight of fancy.

Dubai police Brabus G63 AMG

This 690bhp ‘Widestar’ can accelerate from 0-62mph in Four.9 seconds and on to an official top speed of 149mph. Unofficially, you’d have to be clinically bonkers to attempt to outrun any police force that ultimately determines on a four-wheel-drive, modified off-roader as a suitable police vehicle.

Humberside Police Lexus IS-F

Yes please. You can keep your Astras and Insignias and Hyundais thanks; we’d much rather see UK cops behind the wheel of a 416bhp Lexus IS-F. Albeit mainly used as a deterrent, it could be used to pursue crims on the run: the IS-F packed an onboard computer to permit officers to access the national police database while on the budge.

Dubai police Aston Martin One-77

Oh dear god, they just won’t stop, will they? Not content with stickering up an Aventador, FF and G63 to police duty, Dubai’s offices pressed one of the world’s most beautiful, rarest and fastest cars into service: the Aston Martin One-77. For the love of all that’s sacred in your life, please, do not speed in Dubai.

German Police Brabus CLS V12 S ‘Rocket’

Be very grateful that this isn’t actually a real life, working-dog police car. It was built way back in two thousand six to promote safe tuning in Germany, tho’ there’s nothing safe inwards here. Underneath sits a twin-turbo V12 produced 730bhp, enough to haul the CLS ‘Rocket’ to a top speed of 225mph. Schnell!

US police Dodge Charger

Substituting the ageing Crown Vic, this Charger was built with feedback from actual police officers in the States, and is a working, badge-holding, real-life police car. In fact, Chrysler claims it to be the fastest American police car in the history of ever: the RWD version clocked the fastest lap time ever recorded for a cop car around Michigan State Police’s Vehicle Evaluation Race.

Australian police HSV GTS

This HSV is a tyre-shredding, police-liveried loon, delivered to the officers of the Fresh South Wales police department, and funded by the NSW Centre for Road Safety. However – as with many of the cars on this list – it’s more of a ‘message car’ than an actual highway patrol/pursuit vehicle. However if you see it on the road, don’t be mistaken: there are still REAL POLICE OFFICERS hiding it inwards, who won’t hesitate to floor it if you break the law…

UK Police Lotus Evora S

You’re looking at a police-liveried Evora S, donated by the fine chaps over at Lotus to officers from Norfolk, Sussex, Essex, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, to help spread the message that speeding, drink driving, not wearing a seatbelt, or driving while using a mobile phone simply isn’t cricket.

The idea is that an Evora S will engage junior drivers better than, say a diesel Astra, thus permitting the rozzers to produce their significant safety messages. And also look well cool, innit.

US police undercover Nissan GT-R

Years back, EVI – run by a former secret service agent – told TG.com that it had been tasked with building a police car for an undisclosed US police department for undercover duty. Based on a Nissan GT-R. Judging by the picture above, it is possibly the most appalling thing we have ever seen.

UK police McLaren 12C

Those planning a retirement holiday in Marbella after that ‘one last job’ should most likely thank the heavens that the picture above is not representative of an actual police car. It is a McLaren 12C Spider dressed up as a police car.

The 12C Spider was loaned by McLaren to the West Midlands Police for the Autosport International display at Birmingham’s NEC as a demonstrator. BMW also got in on the act and suggested up an i3 too, free of charge, for display purposes only.

No doubt it’s to encourage a greater discourse inbetween police and motorists, but you have to admit, a 12C Spider in police livery looks fairly cool. And a bit scary, not least because underneath the stripes sits a twin-turbo Trio.8-litre V8 with 616bhp, and the capability to accelerate from 0-62mph in Three.1 seconds (the same as the coupe) and top out at 204mph. So, bloody prompt, then.

Australian police Volvo S60 Polestar

If you are a criminal in Australia, you may want to reconsider your life choices. Because the NSW Police’s Rose Bay local area guideline have been given a Volvo S60 Polestar as a squad car.

It’s fairly a thing, too. Underneath the blue hue sits a turbocharged Trio.0-litre V6 engine producing 350bhp, a six-speed paddleshift automatic gearbox and Haldex four-wheel-drive. 0-62mph takes just Four.9 seconds, it’ll hit 124mph less than thirteen seconds after, and top out at 155mph.

OK, so it’s not the fire-spitting, 501bhp concept Polestar S60 we drove a while back, but remains slew quick for… well, community fetes, actually. We’re told that albeit it won’t be a very first response type vehicle, it will be used as a support car and as a festival Thing to display off at events such as the Australian Open (Volvo is a major fucking partner).

Polestar Racing drivers Scott McLaughlin and Robert Dahlgren passed over the S60 to NSW Police, the 2nd high-performance Volvo to be used by the force – they got an S60 T5 previously too.

US Police Dodge Charger

This is the two thousand fifteen Dodge Charger police car, and you have the right to remain silent.

Not only does it look decently appalling – monster front bull-bars, sinister projector-beam headlights and a streamlined silhouette – but, as a true American cop car should, it comes with a socking superb V8.

You can, of course, get the Charger police car with the ‘Pentastar’ V6 (292bhp, 260lb ft torque), but any self-respecting US police force will want the V8 version. Specifically the Five.7-litre, HEMI-engined V8 with 370bhp, 390lb ft of torque and a 0-60mph time of less than six seconds.

Rapid enough to give the majority of road-bound crims food for thought. Then there’s the reinforced RWD chassis, featuring spectacle suspension, load-levelling shocks, powerful duty brakes, stabiliser bars all round, 18-inch spectacle tyres, and – officially the Best Thing Ever – steel wheels.

Inwards you get, officer, a fresh seven-inch full-colour (sorry, color) instrument cluster, police-spec front seats (to better hold officers’ belt-mounted gear and felon-absorbing waistlines) and the capability to customise your rail with the help of Mopar.

Sadly customisations don’t include multi-coloured grenade racks or machine guns in the headlights or oil slicks on the rear or revolving numberplates. Partly because it’s not 1964, and partly because Mopar isn’t run by five-year olds or Top Gear.

Rather, you get the option of bolstering the electrical spectacle of the car, add fresh graphics, ballistic door panels for the driver and passenger, and steel seat back inserts for the driver in case perps in the back become… agitated.

Read more on:

Share this page:

What do you think?

This service is provided by Disqus and is subject to their privacy policy and terms of use. Please read Top Gear’s code of conduct (link below) before posting.

These are the world’s best police cars

Gallery: the world’s best police cars

The police Rolls joins a list of wonderful cop cars, from Lambos to Corvettes

Yes, a police Rolls-Royce is now a thing. Sort of. You can read all about it here, but very first, remind yourself about the rest of the wild and wonderful police cars the world over. Pesky criminals don’t always have an underpowered Astra to evade…

Get scrolling, and tell us which you like – or are panicked of – the most, via the comments box below.

Italian State Police Lamborghini Huracan

Lamborghini has just donated a 2nd Huracan to the country’s Highway Patrol. Like the very first, it will be used for “normal police operations”, as well as the urgent transport of blood and organs. Naturally, it isn’t entirely standard. There’s the same 610bhp N/A V10 and all-wheel drive system, sure, and all the normal stuff you’ll find in any regular police car. Lights, sirens, radios, a movie camera and gun rack – it’s all there. The tyres even have special blue sidewalls to match the ‘Police Medium Blue’ bodywork.

UK Police Ford Mustang V8

This is a picture of a Ford Mustang decked out in police livery. You’ll agree, it looks fantastic.

It is – evidently – a pre-production model, displayed at the National Association of Police Fleet Managers trade showcase. So it’s a bit off policing the streets of the UK.

But, as cop cars go, it’s certainly up there amongst the coolest around. Or is it?

Carabinieri Alfa Giulia QV

Italy’s smart-suited Carabinieri – the stiffer, military arm of the Italian police – had some amazing company cars.

Being suave, sophisticated types, they didn’t just smack some stickers and two-tones on a bunch of Fiat 500s. Oh no. See, the Carabinieri have form when selecting patrol cars. Previous fleets include Lamborghini Gallardos, Huracans and Lotus Evoras. But this time they stayed on home turf and went for Alfa’s fresh M3-rivaling saloon, the 503bhp Giulia QV.

Dubai Police BMW i8

The quote is brief, but clarifies what we’ve desired to know: that Dubai’s police fleet is the coolest police fleet in the world. “The Dubai Police Force has always sought, through the introduction of sports leagues within its vehicle fleet, to enhance the security presence for the police, and to keep up with the highest international standards of technical and scientific developments.”

They’ve got a Lamborghini, a Bentley, an Aston Martin, a Ferrari, a McLaren and others, but now they’ve just added Top Gear magazine’s two thousand fourteen Car of the Year to the garage: a BMW i8.

Yep, the petrol-electric hybrid with looks straight out of a science fiction comic has landed in the Middle East, and has added yet another astonishing motor to a collection of cars that is rapid becoming, well, swift.

You’ll know all about the i8 and its prowess, but if not, click here.

Dubai police Ferrari FF

Announced on Twitter, Dubai’s police force admitted that yes, they had bought a V12-engined pursuit vehicle in the form of the four-seat Ferrari FF. The four-wheel drive will doubtless prove vital for all those snow-and-ice police pursues across the UAE.

Dubai police Lamborghini Aventador

That FF was preceded by a Lamborghini Aventador cop car, handy for pursuing criminals driving Lamborghini Aventadors.

Carabineri Lotus Evora S

Ah yes, the Evora S. Tho’ this time, used by the Carabinieri – surely the world’s hardest and most scariest police force (they’re trained as soldiers for weeping out noisy) – for expediting the transfer of essential human organs. They’re even tooled with fridges to keep said organs fresh. Don’t get on the wrong side of the Italian rozzers, mind, or you’ll find your own offal-parts in there too…

UK police Caparo T1

Another ‘safety-message’ stunt witnessed this Caparo T1 liveried up as a police car. But just imagine if it indeed was a police pursuit vehicle.

Italian police Lamborghini Gallardo

203mph, 0-62mph in Trio.7 seconds, 560bhp and four-wheel-drive: this is how the Italians do law enforcement. Well, did anyway. However substituted by the fresh Huracan, this Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 was donated by Lambo to the Italian State Police to help ‘accident and crime prevention and sustain security on Italian roads’. Yikes.

US police Chevrolet Corvette

Not a Real Thing, unluckily, instead drawn by former GM man Bob Lutz as a flight of fancy. Fairly a good flight of fancy.

Dubai police Brabus G63 AMG

This 690bhp ‘Widestar’ can accelerate from 0-62mph in Four.9 seconds and on to an official top speed of 149mph. Unofficially, you’d have to be clinically bonkers to attempt to outrun any police force that ultimately determines on a four-wheel-drive, modified off-roader as a suitable police vehicle.

Humberside Police Lexus IS-F

Yes please. You can keep your Astras and Insignias and Hyundais thanks; we’d much rather see UK cops behind the wheel of a 416bhp Lexus IS-F. Albeit mainly used as a deterrent, it could be used to pursue crims on the run: the IS-F packed an onboard computer to permit officers to access the national police database while on the stir.

Dubai police Aston Martin One-77

Oh dear god, they just won’t stop, will they? Not content with stickering up an Aventador, FF and G63 to police duty, Dubai’s offices pressed one of the world’s most beautiful, rarest and fastest cars into service: the Aston Martin One-77. For the love of all that’s sacred in your life, please, do not speed in Dubai.

German Police Brabus CLS V12 S ‘Rocket’

Be very grateful that this isn’t actually a real life, working-dog police car. It was built way back in two thousand six to promote safe tuning in Germany, however there’s nothing safe inwards here. Underneath sits a twin-turbo V12 produced 730bhp, enough to haul the CLS ‘Rocket’ to a top speed of 225mph. Schnell!

US police Dodge Charger

Substituting the ageing Crown Vic, this Charger was built with feedback from actual police officers in the States, and is a working, badge-holding, real-life police car. In fact, Chrysler claims it to be the fastest American police car in the history of ever: the RWD version clocked the fastest lap time ever recorded for a cop car around Michigan State Police’s Vehicle Evaluation Race.

Australian police HSV GTS

This HSV is a tyre-shredding, police-liveried loon, delivered to the officers of the Fresh South Wales police department, and funded by the NSW Centre for Road Safety. Tho’ – as with many of the cars on this list – it’s more of a ‘message car’ than an actual highway patrol/pursuit vehicle. However if you see it on the road, don’t be mistaken: there are still REAL POLICE OFFICERS hiding it inwards, who won’t hesitate to floor it if you break the law…

UK Police Lotus Evora S

You’re looking at a police-liveried Evora S, donated by the fine chaps over at Lotus to officers from Norfolk, Sussex, Essex, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, to help spread the message that speeding, drink driving, not wearing a seatbelt, or driving while using a mobile phone simply isn’t cricket.

The idea is that an Evora S will engage junior drivers better than, say a diesel Astra, thus permitting the rozzers to produce their significant safety messages. And also look well cool, innit.

US police undercover Nissan GT-R

Years back, EVI – run by a former secret service agent – told TG.com that it had been tasked with building a police car for an undisclosed US police department for undercover duty. Based on a Nissan GT-R. Judging by the picture above, it is possibly the most horrifying thing we have ever seen.

UK police McLaren 12C

Those planning a retirement holiday in Marbella after that ‘one last job’ should very likely thank the heavens that the pic above is not representative of an actual police car. It is a McLaren 12C Spider dressed up as a police car.

The 12C Spider was loaned by McLaren to the West Midlands Police for the Autosport International showcase at Birmingham’s NEC as a demonstrator. BMW also got in on the act and suggested up an i3 too, free of charge, for display purposes only.

No doubt it’s to encourage a greater discourse inbetween police and motorists, but you have to admit, a 12C Spider in police livery looks fairly cool. And a bit scary, not least because underneath the stripes sits a twin-turbo Three.8-litre V8 with 616bhp, and the capability to accelerate from 0-62mph in Three.1 seconds (the same as the coupe) and top out at 204mph. So, bloody rapid, then.

Australian police Volvo S60 Polestar

If you are a criminal in Australia, you may want to reconsider your life choices. Because the NSW Police’s Rose Bay local area instruction have been given a Volvo S60 Polestar as a squad car.

It’s fairly a thing, too. Underneath the blue hue sits a turbocharged Three.0-litre V6 engine producing 350bhp, a six-speed paddleshift automatic gearbox and Haldex four-wheel-drive. 0-62mph takes just Four.9 seconds, it’ll hit 124mph less than thirteen seconds after, and top out at 155mph.

OK, so it’s not the fire-spitting, 501bhp concept Polestar S60 we drove a while back, but remains slew quick for… well, community fetes, actually. We’re told that albeit it won’t be a very first response type vehicle, it will be used as a support car and as a festival Thing to showcase off at events such as the Australian Open (Volvo is a major fucking partner).

Polestar Racing drivers Scott McLaughlin and Robert Dahlgren passed over the S60 to NSW Police, the 2nd high-performance Volvo to be used by the force – they got an S60 T5 previously too.

US Police Dodge Charger

This is the two thousand fifteen Dodge Charger police car, and you have the right to remain silent.

Not only does it look decently appalling – monster front bull-bars, sinister projector-beam headlights and a streamlined silhouette – but, as a true American cop car should, it comes with a socking fine V8.

You can, of course, get the Charger police car with the ‘Pentastar’ V6 (292bhp, 260lb ft torque), but any self-respecting US police force will want the V8 version. Specifically the Five.7-litre, HEMI-engined V8 with 370bhp, 390lb ft of torque and a 0-60mph time of less than six seconds.

Rapid enough to give the majority of road-bound crims food for thought. Then there’s the reinforced RWD chassis, featuring spectacle suspension, load-levelling shocks, mighty duty brakes, stabiliser bars all round, 18-inch spectacle tyres, and – officially the Best Thing Ever – steel wheels.

Inwards you get, officer, a fresh seven-inch full-colour (sorry, color) instrument cluster, police-spec front seats (to better hold officers’ belt-mounted gear and felon-absorbing waistlines) and the capability to customise your rail with the help of Mopar.

Sadly customisations don’t include multi-coloured grenade racks or machine guns in the headlights or oil slicks on the rear or revolving numberplates. Partly because it’s not 1964, and partly because Mopar isn’t run by five-year olds or Top Gear.

Rather, you get the option of bolstering the electrical spectacle of the car, add fresh graphics, ballistic door panels for the driver and passenger, and steel seat back inserts for the driver in case perps in the back become… agitated.

Read more on:

Share this page:

What do you think?

This service is provided by Disqus and is subject to their privacy policy and terms of use. Please read Top Gear’s code of conduct (link below) before posting.

These are the world’s best police cars

Gallery: the world’s best police cars

The police Rolls joins a list of wonderful cop cars, from Lambos to Corvettes

Yes, a police Rolls-Royce is now a thing. Sort of. You can read all about it here, but very first, remind yourself about the rest of the wild and wonderful police cars the world over. Pesky criminals don’t always have an underpowered Astra to evade…

Get scrolling, and tell us which you like – or are funked of – the most, via the comments box below.

Italian State Police Lamborghini Huracan

Lamborghini has just donated a 2nd Huracan to the country’s Highway Patrol. Like the very first, it will be used for “normal police operations”, as well as the urgent transport of blood and organs. Naturally, it isn’t entirely standard. There’s the same 610bhp N/A V10 and all-wheel drive system, sure, and all the normal stuff you’ll find in any regular police car. Lights, sirens, radios, a movie camera and gun rack – it’s all there. The tyres even have special blue sidewalls to match the ‘Police Medium Blue’ bodywork.

UK Police Ford Mustang V8

This is a picture of a Ford Mustang decked out in police livery. You’ll agree, it looks fantastic.

It is – evidently – a pre-production model, displayed at the National Association of Police Fleet Managers trade display. So it’s a bit off policing the streets of the UK.

But, as cop cars go, it’s certainly up there amongst the coolest around. Or is it?

Carabinieri Alfa Giulia QV

Italy’s smart-suited Carabinieri – the stiffer, military arm of the Italian police – had some amazing company cars.

Being suave, sophisticated types, they didn’t just spank some stickers and two-tones on a bunch of Fiat 500s. Oh no. See, the Carabinieri have form when selecting patrol cars. Previous fleets include Lamborghini Gallardos, Huracans and Lotus Evoras. But this time they stayed on home turf and went for Alfa’s fresh M3-rivaling saloon, the 503bhp Giulia QV.

Dubai Police BMW i8

The quote is brief, but clarifies what we’ve desired to know: that Dubai’s police fleet is the coolest police fleet in the world. “The Dubai Police Force has always sought, through the introduction of sports leagues within its vehicle fleet, to enhance the security presence for the police, and to keep up with the highest international standards of technical and scientific developments.”

They’ve got a Lamborghini, a Bentley, an Aston Martin, a Ferrari, a McLaren and others, but now they’ve just added Top Gear magazine’s two thousand fourteen Car of the Year to the garage: a BMW i8.

Yep, the petrol-electric hybrid with looks straight out of a science fiction comic has landed in the Middle East, and has added yet another astonishing motor to a collection of cars that is prompt becoming, well, prompt.

You’ll know all about the i8 and its prowess, but if not, click here.

Dubai police Ferrari FF

Announced on Twitter, Dubai’s police force admitted that yes, they had bought a V12-engined pursuit vehicle in the form of the four-seat Ferrari FF. The four-wheel drive will doubtless prove vital for all those snow-and-ice police pursues across the UAE.

Dubai police Lamborghini Aventador

That FF was preceded by a Lamborghini Aventador cop car, handy for pursuing criminals driving Lamborghini Aventadors.

Carabineri Lotus Evora S

Ah yes, the Evora S. However this time, used by the Carabinieri – surely the world’s hardest and most scariest police force (they’re trained as soldiers for blubbering out noisy) – for expediting the transfer of essential human organs. They’re even tooled with fridges to keep said organs fresh. Don’t get on the wrong side of the Italian rozzers, mind, or you’ll find your own offal-parts in there too…

UK police Caparo T1

Another ‘safety-message’ stunt witnessed this Caparo T1 liveried up as a police car. But just imagine if it indeed was a police pursuit vehicle.

Italian police Lamborghini Gallardo

203mph, 0-62mph in Three.7 seconds, 560bhp and four-wheel-drive: this is how the Italians do law enforcement. Well, did anyway. However substituted by the fresh Huracan, this Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 was donated by Lambo to the Italian State Police to help ‘accident and crime prevention and sustain security on Italian roads’. Yikes.

US police Chevrolet Corvette

Not a Real Thing, unluckily, instead drawn by former GM man Bob Lutz as a flight of fancy. Fairly a good flight of fancy.

Dubai police Brabus G63 AMG

This 690bhp ‘Widestar’ can accelerate from 0-62mph in Four.9 seconds and on to an official top speed of 149mph. Unofficially, you’d have to be clinically bonkers to attempt to outrun any police force that ultimately determines on a four-wheel-drive, modified off-roader as a suitable police vehicle.

Humberside Police Lexus IS-F

Yes please. You can keep your Astras and Insignias and Hyundais thanks; we’d much rather see UK cops behind the wheel of a 416bhp Lexus IS-F. Albeit mainly used as a deterrent, it could be used to pursue crims on the run: the IS-F packed an onboard computer to permit officers to access the national police database while on the budge.

Dubai police Aston Martin One-77

Oh dear god, they just won’t stop, will they? Not content with stickering up an Aventador, FF and G63 to police duty, Dubai’s offices pressed one of the world’s most beautiful, rarest and fastest cars into service: the Aston Martin One-77. For the love of all that’s sacred in your life, please, do not speed in Dubai.

German Police Brabus CLS V12 S ‘Rocket’

Be very grateful that this isn’t actually a real life, working-dog police car. It was built way back in two thousand six to promote safe tuning in Germany, however there’s nothing safe inwards here. Underneath sits a twin-turbo V12 produced 730bhp, enough to haul the CLS ‘Rocket’ to a top speed of 225mph. Schnell!

US police Dodge Charger

Substituting the ageing Crown Vic, this Charger was built with feedback from actual police officers in the States, and is a working, badge-holding, real-life police car. In fact, Chrysler claims it to be the fastest American police car in the history of ever: the RWD version clocked the fastest lap time ever recorded for a cop car around Michigan State Police’s Vehicle Evaluation Race.

Australian police HSV GTS

This HSV is a tyre-shredding, police-liveried loon, delivered to the officers of the Fresh South Wales police department, and funded by the NSW Centre for Road Safety. Tho’ – as with many of the cars on this list – it’s more of a ‘message car’ than an actual highway patrol/pursuit vehicle. Tho’ if you see it on the road, don’t be mistaken: there are still REAL POLICE OFFICERS hiding it inwards, who won’t hesitate to floor it if you break the law…

UK Police Lotus Evora S

You’re looking at a police-liveried Evora S, donated by the fine chaps over at Lotus to officers from Norfolk, Sussex, Essex, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, to help spread the message that speeding, drink driving, not wearing a seatbelt, or driving while using a mobile phone simply isn’t cricket.

The idea is that an Evora S will engage junior drivers better than, say a diesel Astra, thus permitting the rozzers to produce their significant safety messages. And also look well cool, innit.

US police undercover Nissan GT-R

Years back, EVI – run by a former secret service agent – told TG.com that it had been tasked with building a police car for an undisclosed US police department for undercover duty. Based on a Nissan GT-R. Judging by the picture above, it is possibly the most horrifying thing we have ever seen.

UK police McLaren 12C

Those planning a retirement holiday in Marbella after that ‘one last job’ should very likely thank the heavens that the picture above is not representative of an actual police car. It is a McLaren 12C Spider dressed up as a police car.

The 12C Spider was loaned by McLaren to the West Midlands Police for the Autosport International demonstrate at Birmingham’s NEC as a demonstrator. BMW also got in on the act and suggested up an i3 too, free of charge, for display purposes only.

No doubt it’s to encourage a greater discourse inbetween police and motorists, but you have to admit, a 12C Spider in police livery looks fairly cool. And a bit scary, not least because underneath the stripes sits a twin-turbo Three.8-litre V8 with 616bhp, and the capability to accelerate from 0-62mph in Trio.1 seconds (the same as the coupe) and top out at 204mph. So, bloody prompt, then.

Australian police Volvo S60 Polestar

If you are a criminal in Australia, you may want to reconsider your life choices. Because the NSW Police’s Rose Bay local area directive have been given a Volvo S60 Polestar as a squad car.

It’s fairly a thing, too. Underneath the blue hue sits a turbocharged Trio.0-litre V6 engine producing 350bhp, a six-speed paddleshift automatic gearbox and Haldex four-wheel-drive. 0-62mph takes just Four.9 seconds, it’ll hit 124mph less than thirteen seconds after, and top out at 155mph.

OK, so it’s not the fire-spitting, 501bhp concept Polestar S60 we drove a while back, but remains slew quick for… well, community fetes, actually. We’re told that albeit it won’t be a very first response type vehicle, it will be used as a support car and as a festival Thing to display off at events such as the Australian Open (Volvo is a major playmate).

Polestar Racing drivers Scott McLaughlin and Robert Dahlgren transferred over the S60 to NSW Police, the 2nd high-performance Volvo to be used by the force – they got an S60 T5 previously too.

US Police Dodge Charger

This is the two thousand fifteen Dodge Charger police car, and you have the right to remain silent.

Not only does it look decently horrifying – monster front bull-bars, sinister projector-beam headlights and a streamlined silhouette – but, as a true American cop car should, it comes with a socking good V8.

You can, of course, get the Charger police car with the ‘Pentastar’ V6 (292bhp, 260lb ft torque), but any self-respecting US police force will want the V8 version. Specifically the Five.7-litre, HEMI-engined V8 with 370bhp, 390lb ft of torque and a 0-60mph time of less than six seconds.

Quick enough to give the majority of road-bound crims food for thought. Then there’s the reinforced RWD chassis, featuring spectacle suspension, load-levelling shocks, powerful duty brakes, stabiliser bars all round, 18-inch spectacle tyres, and – officially the Best Thing Ever – steel wheels.

Inwards you get, officer, a fresh seven-inch full-colour (sorry, color) instrument cluster, police-spec front seats (to better hold officers’ belt-mounted gear and felon-absorbing waistlines) and the capability to customise your rail with the help of Mopar.

Sadly customisations don’t include multi-coloured grenade racks or machine guns in the headlights or oil slicks on the rear or revolving numberplates. Partly because it’s not 1964, and partly because Mopar isn’t run by five-year olds or Top Gear.

Rather, you get the option of bolstering the electrical spectacle of the car, add fresh graphics, ballistic door panels for the driver and passenger, and steel seat back inserts for the driver in case perps in the back become… agitated.

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