[mattmacklind]

In the US, police chases are rarely conducted on long expanses of open road, probably because our criminals, unlike in our movies, are not conducting big money exchanges at the end of a runway in the desert with Ferrari's and Lambos as getaway cars. They are robbing convenience stores and trying to get away in an 86 Ford Ranger with a 4 cyl. and an auto tranny, in a congested area. US police cars need to haul prisoners who puke, kick the doors, and generally don't want to be arrested, or block there way through an intersection. For the purposes of running down these masterminds, the CV works pretty well. If there is a pursuit problem, the police aorund me have the Camaro z28 or the old 5.0 Mustang GTs. They aren't the best handling cars in the world, but they can move on US HWY's pretty well, which are usually fairly straight. They are also scary as hell to see with the police livery and so on.

Cop cars have uprated transissions and suspension, and often have different motors that the stock cars. My brother had a police interceptor caprice classic from the 90's, back in the square design days. Had a corvette block, but de-tuned heads. Those cars will do almost 150. Thats fast for a four door american style sedan with no aerodynamics. The only thing I don't like about the CV is that they aren't very safe for the cops. They've had problems with rear end impacts during pull overs with the fuel tank exploding.

Almost forgot. If you're looking at buying one used, they are normally auctioned by the police departments and end up in the hands of streetside dealers. They can be great buys. When I lived in Chicago, (90's) they were a big deal, all the bangers bought them. Some of them still have police decals on them when they are sold! The cop cars I really liked were the early eighties Dodge Diplomats. Sometimes you could actually find a Pontiac Bonneville short wheel base version. I think Pontiac made the Bonneville as both a really huge car, and a small one in some of the same model years. I had family in the secret service in the US. The unmarked car was a Bonneville 4 door, short wheelbase, with a 302/301/305 (whichever Pontiac had). the thing trucked.

http://www.bonhamchrysler.com/inform...52505C_008.jpg