Many might think the Los Angeles PD may have the best police car ever in this Lamborghini Gallardo, but the department uses it only for promotional purposes.
The demise of the large, rear-wheel drive sedan has forced police departments and other law enforcement agencies to experiment with other vehicles to replace the workhorses.
Chevy and Dodge have provided a variety of options to officers, including Chevy Tahoes, Caprices and even Camaros. Dodge converts the Charger into a police car and the Jeep Cherokee has also been used in the past.
One company, Carbon Motors, even showed departments across the U.S. a purpose-built police car. The company ordered 240,000 engines from BMW for the car, but by the end of last year, the enterprise was dead without one car delivered.
Ford builds a Interceptor SUV and Interceptor models for police departments using Ford Explorers and Ford Tauruses.
In fact, even Lamborghini has shown up in the lot of the Los Angeles Police Department. The Gallardo was donated to the department, which uses it to raise money at charity events. The Gallardo is used by departments in other countries, such as Italy and Dubai, to perform actual law enforcement duties, such as high-speed chases and speed control.
However, after taking a few years to examine the competition, it would seem that Ford is the maker of choice once again.
Now the Ford Interceptor SUV, the police version of the Explorer, was the best-selling police vehicle in the U.S. last year with 14,086 units sold, according to R.L. Polk. It is an increase of 140% over the previous year.
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The Explorer is joined by the Taurus, which sold 10,897 units to law enforcement agencies last year representing at 31% jump. The two models account for nearly half of the vehicles sold to police departments last year.
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Ford began offering the Taurus in an interceptor package in 2010 as a replacement for the Crown Vic – the last of which rolled off the line on Sept. 15, 2011. The replacements have managed to find acceptance with police forces. In particular, the SUV version provides officers a lot of flexibility and space to carry a wider array of equipment.
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Ford says 90% of the Interceptors being sold now come with standard all-wheel drive and more choices of turbocharged engines are being offered, according to USA Today.
“Many officers told us, ‘We need more space, but we also need performance’,” said Jonathan Honeycutt, police marketing manager at Ford in a statement. “We knew with the amount of equipment officers now have to transport that our utility vehicle would be a hit.”