The Most Incredible Police Cars Of All Time

Police have used cars for almost as long as there have been cars. Early police cars were nothing more than regular consumer versions with special badging. Police departments later added radios and lights, but changed little more about the cars. The first police packages offered by the manufacturer came about in 1950 from Ford, with the other major Detroit companies following soon after, per Car Buzz. Since then, police cars have become faster and more capable, equipped with a raft of high-tech equipment from computers to surveillance devices.

For most of the last 60 years, police cars in the U.S. have been versions of the most popular large sedans, capable of comfortably carrying a couple of passengers — or perpetrators — and extra equipment in the truck, such as weapons. Sometime in the '80s, some departments saw a benefit from using sports cars to patrol highways, and manufacturers responded with police versions of their most popular fast cars, offering a few lucky officers the opportunity to cruise in something a bit more fun.

Around the world, a select few really lucky officers get to patrol in cars few of us will ever get to drive, much less ride in. While most departments must adhere to strict budget guidelines, lest they anger the taxpayers for unnecessary opulent spending, high-performance cars are often donated to departments for publicity, while other cars are confiscated from criminals. Scanning the globe for the most interesting choices, we present the 10 most incredible police cars of all time.

By 1982, Police had long been known for using cars powered by big V8 engines for chasing baddies. Police packages were commonplace orders for police departments and the "cop car" was a sight familiar to all citizens not living in a hole. However, California Highway Patrol started using a different V8-powered car for issuing citations, the Ford Mustang. Ford offered the Mustang with a Special Service Package, or SSP, starting in 1982, and sold more than 15,000 copies by the end of the program in 1993 (via MotorTrend). Since the CHP mission was primarily to cite drivers for infractions rather than taking criminals into custody, a smaller car with two doors was an acceptable patrol car, especially when it could catch speeders faster.

While these Mustangs spent years controlling highway traffic, a few of them were called up for a most interesting duty. But the appearance of Mustangs in black and white caught the attention of a U.S. Air Force officer who worked with the U-2 spy plane program. Due to the extraordinary dimension of the high-flying aircraft, pilots needed assistance from other eyes on the ground to maneuver the planes properly for safe takeoff and landing. Air Force pilots have long used powerful V8 American cars to do this, but the Mustangs looked perfectly poised for the task. Therefore, the USAF ordered 19 SSP Mustangs between 1986 and 1991 to do spotter duty for the U-2, and a few lucky servicemen got to buy them when the cars were retired.

This is not really a car that ever saw service in police duty, but it is so iconic, it felt right to include. The 1980 classic John Landis film about Jake and Elwood Blues, played by John Belushi and Dan Akroyd, in their quest to race to raise funds to save an orphanage from imminent destruction, features some of the wildest chase scenes ever caught on film. The Dodge Monaco police car, a.k.a. the "Blues Brothers" Bluesmobile, is a ratty old sedan — rigged with a giant loudspeaker on the roof at one point — that is wrecked, beaten, and literally destroyed throughout the film.

The chase scene through Chicago toward the end of the film involves 60 Illinois State Police cars, 17 ambulances, 42 Chicago Police cars, four Sherman tanks, and hundreds of officers. Throughout the film, 13 Monaco police cars were used to stand in for the Bluesmobile and gave way to one of the most memorable lines of the movie. Sitting in the car assessing their readiness to start the journey, Elwood proclaims of the car, "It's got a cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant. It's got cop tires, cop suspension, and cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters, so it'll run well on regular gas. What do you say? Is it the new Bluesmobile or what?" It may not have seen official duty, but it is still an incredible police car.

Unlike the Autobahn, the Italian counterpart, the Autostrada, does have limited speeds throughout. Although the Italians have a reputation for being wild drivers and ignoring speed limits, they are, in reality, strictly enforced. While most Italian police have to make do with a variety of small Fiats and Alfas, the Italian State Police force has at least one Lamborghini. It started in 2004, according to Car Scoops, when Lamborghini donated a 2004 Gallardo LP560-4 to the state police. This was done so that the Sant'Agata Bolognese company can retain a congenial relationship with law enforcement.

The Gallardo was well-received by the police and the public so much that Lamborghini replaced it with another car in 2009, this time a Huracan. Thirty lucky polizia get to drive the Huracan, and all of them receive special instruction from Lamborghini before being certified to drive the car on patrol. To add to the goodwill and public perception, in 2020, the police liveried Lambo was used to deliver a kidney from Padua to Rome, a 300-mile trip, in just two hours, per Jalopnik. When you build a product enabling citizens to destroy speed limits and every sense of good judgment, it can be helpful to endear yourself to the law from time to time.

While the Isle of Man, a British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, covers a mere 227 square miles of land mass and is home to less than 90,000 people, it still needs police. The amount of paved roads is less than 1,000 miles, yet is host to one of the longest-running motorcycle races in the world, the Isle of Man TT. But outside of racing an officially sanctioned event, Manx people need to keep below the speed limit, or they may find themselves pulled over by a BAC Mono in official police livery.

The Mono is a track day car with a look similar to what you might see in F1 racing. According to the company, Briggs Automotive Company is a Liverpool-based manufacturer specializing in small road cars designed for the track. Hand-built and extremely lightweight, the Mono's 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine produces over 300 horsepower and speeds it up to 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds, with a top speed of 170. It is blazingly fast. And Car Throttle tells us that the Isle of Man police had one donated to them. While it is a publicity move for the small company, the car is used for regular patrols and as a promotional tool to encourage safe driving. If you find yourself driving on the island, it would not be wise to try to outrun this car. You will not be successful.

Chevrolet introduced the Biscayne model in 1958, and it was discontinued in 1972 (per Conceptcarz.com). It was sold as a full-size car that was meant to be more affordable than the Bel Air, and most Biscaynes were stripped-down cars with few, if any, options added. It was also the first car Chevrolet offered as a fleet police car. It was a good choice for being the more affordable model, and came with a hefty 348-cubic-inch V8 with plenty of power, capable of punching the car to an impressive 135 mph (via Jalopnik). Affordable cars with lots of room and good performance made the right mix for police of the era.

While no officers on the force today will be doing any patrols in it, the Santa Cruz Police Department has one perfectly restored 1961 Biscayne in period-correct blue paint, complete with lights, radio, and department badges displayed on the doors. According to the Santa Cruz Police Department's official blog, the old Biscayne is used at public events to connect with the community and, in 2015, it won first place in an Emergency Vehicle Display show, for which the department appeared to be very proud. Another post in 2013 shows the department visiting residents of a senior center who were blessed with a ride in the cruiser, most likely bringing back memories of their own — although it is not guaranteed that all of them were necessarily good ones.