I became a PC because I loved TV cop cars
As a petrol-head and former bobby, TV presenter ANT ANSTEAD was the perfect person to write a new history of the police car. Here he charts its rise from jalopy to top-spec BMW
ON JANUARY 20, 1896, one Walter Arnold was driving along the Maidstone Road through the village of Paddock Wood, Kent, at an estimated 8mph – 4mph or so below the maximum speed of his Arnold Motor Carriage Sociable but 6mph above the speed limit then in force.
Local constable JC Heard, of the Kent County Constabulary saw this outrageous behaviour from his cottage and set off in hot pursuit – on a bicycle. Arnold was eventually caught by the presumably quite fit Heard after a fivemile, 40-minute pursuit.
The road hog was duly prosecuted, found guilty, and fined one shilling for speeding plus nine shillings costs – the first motorist to be fined for such an offence in the UK and probably the world.
Following the Arnold case it was clear to everyone that if the police were to keep pace with the growing band of car drivers they would need petrol-powered rather than pedal-powered transport.
But it took another 20 years or so for the car-owning community to reach a critical mass. At the end of the Great War the peacetime selling off of the military’s vehicles suddenly motorised the nation.
By 1919 there were 109,705 cars in the UK, a total that had shot up to two million by the outbreak of the Second World War. With so many cars, the police needed to gear up to keep order on the roads. The Met led the way with Traffic Cars, employing a small fleet of Bean 11.9hp saloons in early 1920, which created the template for traffic policing.
At around the same time Scotland Yard formed the Flying Squad. It initially used War Office-surplus Crossley Tenders, large heavy vehicles akin to pick-up trucks. They were useful and dependable but unable to keep pace with the faster cars being stolen.
Consultations with the racing driver Captain Noel Macklin led the squad to try out one of his 4.5-litre 100mph Invictas. It duly became the UK police’s first high-speed pursuit car and the arms race for performance between police and criminals had begun.
Soon after they entered service, one was involved in a dramatic chase that saw Detective Inspector Ted Ockey decorated for valour after he jumped out of the Invicta on to a stolen Vauxhall 30/98 at over 50mph.
The crooks were eventually apprehended when expert police driver George “Jack” Frost brought them to a halt by the simple expedient of ramming their vehicle.
The opening of the Preston bypass in 1958 was significant as it was the first stretch of motorway in the UK and it amazed me to discover it was initially patrolled by MGAs from the sports car manufacturer MG and Ford Zephyr Mk2 Estates.
The MGAs were often crewed by WPCs and had the heaters removed to make room for the police radios – so these unfortunate pioneers were driving a car with no roof and no heater in all weathers!
Motorway cars developed quickly and large powerful models, especially the Jaguar Mk2, began to dominate until the Range Rover arrived in 1970. Solihull’s masterpiece could do anything and everything and would become the mainstay of motorway policing for many years. Today the BMW X5 dominates and is fitted with Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems and onboard connectivity.
Meanwhile, community policing on foot and by bicycle gave way to car-centric Unit Beat Policing in the late 1960s. As it was rolled out across the UK, panda cars with their distinctive blue and white livery became a familiar sight.
IN THE strike-torn 1970s, Northumbria Constabulary was once forced to acquire two pink Ford Escorts as none were available in the desired colour. Officers ended up drawing lots to avoid driving the cars, which attracted wolf whistles and dubious jokes.
As a kid, I loved watching TV cop shows because I loved the cars. They were one of the reasons I joined the Hertfordshire force at the age of 18 and I have a special affection for my first “plod” car, a P-reg Vauxhall Astra MK3, the one with the rubbish plastic bumpers. My favourite was a Swedish legend: the Volvo T5 estate. An officer’s car is also their office and they form a strong bond with the vehicle, which can often lead to retired officers actually restoring the cars they patrolled in.
There is even a club – PCUK – catering for these cars and if you attend a classic car show have a look out for them as there is nothing so redolent of an era as the cars the men and women who protect us drove.
It was an honour to have served with them and to have driven the cars, good and bad. Ant Anstead is the co-host of Wheeler Dealers, the world’s most watched car show with a global audience in excess of 200 million. For more information: wheelerdealers. discoveryuk.com
Cops And Robbers, The Story Of The British Police Car by Ant Anstead (William Collins, £20, free UK delivery) call The Express Bookshop with card details on 01872 562310. Or send a cheque to Cops Offer, PO Box 200, Falmouth TR11 4WJ or online: expressbookshop.co.uk