COP IT SWEET

WE SPOKE to a NSW Highway Patrol officer about the last Aussie ‘pursuit specials’:

“I’ve always been interested in highway patrol policing because of my interest in cars. I’ve driven an XR6 Turbo at work, but only once – it was at the end of its run; it was decommissioned soon after. “But at work, no one really had a bad thing to say about these cars. They have their differences: The Commodore is generally regarded as handling a little better, but the turbo Falcon FG and FG-X accelerated a bit harder. Then the VF Series II, with that 6.2-litre LS3, would catch up in the top end. They’re both very well-respected. “The Holden and the Ford were perfect highway patrol cars. The new cars [BMW 530d and Chrysler 300 chosen for NSW Highway Patrol] – I can’t really criticise them, but it’s just not going to be the same.”

One of the Canberra crew had this to say: “We expect and demand a lot from our cars in a general sense. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they are abused; our training teaches us the importance of vehicle sympathy and daily maintenance. We do strain our Redlines on the road, but they seem resilient in the way they survive our work routines without letting us down.

“We were incredibly spoiled with the Holden VF IIS; they are just such a good companion: they brake, handle and go hard without any of the issues the previous models seemed to suffer. I think the majority of pursuit drivers here are fond of the way these cars sound too. You just can’t find a better note than the deep-breathing bimodal LS3 in our Redlines at full noise, especially in comparison to all the European replacements.

“It is somewhat sad to think that these are the last years we will hear the roar of eight-cylinder Australian-made pursuit cars on our roads.”