According to The Guardian:

The Lamborghini Gallardo that crashed into parked cars on its way from an exhibition in Cremona. The crash occurred after the car, which belonged to the Bologna police was cut up (Ed. - We're assuming that's the Euro version of "cut off") by another motorist leaving a service station.

Yes, the selfless officers of the Italian police force just happened to be cut off by a motorist after they were returning from sort of swank exhibition and they crashed it into a line of parked cars. We're smelling some tomfoolery here. In case you don't remember, here's what the car used to look like.

(Hat tip to rognbrow!)
[The Guardian]

(Hat tip to Craig!) [via National Post]

Confession time: A few us have driven a Police Interceptor. One of us even owns one. Some of us, on the other hand, have barely even sat in one. (There was that one time with the live chickens and the three hundred pounds of prime rib, but for legal reasons, we're not allowed to talk about it.) So from a personal standpoint, we can't really explain why we dig this, or why it gets us excited, or why it makes us want to get all Good Cop/Bad Cop and go hunt down some junkie fool with a dirty mouth and blood on his mind.

The skinny: The next Interceptor arrives in 2011. Ford claims it will be engineered and built in America, and that it will offer better fuel efficiency, quality, safety, and performance than the current Crown Vic. (Given that the Crown Vic was designed when Calvin Coolidge was in diapers, none of this should difficult.) Further details should arrive in the first quarter of 2010.

The speculation: For starters, the picture above is the Ford Interceptor concept first shown at the New York auto show in 2002. That car was based on the '03 Police Interceptor; it sported crush-resistant bumpers, push bars made of reinforced steel, eighteen-inch alloy wheels, and a 4.6-liter, four-valve V-8 that produced 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque. As you might guess, it is not what Ford is unveiling next year.

What's actually on the way? Our bets are on a rear-wheel-drive ass-hauler based off the Australian-market Ford Falcon. There's a slim chance that it could be Taurus-based, but durability issues would likely preclude that from happening. Note that all of this comes on the heels of Chevrolet's Caprice announcement. Nothing like a good cop-car shoot-out, is there?

[Full press release here: Ford]

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Photo Credit: YXS10/Flickr

Click "next" to follow along with the modern history of the special package Chevy police vehicles and finish up our "Maximum Caprice Day" coverage.

Photo Credit: AV8Pix

1959 Chevy Biscayne Introduced
The Chevy Biscayne sets a new standard for law enforcement vehicles with the specially-tuned policy-only version with a 348-cubic-inch V8 capable of propelling the car to a then impressive 135 MPH.

1965 Chevy Big-Block
As police officers get used to high power Chevy offers a "big-block" 396 V8 in both Biscayne and Bel Air police cars, making them the most powerful patrol cars at the time. A year later they added a 427 V8.

Photo Credit: IMCDB

1976 Sees Introduction Of The 9C1
Just as the average buyer could check the Z28 box to make their bow-tied sedan into something with a bit more power, the 9C1 code is introduced for the first as a full-size police car package.

1977 Chevy Impala 9C1
The effects of the oil embargo even impacts the police packages and the Impala is downsized, but the 9C1 code remains.

Photo Credit: IMCDB</em.

1986 Caprice Introduced As Impala Replacement
The Impala nameplate would have to wait for a few years as the Impala is replaced with the Caprice. Coming along with the badge is a 5.7-liter small block V8.

Photo Credit: IMCDB

1991 New Generation Caprice
A new generation Caprice is introduced, including a sweet wagon version.

Photo Credit: IMCDB

1994 LT1 V8 Introduced For Caprice
The LT1 V8 makes its first appearance in the Caprice 9C1 making it one of the fastest police cars ever.

Photo Credit: CarDomain

1996 Caprice Ends
The last 9C1 Caprice rolls off the assembly line.

Photo Credit: MSOE.edu

2000 Impala Police Car Introduced
The FWD Impalas were a dull replacement for the rough-and-tumble body-on-frame Caprices.

2011 Caprice Returns
Yeah! A new 2011 Chevy Caprice PPV with promised best-in-class performance and tougher looks is around the corner.

Click "next" to get the low-down on the five-oh in the 9C1s

Movie: Nothing To Lose
Year: 1997
Type: 1990 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1
Role: Oh man, Martin Lawrence movies. This is a classic 9C1 done up in a fake highway patrol livery. Given the movie is supposed to be contemporaneous in 1996 it's a little questionable that this vehicle would still be in service in this great condition, though we've seen local sheriffs drive in older cars.

Movie: The Bone Collector
Year: 1999
Type: 1992 Chevrolet Caprice SSV K-9 Unit
Role: Carrying police officers and K9 unit to the scene of the crime. We love wagons, and the SSV wagons were popular with police forces for non-patrol units such as K9 (seen here), special investigations, and special traffic duty.

Credit: IMCDB.org

Movie: Groundhog Day
Year: 1993
Type: 1980 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1
Role: The police chief uses it to chase down a suicidal Billy Murray/Groundhog combination. This is once again another example of older Caprices being limited to small town duty. There's something iconic

Credit: IMCDB.org

Movie: 2 Fast 2 Furious
Year: 2003
Type: 1995 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1
Role: Chasing those 2 bad 2 be stopped guys, the 9C1 typically manages to keep up with even the most hopped-up rides in films. Because this is a 1995, we assume it has LT1 V8 power and thus is able to blow the doors off your average Honda Civic.

Credit: IMCDB.org

Movie: The Matrix Reloaded
Year: 2003
Type: 1995 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1
Role: Attempting to kill Neo. There were so many GM vehicles in this movie you knew you weren't going to see a Crown Vic. There's also something decidedly more sinister about the 9C1.

Credit: IMCDB.org

Movie: Bad Boys II
Year: 2003
Type: 1994 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1
Role: Getting smashed up as the bad guys, not to be confused with the bad boys, who are tossing cars off a transporter! May God help you if you're a police officer in a Michael Bay film because he has a penchant for crushing Caprices.

Credit: IMCDB.org

Movie: Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
Year: 1996
Type: 1993 (we think) Chevrolet Caprice 9C1
Role: Why do we love Mike Judge? The intricacy of the animation and the attention to detail. When Hank Hill moved up from a Ranger to an F-Series Super Duty we all noticed. And we noticed when the cops in the standoff had Caprices.

Credit: IMCDB.org

Movie: Tommy Boy
Year: 1995
Type: 1993 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1
Role: "Bees! Bees! Bees in the car! Bees everywhere! God, they're huge! They're ripping my flesh off! Run away, your firearms are useless against them!"

Credit: IMCDB.org

Movie: No Country For Old Men
Year: 2007
Type: 1990 Chevrolet Caprice
Role: One of the few films we feature using a Caprice during the early 1990s, the lighting package is ideal for a county police department in middle-of-nowhere Texas. Oh man, you don't want to know how this ends.

Credit: IMCDB.org

Movie: Black Sheep
Year: 1996
Type: 1987 Chevrolet Caprice 9C1
Role: "Well, I got a 426 hemi here, 3/4 cams, nitro boosters, I can get 'er up to as good as 155! Never do, though, of course, unless I'm chasing a cute chick in a Ferrari! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I guess I was goin' about... 65, tops." Of course, it's unlikely there is HEMI under there given it's a GM product, but who knows. Chris Farley is crazy.

Credit: IMCDB.org

From what we can see and what we're told in the press release, the folks at Australia's National Safety Agency (NSA) are collaborating with the LAPD, Holden and Chevy to show off an advanced integrated technology system with the new Chevy Caprice. The system will include:

*Large, purpose designed, multi-function, touch screen integrated into dashboard
*Intelligent power management system
*Consolidated user interface
*Automatic Licence Plate Recognition
*In-car video with live broadcast capability
*Advanced wireless connectivity
*Automatic and seamless CAD and computer system updates performed ‘on the fly' minimising down time and costly service calls
*Wireless vehicle telemetry fleet management system
*Forward looking infrared/night vision (FLIR) camera
*Fingerprint and facial recognition capability
*Virtual prisoner cell
*Latest high output low power LED lighting technology

While yes, the proposed Carbon Motors E7 would probably beat out the tech package from Chevy, the new Caprice is, you know, real. So take a look through the photos below of what appear to be two different packages and tell us what you see.

The one issue we had with the new Caprice was that it looked rather pedestrian — especially when compared to the menacing front end of a Dodge Charger. Well, in black, the Caprice actually looks pretty damn mean-looking. Take a look at that as well as the interior with its killer technology package that we'll be showcasing more on shortly.

Chevrolet plans to make the announcement of their new police cruiser today at the annual International Association of Chiefs of Police convention, in Denver, Colorado. Because we asked, we've been given an exclusive look at the details of the new car they plan to begin taking orders on next year with cars set to hit the streets in early 2011.

Contrary to reports at the end of last week by a number of auto outlets, we're now able to exclusively report GM's new police cruiser brings back the old Chevy Caprice name. It also will not be a re-badged Pontiac G8 sedan. Instead, the new Chevy uses the longest wheelbase version of the Zeta platform — 118.5" — making it almost four inches longer than the 114.7" wheelbase Pontiac G8 sedan. If that bigger-than-G8 number sounds familiar, it should — it's the same length as the Holden VE Ute, the Holden Statesman and the Middle Eastern Chevy Caprice and...drum roll, please...the Pontiac "El Camino" G8 ST. That's right folks, the new police car from Chevy is as close to the El Camino as we're coming here in the U.S. We'll give you a moment to clean up any coffee you've just spit up.

Done? Good, because there's more to the story. Chevy sounds like it's setting up the Caprice to not only meet the bar set by the police vehicle competition, but to blow it away. The long wheelbase Zeta-platformed Chevy sits right in the middle of the Ford Crown Vic's 114.7" wheelbase and the larger Dodge Charger's 120.0" wheelbase.

Under the hood, GM says the Caprice will have a 6.0-liter LS2 V8 engine rated at an estimated 355 HP and 384 lb-ft of torque mated to a six-speed auto transmission. Power output compares favorably to the 340 HP HEMI in the Dodge Charger police edition and absolutely blows away the Ford Crown Vic's 250 HP 4.6-liter V8.

We're told that bigger engine will deliver an expected best-in-class 0-to-60 time of under six seconds along with a similarly best-in-class top speed. But, for those forces uninterested in the super-sized 6.0-liter eight-cylinder engine, we're also told a V6 engine will be offered beginning in the 2012 model year.

The Caprice with both engine sizes will recieve the same police car-specific vehicle systems like high-output alternator and standard 18-inch steelies with bolt-on center caps and will ride on a heavy-duty four-wheel independent suspension and a "police-calibrated stability control system."

Chevy's cop competitive streak continues to the interior with optional compatibility available for in-dash, touch-screen computer technology (by relocating the standard radio to the trunk), two trunk-mounted batteries, with one of them dedicated to powering various police equipment and complimentary special packages such as spotlights; lockouts for the power windows and locks; and an "undercover" street-appearance package. Good luck with the "undercover" part considering there's no civilian version of the Caprice PPV.

Even the front seats have been sculpted to "pocket" an officer's equipment belt, with the foam density of the seatback and cushion insert surfaces designed to conform to the shape of an equipment belt's various items, allowing the officer's back to rest properly on the seatback surface. The barrier between the front seat and rear seat is also positioned farther rearward than the Charger or the Crown Vic, allowing for full front-seat travel and greater recline while officers take a highway-side siesta.

The new Caprice will also have significantly larger interior volume — 112 cubic feet — than the Ford Crown Victoria, including — thanks to the longer wheelbase — nearly 4 inches more rear legroom to help give handcuffed suspects a much more comfortable experience. The Caprice PPV's long wheelbase also gives it 18 cubic feet of free trunk volume. That's enough room for a full-size spare located under a flat load surface in the trunk storage area and any number of shotguns, RPGs and whatever other riot gear an officer feels like fitting into a trunk.

The new Caprice will not replace any current vehicle in the GM police vehicle fleet. Rather, it will join the Chevy Impala and the Chevy Tahoe in the bowtied brand's marked patrol vehicle lineup as a very high-powered member of GM's fraternity of police vehicles.

We can't wait to try out the driver's seat. Hopefully it'll be sometime before we try out the extra-large back seat.

In an exclusive interview with the Aussie hoons at Drive.com.au at the Frankfurt Motor Show yesterday, GM CEO Fritz Henderson said the company was making good progress with a plan to sell the Commodore to US law enforcement agencies. Specifically, as we've reported earlier this year, the LAPD.

"We've been working on a package for police applications. I just think that's going to work. We're pretty optimistic about it and that product will be sourced in Australia," he said.

But, while Fritz was all about the fleet applications, he wasn't geeked about other short term roles for the Commodore. But in the long term? He didn't rule out a wider role for the car in General Motors' plans going forward.

"It's a global architecture, it gives us options in the future but right now you'd say, near term, no," he said.

Holden has been searching for alternative export programs ever since, but in June GM shut the door on plans to revive the car as a Chevrolet Caprice.

It was thought the GM plan to import cars from Australia to US enforcement agencies would meet with strong opposition from GM's new owners, the unions and the Government, in light of the mass plant closures and job losses in the United States that followed the company's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

But senior GM exectuive Bob Lutz played down those fears in a blog on a company website in June this year.

"While the large (rear-wheel-drive) cars may be made in Australia, they are an integral part of GM, contain US-built engines and transmissions and numerous other components, and are so ‘American' in character that I don't believe the law enforcement agencies would have any problems with the assembly origin of the vehicle. Plus, they'll love it," he said. (Hat tip to Ben!) [via smh.com.au]

It's not just their taste in vehicles that impresses us. Look how they talk about their new $88,000 (£53,376) toy:

Humberside Police have taken delivery of a Lexus IS-F in order to make life more difficult than ever for those looking to travel to the region to commit crime.

I don't know about you, but I'm totally changing my plan to commit a crime in Humberside to another English county no one's heard of. My entire plan hinged on the Humberside Police force chasing me in a vehicle that took in excess of 5 seconds to reach 60 MPH. Damn.

LEXUS IS-FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH

Humberside Police have taken delivery of a Lexus IS-F in order to make life more difficult than ever for those looking to travel to the region to commit crime.

Specially trained officers spent 12 months evaluating a number of high performance vehicles that are set to replace the current Subarus which have proved highly successful in enabling the Roads Crime Section to target organized criminals in the area. Following a stringent evaluation process the decision was taken to purchase the Lexus IS-F after the vehicle proved to be exceptionally capable of remaining stable in high speed operational policing environments, despite carrying the extra weight provided by the £30,000 worth of on-board computers and communications equipment.

Sergeant Mike Peck of the Humberside Police Roads Crime Section said: "The purchase of the vehicle was far from an easy decision and involved research and advice from the force fleet manager, financial managers and a vehicle dynamics expert. The Lexus was tested during a 12 month period along with similar vehicles and proved itself to be ideally suited in providing a dynamically safe high performance chassis along with an electronically stable platform for the computer equipment. In the past this equipment has placed huge demands on vehicles but the Lexus IS-F easily met with our requirements. The final product provides a most formidable package and is undoubtedly one of the most advanced police vehicles in the world which in turn enables my officers to deal with the criminals who use the roads for serious and organized crime."

The Lexus IS-F has a performance tuned 5.0-litre V8 engine capable of reaching 62mph in 4.8 seconds and a top speed electronically limited to 168 mph and was supplied by Steve Kelly, Centre Principal at Lexus Hull who has been working closely with the Humberside police regarding the sale.

At the moment, the first ever police-spec XF is in evaluation mode and not being handed out to every member of Scotland Yard. In XF S trim it offers up a 0-to-60 MPH time of 5.9 seconds while still achieving 42 MPG (Euro) thanks to its 3.0-liter turbodiesel mill. Arrest us, please.

PERFORMANCE JAGUAR XF IN POLICE PURSUIT

Jaguar UK has launched a high performance Police pursuit vehicle based on its award-winning XF Diesel S model. The first ever Police-spec XF is currently being evaluated by Police forces across the country.

Geoff Cousins, UK Managing Director for Jaguar Cars, said: "Police forces are looking for vehicles that represent value for money, have good environmental credentials and deliver the power and performance required of a pursuit vehicle."

The Jaguar XF beats other contenders in this market with a fuel economy figure of 42mpg, class-leading residual values and an excellent CO2 rating of 179g/km.

"The Police Officers driving pursuit vehicles demand a very high level of performance and handling, as well as safety and comfort."

The Police specification Jaguar features the 275PS 3.0-litre Diesel S engine with its unique, parallel sequential turbocharger system. Delivering high torque throughout the entire rev range, improved throttle response and low CO2 emissions, the twin-turbochargers work sequentially to deliver unrivalled response and best-in-class torque that means the XF packs a huge punch at all engine speeds.

"We hope that with this amount of torque on tap – and a 0-60mph time of 5.9 seconds, we will meet and exceed the exacting standards of any Police Officer driving this car."

The XF has picked up more than 20 international awards since launch, most recently 'Britain's Best Car' in the Auto Express Driver Power survey for 2009, 'Best Executive Car' at the What Diesel Magazine awards 2009 and the award for 'Best Executive Car' at the 2009 Fleet World Honours.

In the UK, retail pricing of the XF range starts at £32,900 for the 3.0-litre petrol. The 3.0-litre diesel model is available from £33,900 while the 3.0-litre Diesel S starts at £36,900. For more information go to www.jaguar.co.uk.

The new Insignia is a pretty sweet piece of kit, especially in Sports Tourer form, and especially when outfitted for police duty. There are three engine options for departments to choose from, a 2.0 liter diesel with 156 HP, a a 2.0 liter gas engine with 216 HP, or the top-line 2.8 liter gas engine with a stout 256 HP. The two higher power models come with all-wheel-drive and are considered the "high speed pursuit" models, which is pretty quaint by US standards, paved goat paths for roads will do that.

The cars also come with light bars, sirens, special liveries, a built in computer terminal, automatic number plate recognition system and various communications equipment. We're betting the sirens still sound silly, no matter how cool the car is.

[Source: GM]

This after the folks at Melbourne's National Safety Agency put together the above LAPD-liveried Chevy-badged Commodore for the 2009 APCO Australasia Conference & Exhibition last month in Sydney. The expectation is the LAPD would be the first police force to buy the new vehicle, with more exports potentially going to Canada, the UK and the Middle East.

Here's what the Aussies at GoAuto have to say about the potential plan. A plan, which, by the way, we wholeheartedly support:

"...a plan to supply hi-tech Australian-made patrol cars to US law enforcement agencies – led by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) – could be joined by lucrative police vehicle exports to Canada, the UK and the Middle East.

And while the prospects of reviving plans to sell the Holden Ute in the US as a GMC continue to exist, it is understood the now-defunct Commodore-based Pontiac G8 has a good chance of morphing into a full-time Chevrolet model for US public consumption.

In an ironic twist, if green-lighted, the police project could see Holden's Commodore effectively replace Ford's aged Crown Victoria as the vehicle of choice for many US police departments, which require large, V8-powered rear-drive sedans.

The Crown Victoria, which was discontinued from public sale in 2008 and will be phased out of production for US fleet customers next year, has long been touted as Ford Australia's most obvious US export opportunity for the Falcon.

Some US police departments have already adopted Dodge's new Charger, but the Crown Victoria still attracts 60,000 annual sales for Ford, representing a potentially massive export opportunity for Holden.

Officially, Holden remains cautious about spruiking the prospects of sending Commodores to the US as part of a police vehicle export program, but national media relations manager Scott Whiffin admitted to GoAuto this week that a Pontiac G8-based LAPD prototype produced by Port Melbourne-based National Safety Agency (NSA) has "enormous" potential.

[via GoAuto]

This isn't the last time we'll see the E7 on the news, as they tell us it's coming to a disaster near you in 2012. But, they do make mention of some of the neat trick equipment on-board and show why we really hope (or maybe don't hope, depending on how we look at it), this police cruiser makes it into production.

Built on a purpose-built chassis and using a 300 HP, 420 Lb-Ft of torque forced-induction diesel, the 4,000 Lb E7 will run 0-60 in 6.5 seconds, top out at 155 MPH and return 28-30 MPG in normal use. More importantly, it's designed to a 250,000-mile durability spec. Faster, more economical and longer lasting than current cop cars, but it's what inside that really counts; the E7 has been designed around the police officers specific needs.

Current cruisers, modified versions of civilian cars, are far from ideal for police use. The necessary additions — radios, computers, donut holders — often get added with little to no thought or testing to how they'll perform in a crash, often becoming lethal projectiles in an impact. Seats aren't built for 8-hour-long shift, controls aren't created with control in mind, communications and computer equipment gets spec'd for cost, not capability.

The E7 integrates all its features neatly into a cohesive package. Check out the faired-in lights all over the bodywork — better for aerodynamics. The seats are made to support large and in-charge cops and accommodate utility belts full of cuffs, batons and handguns. Heated and cooled cup holders complement the A/C fans incorporated in the headrests for year-round comfort. All computing and communications take place through the huge dash-mounted touch screen while gadgets like radar speed detectors, 360° surveillance cams and automatic license plate recognition cameras abound. It even has biohazard and weapons of mass destruction detectors integrated in neat trunk-mounted NACA ducts.

There are over 425,000 law enforcement vehicles in service in the U.S. Carbon Motors hopes to take that market by storm, offering a vehicle that easily exceeds current vehicles' fuel economy, utility and safety - over 50% of officer injuries take place in their vehicles. Carbon Motors hopes to bring the E7 in around the same price as a fully equipped version of current cruisers. Judging by the reaction local cops had when they saw the E7 yesterday, there's going to be a lot of eager customers.

While we may have gotten an exclusive "Big Apple" first-hand look yesterday evening, you can see it for yourself today from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM in Times Square near the NASDAQ market site where the folks from Carbon Motors will ring the opening bell.