Last week we asked the Jalopnik audience to share the weirdest unmarked police cars they’ve ever seen, and honestly there were more off-the-wall models than I expected. I picked answers that were relatively current cars, save for a few seriously unexpected models from years past. My answer was the Subaru Ascent — not that an Ascent is a bad car or even a bad choice for a police car, just that it never came up on my keen cop car radar. If I suddenly saw blue lights coming up behind me from the grille of a Subaru Ascent, or any of the cars on this list, I’d honestly probably think it was a prank.
Unfortunately, I’ve learned from your answers that I should never assume that simply because the blue lights flashing behind me aren’t coming from a Ford Explorer doesn’t always mean I’m not being pulled over by a cop in an unmarked car. What unmarked cars should you be looking out for? There were lots of surprising answers, so you might want to stay on your toes.
Mazda MX-6
In the early 90s, The Connecticut State police bought a fleet of 30 Mazda MX-6s. They were upgraded to cop spec and were incredibly hard to spot.
GMC Acadia
Brown ~2022 GMC Acadia. Low trim level with minimal chrome, emergency lights tucked up against the headliner so they don’t change the silhouette. I see that car parked in the same spot a few times a month doing speed traps.
Ram 1500
The Toronto Police Service has quite a few unmarked grey or black Dodge Ram 1500s. They look like the Sport model and are almost impossible to identify, even up close. One recently drove up and parked in the middle of a pedestrian crossing as I was walking home from work. I glared through the tinted window at the unseen driver and it was only at the last second that I considered it could be one of their unmarked trucks so I didn’t flip the driver off. Two seconds later the cop steps out to issue traffic violations to two cars.
Chevy Malibu
For unmarked, probably the Chevy Malibu especially now that its 4 cyl/CVT only now. Not unmarked, but there’s a department here in the St. Louis area using Nissan Altimas as marked patrol cars. Talk about BAE. I want to know how often the CVT eats itself under those conditions.
Nissan Altima
Louisville Metro PD can run about any damn thing they want, including vehicles disguised as city works trucks, but here are a couple of the weirder ones. I’m guessing these are probably for undercover work or blending in, but I’m now sitting here racking my brain thinking about how I’d react if someone tried pulling me over in a Nissan Altima.
Audi A4
Randomly saw an undercover Audi A4 in downtown suburbs of Maryland - they just sit there all day with flashing red and blues, possibly to deter retail smash-and-grabs.
Ford Mustang Mach-E
Recently, in Napa, I saw an unmarked Ford Mach-E had pulled someone over on the freeway. No markings or top mounted light bar but it did have the rear window lights and front lights going.
Toyota Sienna
Got pulled over by a silver Toyota Sienna in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada recently - chatted with the cop who said their acquisitions guys were told they wanted vehicles that there are a million of, out on the roads.
Honda Ridgeline
Where I live I have seen a grey Gen-1 Honda Ridgeline and just the other day I saw a work truck complete with a pipe rack and orange strobe light. the latter had just pulled somebody over with the red and blues concealed in the windshield.
Slammed Mini Truck
Early 1990s Reno PF (yes, of Reno 911 fame) had a slammed mini truck.
Sat about an inch off the ground. Had to have been an impound and civil forfeiture.... it was a really nice truck.
Dodge Grand Caravan
White Dodge Caravan like this one in Virginia years ago. Didn’t recognize it at all until someone sped past it and got pulled over. Wake-up call for sure.
Dodge Neon
The Fairfax area in Northern Virginia had some really weird undercover cars for a while.
My brother got pulled over by a local cop in a first gen Dodge Neon.
Taxi Cab
Living in NYC back in the mid ‘10s, and working down in Chinatown, I would often see the unmarked police taxi-cabs. Nothing more disconcerting than watching plain clothes officers flip lights and sirens on in a yellow cab before flipping a u-turn.
Jeep Cherokee
Got stopped by an undercover XJ Cherokee near Erie PA in the early 2000s. Lights were tucked under the front roof rack rail, extremely hard to see. And if memory serves me right, there were also AMC Eagle police cars in Colorado. Imagine getting pulled over by ones of those.
1999 Volkswagen Golf
Livingston, Alabama still uses the 1999 VW Golf they snagged in a drug bust in 2000. Demopolis uses a Smart FourTwo. The Mississippi Highway Patrol is using Toyota Camrys and Nissan Altimas.
Yes, Altima. Let that sink into your minds.