Interestingly, in 1997 I bought one of the sister vehicles to this from Jack Fords which was a Sapphire cossie, it had 130K on the clock and had new engine in at 100K. Back then, the cossies were being dumped mercilessly by Northumbria Police because the new kid on the block was the mighty Volvo 850R/T5’s….. they crashed better and were better at carrying kit. The escort cossie crashed really badly too and they were never out of the body shops…
Cash strapped Merseyside Fire Brigade have a fleet of these for patrolling the docks around Liverpool
looks awfully like the Hostage Rescue toys that “THEY” use… I’m wondering if the “KG52” above the door is actually part of it’s army registration number and the civi plates are a disguise.
it will have removable front, rear & side steps – you can see the mounts and the hand holds on the roof.
Basically used for pilling a load of heavily armed plod (or …. “Them”) on to the outside of it.. teararsing up to a building and “assaulting” the building… the height allows them to go in through a 1st floor window too….
Intersting toy though..
You get the win for the most sneaky beaky bit of kit.
Back then, the cossies were being dumped mercilessly by Northumbria Police because the new kid on the block was the mighty Volvo 850R/T5’s….. they crashed better and were better at carrying kit.
Can testify to the kit carrying capabilities of the Mighty T5
Ex North Yorks V70 T5 ARV.. 320Bhp fire breathing monster
Northumbria Police had a habit of using interesting/novel kit… seem to remember at times they had a 911 and a Vauxhall Nova Sport..
These were an interesting toy because they were a “Homologation Special” i.e. specifically build for motorsport I know cos I rallied one for 5 years 😉 and they were rather potent under that rather bland exterior…. 1300cc engine on Twin 40 DCOE webbers handled like they were on rails. Northmbria Police used theirs as a rapid response area car in the city center as it could carve through traffic like a hot knife..
The SBS’ VSV (very slender vessel) boat. Superceded now I think, but ice cold IMHO.
Saw one on a trailer many many moons ago, i honestly thought it was a missile at first.
I was fortunate to have the pleasure of driving this wee beastie in anger back in the day; It was somewhat of a revalation. We previously tooled around in diesel fiat punto vans as response cars…
Gloucestershire Police have got their hands on a fleet of blue X5s, awesome looking vehicles – I should have got a photo when three ARV X5s came past me the other day. Surprised there isn’t a picture on here of an interceptor impreza or Evo.
I was fortunate to have the pleasure of driving this wee beastie in anger back in the day; It was somewhat of a revalation. We previously tooled around in diesel fiat punto vans as response cars…