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2011 Chevy Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle: We Have A Warrant For Your Tickling
With the iconic Ford Police Interceptor now doing a bid for life w/o parole, several automakers have begun to clamor for its coveted corner of the law enforcement industry. Enter: the 2011 Chevy Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle (PPV), only slightly more intimidating than the GEM NEV.
To be fair, it’s hard to compete with the extremely intimidating aesthetic of the Dodge Charger Police Package, but the Caprice doesn’t even seem to be trying. If you remove the ram bars, the light bar, and the meth dealer in the back seat, it would be right at home in the parking lot at the local bingo hall/church potluck. What’s more, not only is the Caprice sorely lacking in the looks department but the heat it’s packing under the hood doesn’t do much by way of impressing us either. Optionally offered with a V6 or 6.0L V8, even the most powerful of the two only puts out 355 horses which is roughly 100 more than the outgoing Ford, but still a full 43 less than the Charger.
Obviously hoping to underscore the spectacular exterior failure, the bulk of the Caprice’s unveiling was spent trumpeting the “exciting” interior amenities and their superiority to those offered by the competition. Presumably hoping to distract Jake from the fact that his cruiser looks nothing like the badass G8 it’s purportedly based on, GM equipped the Caprice with two auxiliary trunk-mounted batteries, 4 more inches of legroom (compared to the Crown Vic), and special front seats sculpted to “pocket” the equipment belt and allow officer’s to rest properly on the seatback. “The Chevrolet Caprice PPV’s seats represent a revolution in comfort and utility for officers who spend long hours in their car,” explained Bob Demick, lead seat design manager. “The shape also enhances entry and egress, making it easier for officers to exit the vehicle quickly. The seatback bolsters, for example, have been purposefully contoured to help pocket the equipment on the belt, which includes the gun, Taser and handcuffs, which rest comfortably in the sculpted lower bolsters. That also increases the longevity of the trim cover surface.”
Giving you plenty of time to plead with the Chief to order Chargers instead, pre-order for the 2011 Caprice PPV will begin in late 2010 and the first cruisers will hit the streets in early 2011. No word yet on which departments will be the first unlucky recipients.
Source: GM
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I,m a owner of several chevy trucks and one SUV. I have had a chevy Impala for one year as a patrol vehicle. I’m looking at this new chevy patrol vehicle and I hate to say this but I’m not impressed at all and I have my why I would not even think about purchasing this vehicle for my agency. SORRY CHEVY THIS VEHICLE ISN’T HITTING ON MUCH. AS FAR AS ROOM INSIDE THE VEHICLE. FOR EXAMPLE I ARRESTED TO SUSPECTS AND IT WAS EXTREMELY HARD PLACING THEM INSIDE AND GETTING THEM OUT OF MY PATROL VEHCILE (CHEVY IMPALA). Chevy you need to got back to the drawing board getting a LEO to assist you. The front wheel drive and the V6 engine needs to be placed out of reach of your designers.
Words by Greg Collins on November 11, 2009 at 12:14 pm | #
Eh, who wrote this, and what were they on? The car is a failure because it doesn’t look cool enough? Yeah, that’s what I want my local police department to base their buying decisions on! The again, I guess they needed to find something to bash GM for, and since the car seems well built, looks was a s good a reason as any.
A word for Mr. Collins, the officer who posted a reply to the article. This Impala IS rear wheel drive, and it is NOT based on the old Impala so your complaints about the old Impala’s lack of room hold no water. I would expect a police officer to notice details like that.
Words by Bill on December 15, 2009 at 9:54 am | #
Greg, i would feel sorry for anybody arrested by you. Did you actually read anything about this car? Its a Holden caprice built in Australia, on the same platform as the g8 and its rear wheel drive. Holden doesn’t make crap v8 powered front wheel drive cars. Most of the cop cars in Australia are based on the g8 or ss commodore. Which are either v6 or v8 powered.
Words by Jason on December 18, 2009 at 3:23 pm | #
How can you write such an article without even having driven the car? The handling and breaking in road tests have always favoured the holden product and if the police wanted more power there is always the LS3 engine available from HSV (425 HP). Even with the standard V8 the 6 speed auto closes the gap so there is very little difference in straight line performance. The interior space is also superior to the Dodge.
I have a 10 year old Holden with 220,000+ km on the clock and have had very few problems and I know the new car is better built than mine. Please do some research before lampooning anything no matter what.
Words by Robert on February 2, 2010 at 1:29 pm | #