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Old VN and VP Hwp cars I drove...

the_boozer

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sounds like Boozer has plenty of experience with them as well...
In the 90's on a few occasions the fact the officer that chased me down from a standing start all ways pissed me off how fast did he go? I wonder how many times that bloke from St Arnaud the one that got the awards for the most fines came close to a head on with a truck?
i'd better add that in the last 10 years I can't say Ive seen any police vehicle driving erratically I would consider what the bloke Im referring to above as erratic I witnessed it on 3 occasions I was fined by him personaly once.
 
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commodore665

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Yes, but were they were deemed necessary for the areas we worked in. We didn't have any cooling problems with our particular cars but in one pic you can see that additional holes had been drilled through to bullbar to facilitate extra airflow.

The BA XR8s were the worst for overheating. Mine spent more time on a tilt tray than on the road...and it had no frontal modifications.

When I joined the NZ police from the South African police where we had BMW M3 and M5 , but iNew Zealand had VS and VT Commodores, we also had a few AU Falcons which had a habit of over heating and draining the batteries, often at the same time , when I left I had a VF SV6 , driven all the Commodores in the Police line up from VS up , all were good cars , my personal pick was the S Pack VX .
 
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vc commodore

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So commodore665, did you make the TV series, made over there? Highway Patrol, I think it was called....:)

If so, we have our how celebrity forum lurker....:)
 

ringfeder3

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motorway patrol....
 

ringfeder3

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I started in VLs and F150s, right through the Commodore lineup until the VF. I think we have a 5 series BMW coming shortly
 

Noeleter

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My father was a Qld cop many years ago. His first Holden police car was an FX ute. He said he had to keep a bag of cement in the back to keep it from sliding around too much. He also drove minis etc as well as riding Harleys, an Ariel square four and a bike with side car. Must have been a fun job in those days.
 

dgp

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A good mates dad was a policeman in Melbourne and ended up working in the workshops. One of his jobs was to run in the new cars. I always enjoyed those stories, cars dating back to XY Falcons with GT running gear. When he retired the VN's had just been introduced.
He still thinks the VL turbos were the quickest cars he drove, much better handling without the 5lt out front. I'm not sure if they wound up the boost though, I must ask him next time I see him.

I would like to hear a few more stories ringfeeder.
 

ringfeder3

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I never drove the turbos but did get a few rides in them. My early years were in general duties so the only VLs I got to drive were the standard sixes.

I remember the blokes would wind the turbos out to around the 200 mark and the bonnets would shake, the wipers would move and the cars felt light but very unstable.

But that is in comparison to today's cars...to compare them to their v8 VK predecessors (before my time), blokes thought they were rockets.
Resized_20170404_125719.jpeg
Bear in mind that some metropolitan places had been using the odd Starion or Cordia turbos for a while.

When the V8 VNs were reintroduced, there was a bit of controversy regarding their necessity after the roll-out of the all conquering new V6 motors.

The first NSW Highway Patrol VNs were actually V6 powered. During the pursuit test at the Goulburn driver training facility, where a HWP trainee was assessed by having to 'keep up with' an instructor who would go all out to evade their pursuer, my 'crook' chose to drive a V6 VN as he preferred its dexterity through the off camber corners etc. I was in a V8 VN which the instructor reckoned was more prone to wallow. That's another story...

Anyway, as the V8s were available for general consumption but the coppers couldn't have them, street cred became an issue.

With some crafty badge engineering, it was not particularly uncommon to see the occasional VN V6 turbo patrolling the western parts of the state. Confused enquirers were usually told about the mysteries of 'one off police specials' or 'they had a few VL motors left over'.

Of course coppers never lie so it must've been fact....

The introduction to the fleet of the fuel injected V8s was welcomed with open arms. There was no V8 Ford available at the time and as I have previously said, these cars were smooth and fast.

In 1992 or thereabouts (VP), we were called back to the station to be met by some blokes from fleet management in Sydney who wanted our opinions on a new V8 Falcon that Ford had tarted up to interest the police.

In the driveway was a EB base model. It had raised outback suspension and XF style 'snowflake' alloy wheels. It was fully marked. It also had an injected 5 litre motor.

This car was a sh#tbox. Compared to the VP is was slow, wandery, uncomfortable and ugly. Fleet explained that Ford hadn't had a chance to develop a sports suspension or appropriate wheels yet.

We gave them our opinions and they left.

The next V8 Falcons in the NSW police fleet ended up being the ED XR8s a few years later....
 

ringfeder3

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more stories if you want 'em...
 

ringfeder3

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