getting the "under cover" police car look...

[Basil]

Sorry off-topic but I had an upclose look at a Police Officer mate's new duty car this am- Dodge Charger R/T with the US front and back ram bars and lowset Hellen blue roof lights.

Gorgeous!!! (apparently it performs well at 260 km/h!!!)

[philc]

I always found that a light shirt, a dark tie, and a set of xenon's was all that was needed.

Oh, and having those lights attached to an Omega helped, too!

Phil

[duke of hazzard]

aye, i think we wont be able to capitalise on this for much longer as the mk1 is being phased out. i always give 5 series estates and volvo estates a second glance too.

borderspeed, got any advice for those wishing to show their appreciation of the police by emulating legally, the appearance of their cars???

[cheezemonkhai]

Talex so people behind you can see the speed reading seems to help :P

[Blanchie]

You could spray the inside of some old foglamp shells black and just fix them with velcro - say your kids put them there....Unlit they could be 'mistaken' for blue....

I think RING do a nice set of small square front fogs/spots with a blue tinge to the lense, always thought about fitting them behind the grill to improve lighting:rolleyes: . I think Halfrauds do them.

One thing that does help the "unmarked look" is a small mesh Dog guard in the boot, work a treat:D . First time i found that out was driving home late one night knackered so just poodling up the motorway doing 60, Misses commented on how quiet the motorway was as nothing on it, and we both realised a convoy of cars behind me not wanting to overtake:rofl:

[mluton]

Doesnt work with me, mine is red with private plates.

[duke of hazzard]

did consider mounting lights behing grille but that only works when theyre on and flashing alternatly and im pretty sure thats a serioud enough offence to get you jail time,lol.

[vrs jamez27]

lol, i bet they did. short of fitting strobe lights...(EXTREMELY ILLEGAL) i cant really think of anything else, shame the hi-vis approach doesnt work.

do you find people tend to give you a wide berth when closing on them?

I have the real deal blue police lights in my dash, front light clusters and rear, siren now ordered! Does the trick. They are NOT illegal , as long as you dont use them on the road. I only use them at cars shows to promote stands etc, the actual police love them! I found that just having them in the dash, people can still see them in the rear view mirror and very often pull over, and i have a Furby!

[vrs jamez27]

did consider mounting lights behing grille but that only works when theyre on and flashing alternatly and im pretty sure thats a serioud enough offence to get you jail time,lol.

Some guy got caught the other day, vectra with full lights system on all fitted himself and he got a

[rossm]

Nah, that's just a roofracck for acrrying the canoe. Strangely enough it has blue foam protectors on it

I've seen exactly this before on a white Subaru, took a while to realise that it WASN'T blue lights after all!! Very convincing cop car look from the front (or in the rear view mirror).

I assume this isn't illegal in the slightest seeing as its foam protectors on a roof rach and not lights...albeit open to interpretation from other road users

Next time I own a white car, this will be my first mod

[Borderspeed]

So I assume my grille mounted strobes would be counted as "dubious" in the eyes of the law? :confused:

Obviously its subjective, if you had strobes behind the grille which just show as lights being there(when they are off), could give the impression of a police car in the rear view mirror of anybody looking closely. Nothing wrong with that as such and for these purposes, as long as they don't actually show blue when activated(amber or white is acceptable) then you are not committing an offence.

Dukes of Hazard: Define showing your appreciation of what the police do by trying to emulate them? You pretty much cover the necessary of an unmarked car with extra aerials, etc,.

If you wanted to build a show car you could go as far as putting a battenburg livery on the car(be warned real photo-luminescent 3M signage is outrageously expensive), the problems arise if you put the word "Police" on the vehicle or any police crest, obviously this is a no-no.

Even show cars need to have removeable blue lights or be trailered to events and our mechanics quite often cover the blue lights whilst road testing and put magnetic signs on the vehicle stating "Not In Use".

Another factor to consider is that having a vehicle which looks like a police car both marked and unmarked leaves it open to vandalism if left unattended which isn't really the kind of attention you want, at least as a force the Police can afford it and get their own back!!

You also open yourself up to being pulled every time you go out, and explain yourself to an officer who will at best laugh or worse, if he doesn't charge you, will probably keep you at the side of the road for a long time while he goes over every inch of your car to check for legality and probably tell all his mates who will pull you as well.:(

Anyway lecture over,

Regards,

Steve

[wonfa]

as another officer of the law i second what borderspeed says

you have to be very carful about extra lights on your car working or not as its down to individual officers interpritation of what constitutes to impersonating a police officer. if they think what your doing is, then you may find yourself being closer to a real police car than you wanted!

i find just driving to work in my white shirt is enough for people to move over/slow down etc

although the give away is my private plate and bright yellow paint

[skodaw]

A mate of mine has just bought an ex-police omega to use as an escort vehicle for his transport company(He moves large boats / caravans)

I had to take a double check when I first saw it - at first glance it looks just like a traffic car -- battenburg signage roof bars and bumper and grille mounted strobes -- it's only when they switched on you see they are amber/white strobes.

But one thing I did notice was that he has alternately flashing headlights - I though that would be a definate NO NO -- got to admit tho -- looks bloody fabulous.

[dieseldarren]

There was a guy in Doncaster used to take a 10 yr old Granada to shows

done up in Black & White as a US style police cruiser.

IIRC it had New York Police traffic enforcement markings,

full roof bar, sirens etc ...

Plus he drove around in old NY police uniform

(to the shows, not all the time, well I hope not!!).

He got stopped by the local cops several times,

he had to put a cover over the light bar for the road.

But he was invited to park it on Police stands at charity events!

Similarly an old Barkas B1000 van & a Lada Riva,

done as a DDR ambulance & a Russian police car,

both of their owners had to cover their blue lights for the road.

Although none of them were given undue hassle,

more a bemused interest in what they were doing.

However, I think replicating a current model of UK police vehicle,

would lead to a greater deal of suspicion of your intent.

I've noticed people sometimes pull over for my dark green mk1 octy,

it's way too old for the cops & its only a humble 90bhp tdi.

But I guess, it's the general outline people see in the mirror.

[TaviaRS]

If you wanted to build a show car you could go as far as putting a battenburg livery on the car(be warned real photo-luminescent 3M signage is outrageously expensive), the problems arise if you put the word "Police" on the vehicle or any police crest, obviously this is a no-no.

Anyway lecture over,

Regards,

Steve

Reflex reflective material comes under the lighting regulations, and when Battenberg was born, it was put into the lighting regs, it reflects light and glows. Emergency services are granted the use of Battenburg and only the appropriate service is permitted to use the relevant colours.

If you find a security company logo'd up with police battenburg, you will find the offence to prosecute in the lighting regs.

So in summary, any light emmited or reflective sign or marking is governed as far as I am aware by the Lighting regs.

[Ender]

:eek: OMG i seen it all now:rofl: :thumbdwn:

[Borderspeed]

A mate of mine has just bought an ex-police omega to use as an escort vehicle for his transport company(He moves large boats / caravans)

I had to take a double check when I first saw it - at first glance it looks just like a traffic car -- battenburg signage roof bars and bumper and grille mounted strobes -- it's only when they switched on you see they are amber/white strobes.

But one thing I did notice was that he has alternately flashing headlights - I though that would be a definate NO NO -- got to admit tho -- looks bloody fabulous.

Presumably somewhere on the vehicle he has added the words "Escort Vehicle"?

Many companies now do their own escort duties which leaves us to get on with road policing although still occasionally have to do it where traffic needs to be stopped or roads closed to facilitate the move.

Cheers,

Steve

[gav_vrs]

my prevoius car was a dark blue V6 vectra estate with the cage in for the dog (kept drooling on the seats) threw a traffic cone in the boot from work.. m62 passing bradford i managed to slow a subaru from 100+ down to a crawl without doing anything at all. bet his a*se dropped out tho..

[duke of hazzard]

hey mr police men, am i right in thinking that a pair of white strobes mounted behind the grille on the front would not be illegal then???

borderspeed, i was just interested to know wether an imitation undercover octy with ariels and white strobes would land me in deep water, i think it would be an interesting talking point at meets/shows. I too had also considered the vandalism point.

[matchmaker]

A mate of mine used to have an ex Grampian Police 24v Senator. White but unmarked.

It was amazing how quickly he could get down the A90 :D

I do find that I can spook the local boy racers by driving around town at night behind them :rofl: The xenons help here I think :D

[Sam Boy]

I love scaring boy racers too... Me and a mate were in our white shirts, sitting bolt upright with our mobiles in our top pockets (with the backlight on) at a local rag strip and we basically brought everyone to a holt....

I should be able to do it for real next year

[Exportio_vRS]

Well i find having my WRC vRS without the decals on it is an absolute godsend on any journey and the fact that i'm a serving member of Her Majesty's Royal Air Force (Light blue shirt with epiletts and rank slide) hahahahahaha.

I always drive with my Xenons on all i need is the hi vis vest !!!!!!!!!. LOL

The amount of people that go screaming past me at about 110 mph (BMW's mainly) and then slam the brakes on and pull in is amazing and if you sit at a reasonable distance behind people in the outside lane they just pull in and let you past.

I love my car

Ross

[Sonic_Vrs]

I love scaring boy racers too... Me and a mate were in our white shirts, sitting bolt upright with our mobiles in our top pockets (with the backlight on) at a local rag strip and we basically brought everyone to a holt....

Sounds riveting...

[Borderspeed]

Well i find having my WRC vRS without the decals on it is an absolute godsend on any journey and the fact that i'm a serving member of Her Majesty's Royal Air Force (Light blue shirt with epiletts and rank slide) hahahahahaha.

I always drive with my Xenons on all i need is the hi vis vest !!!!!!!!!. LOL

The amount of people that go screaming past me at about 110 mph (BMW's mainly) and then slam the brakes on and pull in is amazing and if you sit at a reasonable distance behind people in the outside lane they just pull in and let you past.

I love my car

Ross

Abusing the uniform of the Royal Air Force, despicable:eek:

Only joking, I'm ex RAF did 12 years, travelled the world, fought the wars, got the medals and the T-shirts and then decided with the chance of signing on for 22 and getting my Third up, that I was seriously hacked off with the standard of recruits coming in who totally lacked discipline and self respect and thought the RAF owed them a living:mad:

So reluctantly I left although I miss it and kick myself thinking that now I'd only have 4 years left to work before retiring with a pension instead of getting on for 60 before I see a penny:thumbdwn:

However such is life and I'll content myself with getting a Police pension and a RAF one when I do retire:D

Regards,

Steve

[duke of hazzard]

OI PLOD! BACK TO TOPIC!....lol. jus messin.