West Midlands Police once had a 168mph Lotus supercar
For any culprit looking to speed away from the police, this was the car they would fear to see. With its top speed of 168mph, the Lotus was once the fastest police car in Britain. The GBP55,000 vehicle was the first elite sports car to be used by a UK police force.
In 2012, the supercar was loaned to West Midlands Police to tackle crime on the streets. Complete with police livery, badges and flashing lights, the four-seater zoomed down major routes across the region, including the M6, M42 and M5 motorways. The car was showcased at the NEC’s Autosport International show in 2011.
READ MORE:Coventry dog show cancelled after BBC Panorama investigation Speaking in that year, PC Steve Rounds explained why the force decided to use the car. He said the idea was to use the sports car as an ice-breaker with young drivers to educate them about the dangers of speed.
“It is an absolutely phenomenal machine,” he said. “We used a truck to affect the driving behaviour of commercial vehicles and had a lot of success with tackling lorry drivers using mobile phones and not wearing their seatbelts. “We want to do the same thing with excessive speeding and the inappropriate use of speed. The highest number of people being killed or seriously injured are young drivers or new drivers.”
PC Angus Nairn said: “It’s a very quick car and we hope it will prove an effective deterrent to anyone thinking of speeding or trying to outrun us. It has incredible performance yet still does around 30 miles to the gallon.
The West Midlands police Lotus sports car at the Autosport International show at the NEC, Birmingham
“It will attract a lot of attention on the motorways but that is the whole idea – it will remind drivers of the need to keep to their speed limits at all times.” PC Round added: “The Lotus is a visually stunning machine which offers us the opportunity to engage with the public and reinforce and promote the life-saving messages of road safety.”
Powered by a 280bhp 3.5 litre V6 engine, the Lotus could hit 60mph in less than five seconds.
The car was used to patrol the 450 miles of motorway including the M6, M5, M42 and M6 Toll.
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