Ford, Holdens, Chryslers, and Mitsubishi: Police Cars Through the Years

From the first Fords to the new Skodas, police cars have been a feature of New Zealand’s roads for a century.

Harbingers of vehicle styles and tastes over the years, Commodore police cars in question, regardless of how many Holden have sold.

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“> first appeared in New Zealand around 1919.

Cars had first appeared in New Zealand around the turn of the century, and it was almost 20 years before the police bought a 1918 Ford TT pickup.

Even then, they were initially held up for use by senior officers and routine patrolling kept up with the old (and cheap) size 10 horse, bike, or boot.

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In 1919 Auckland, Wellington (and I believe) Christchurch police were delivered a new Ford Model TT motorized light truck and today there is a restored example with the collection of the New Zealand Police Museum.

On August 25, 1920, the first recorded case in which the investigating police used a car to attend a crime scene occurred after the murder (the day before) of Sydney Seymour Eyre in Tuakau in South Auckland.

For the next 30 years, the police coped with the smell of the proverbial oily rag and had to share the cost of running the vehicles with other government departments.

Police had to rely on a succession of unreliable and mismatched second-hand examples.

In 1933, a used 1930 Austin Speed ​​Six was purchased in Auckland and, when the district commander did not require it, it was available for general use, but only with a full-time designated driver behind the wheel. “

The depression of the 1930s saw the purchase of second-hand vehicles, including a Vauxhall, a Hillman and the first Ford V8, as well as some mixed Chevrolet models, bringing the Auckland fleet to ten vehicles.

Until the 1950s, acquiring vehicles continued to be problematic for government agencies. Before World War II, money was simply not available and during the war it was impossible to obtain vehicles. For several years after the conflict, money remained tight and obtaining new cars remained an illusion.

Mixed assortments of cars continued to be the norm, with Vauxhall, Wolseley, Humber and Chrysler models, even a Jeep, sourced when the need was great and the price was right.

The Humber Super Snipe was a huge and fast luxury vehicle in civilian life and it turned out to be ideal for overseas police use, but in New Zealand it had its problems on our less than perfect roads. “

It would be in the late 1960s before the New Zealand police could begin to standardize the national fleet and this followed the creation of the Australian Holden Motor Company, which developed a reliable and robust series of vehicles that were produced to a affordable cost.

Aside from a brief foray into Ford vehicles in the late 1970s through the 1980s, the Holden remained largely the vehicle of choice for many decades. The use of high performance patrol vehicles became necessary to cope with the relentless increase in crime committed by the modern highly mobile criminal.

From very shaky beginnings, the New Zealand Police began to develop its fleet from a diverse range of often unreliable early vehicles to the modern fleet of practical and efficient vehicles.

Rumors abounded in the 1970s that Ford had offered to provide New Zealand police with Ford patrol cars free of charge on the condition that they be allowed to announce the fact.

This was rejected on the grounds that the police could be perceived as liable to Ford and did not want to be seen as receiving a “gift”.

When General Motors announced the end of the Holden brand and the police were forced to search for a new preferred vehicle supplier.

They went to the industry with a request for proposals in July this year and on November 25 announced that they had selected the Czech manufacturer Skoda to supply their new top-of-the-line patrol cars.

Police Commissioner Andy Coster cited the reduced environmental impact of Czech cars as one of the reasons they were chosen. Electric and hybrid vehicles were considered, but failed to cut due to performance issues.

“With more than 2,000 primary response vehicles currently in action, the selection of a new supplier provides a significant opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and ensure value for money across our entire fleet,” he said.

They have chosen pickup trucks over sedans because of their greater flexibility, their statement said.

Two Skoda models will be deployed, a 162kW two-wheel drive version and a 206kW four-wheel drive version.

Police expect to deploy the first batch of Skodas in April 2021.

Ken Brewer is a former police officer, historian, and novelist. His first novel The Enfield Conspiracy was published in 2013. An earlier version of his article on the history of police cars was published on the New Zealand Police Museum website.