American Reacts to A Century of New Zealand Police Vehicles
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
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Holden's are no longer made anymore and NZ's police cars are gradually being replaced with Skoda's which are commonly used as police cars throughout Europe.
I wish the Australian Police Forces would use Volvos - XC-60 - as they were trialing them in Dubbo, and Dubbo kept them.
I wish they were still going to make the SR-T 300 and in RHD from the factory.
Possibly the big Opel - Commodore, if it still exists now that it has been taken over by PSA. ?
Germans too dominant, expensive and already proving problematic.
Skodas and Bmws are the new police cars, theres a couple of BMW I6 as police cars here in Hamilton now aswell and the Holden equinox and Acadias as K9 units
What does a yank get up of kissing Aussie but. $$$$$ that’s all the game is honestly about.
Lots of different toyotas in the fleet too
Horrible things. Heaps of shite!
If you can ever come across a classic NZ iconic movie from 1981 called "Goodbye Pork Pie" you'll see some classic police vehicles & just the range of cars on the road at the time. Its a classic movie, highly recommended.
Omgosh yes! Brilliant movie.
Yes my favorite movie 🎬
"We're taking this bloody car to Invercargill, boy"
There's also Smash Palace where the old Black Kingswood gives chase to an Formula 5000, briefly. :P One of my favourite shots is just behind the air scoop at high speed on NZ roads.
@@raptormaster666
Yep great movie, Bruno Lawrence is a bloody kiwi legend, he is good in "The Quiet Earth".... another kiwi car movie is "Shaker Run" not as good as pork pie or smash palace, no Bruno either.....but worth a look....
My Dad was a rural constable in NZ for 25 years and had a handful of different patrol cars, but the two most memorable were: The unkillable Nissan Patrol 4x4, "Big White". And while he preferred Commodores, his '94 Ford Falcon was so fast the urban HQ wanted it back. Cool video, mate. ;)
The Ford Falcons were the best
The Mitsi V3000 was a V6 and was a high speed pursuit car and could catch a lot of modded V8s at the time.
seriously? what did it have under the hood?
Yes I remember when they came out. We used it to pull the boat in Taranaki. From memory it was a 3 litre V6 and the Police were given cam and exhaust upgrades.
Yep they were extremely fast. Remember Japanese engine technology was way ahead of the rest of the world. Compare 80's DOHC 16 valve toyota celica 2.0l engine with T-VIS mid 80s 140hp whereas Aussie 4.2l v8s started at about 175hp at the time for much heavier cars
wikipedia - v3000
for 1988, the older fifth generation bodyshell stayed in production alongside it. Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand intentionally decided to retain the fifth generation sedan bodystyle for a new, unique to New Zealand, flagship model-the 110 kW (150 hp) 3.0-liter V6 engined Mitsubishi V3000. The V3000 was developed specifically to give Mitsubishi New Zealand a six-cylinder family car, suitable for towing boats and caravans, to compete with the imported Ford Falcon (EA) and Holden Commodore (VN) models.
While the rear styling of the previous Sigma model was retained, the frontal treatment was changed to now feature a more formal, upright chrome grille (the bonnet and grille were from the top-of the-line Sigma SE), and uprated suspension. The V3000 was available in basic Executive, mid-range Super Saloon, and top-of-the-range SEi trim levels, the latter with luxury trim and digital dashboard. Later a sports version Elante was introduced, based on the Executive. The V6 engine combined with relatively low weight and gearing ensured excellent performance, New Zealand's traffic patrol selected them as patrol cars to replace the turbocharged Sigma GSR. These police cars had the Elante suspension pack, which was an option on other models. For 1990, the V3000 was further updated and now featured the front styling of the Eterna hardtop. New Zealand was the only market where this restyling was applied to the fifth generation four-door sedan bodyshell. Assembly of this model continued until 1991,
The first Mitsubishi V3000 was also available in the US as the Mitsubishi Galant in 1985. The second V3000 was Australian built in Adelaide based on the Magna here but was also in the US as the Mitsubishi Diamanté. The Holden crewman was a 4 door Ute which was also available in a4wd variant in Australia. the Holden Captiva was based on Deiwoo SUV but most Australians called it a craptiva to suit what they were.
My sister's Captiva is actually pretty nice.
a rare one indeed@@joshklaver47
I own 4 mitsi v3000's ones a ex mot police car that become a streetstock and was 1nz in i think 2009. Cant wait to race it next year
Based on the magna? They were magnas. Different names for different markets. Fun fact: the TR/TS Magna was at the time the only Aussie car with no safety recalls. Had 2 TS magna V6's and both were super reliable, good on fuel and dirt cheap.
Had a lot of fun getting away from the early '00s commodores in a Mazda 121 back in the day!
We lived on SH1 by a blind corner (Google Maps Phar Lap raceway if you want to see the setup). The cops liked to set up a booze bus just down the road heading into town. If we went into town, we'd have to go through it both ways, possibly multiple times a day.
We started messing with them by going around the corner then doing a 180 and shooting back in our drive before they got round the corner after us. They'd scream down the highway and we'd see them come back 30-60mins later!
The other trick we pulled was to get round the corner (so the cops would see us) then pull into the horse raceway on the other side of the road. We knew the route to the road on the other side of the raceway and before the cops got in sight, we'd be behind the stable block and out of sight. We'd go back via the booze bus and get comments like, "Where did you get off to?", we'd just give them a smile! :D
All the latest NZ cop cars are Skoda's now. Started replacing them a couple of years ago.
Very suprising. I thought they would've gone with BMW and VW. Skoda's are good cars though, good decision to go with them either way
if not zb wagons, but yeah mainly skodas, which are sporty cars and pretty dam smexy!
@@sullivanl3305They kinda did go with VW...
RIP Holden
@@sullivanl3305 Skodas are VW's but made properly!
Back in 2004 my dad bought me my first car. It was an 1988 xf falcon ex cop car that was lpg and pretty rough. We spent my teenage years rebuilding it and when we took the lpg tank out from behind the rear seat/ boot area, we found 3 ounces of weed in individual plastic bags that had turned to dust. Best we could guess, some one got arrested and stashed them there while arrested
Small world. The LTD Commissioners' car paid a visit to our home for dinner. It was the incoming new Commissioner Bob Walton making a National tour of Districts to meet the District commanders and their families. I remember as a child being much impressed by the huge tank of a car, which was unusual in NZ to say the least. It didn't have the light kit fitted and he had a staff driver. So cool to see it again on here. Thanks.
My Step Dad used to really be into LTD's he told me they were kinda monsters in terms of power/engine, was that true? how were they different to normal falcons?
The cops in Adelaide used souped up Mopars. They were really poular at the suctions. In Perth we had Falcons with insane horsepower and handling packages. They were basically Bathurst specials with lights. The Holdens were mainly used as patrol cars for 'General Duties'. Sydney used everything from Mini's to anything with a V8.
Goulburn cops (60ks from Canberra) used 340 chargers , I was driving home from Newcastle (my G/F came for surprise w/end) HK Monaro 327 Saginaw ,10 inch gm diff, and got busted at 147 ,k's , no cars 3 am gave them a sob story , the road is fairly straight in parts , they came 6 inches behind in the dark then gave me everything , i thought a UFO had landed behind me ,behind me high beam , red n blues , siren , scared the bejesus out of me , that was the plan from the start i think
@@duncanyourmate2433 Those Chargers are so rare today. Tonsley Park managed to get a glut of 340's by mistake. They ordered 360's.
@@royferntorpthe 340's were intended for the next Bathurst Chargers until the supercar scare changed everything and they put autos behind them and further souped up the 265 to race as the E-49 instead. They ordered all those 340's specifically for racing- no mistake.
@@rossbrumby1957 A lot of those 340's ended up in the Chrysler by Chrysler models. Maybe that was where the rumours started. They were all advertised as a 360.
As a New Zealander, my earliest memories of police cars was the 81 Ford Falcon with the White panel with the coat of arms on the side.
Only a few years after they absorbed the old MOT (Ministry of Transport, road and traffic ) into the Police fully and created the 3 branches we now have (TSS traffic safety service, CIB criminal investigation bureau and the GDB general duties Bureau? better known as General Dogs Bodies
Hello IWrocker, thanks for reviewing another of my videos! As usual, most of your commentary is on point!
I've owned 3 Aussie Falcons and an ex-RCMP Crown Vic, and I believe steel wheels are over-rated! 😁
When did you make this video, the police force are driving Skoda's now aren't they?
@Altered Challenge The last time I was in NZ was 2018. An updated version of this video is online now, but it doesn't get many views...
@@thekiwicanuck cool, I'll take a look.
Ministry of Transport (black and white coloured cars) used to patrol the roads, much like the California Highway Patrol. We had the 'cops' and the 'traffic cops'. Police cars went from plain black to grey then white. Police had a blue light on the roof, Ministry of Transport had red light. The later lightbars combined the colours. They merged in 1992. I remember one of those grey police cars visiting our school when I was young. Got the lights switched on for us and the siren on. Exciting stuff for a little kid!
In NZ our "regular patrol" cars are the white units with blue and yellow livery. There are also "highway patrol" cars which are mostly the same, however those units usually are either in blue, red, or orange (with the same livery as regular units + the "highway patrol" signage). We obviously have undercover units which are unmarked, typically in plain silver/grey.
Commodore police units are slowly starting to become rarer and rarer. They're starting to get replaced with Skoda's, sadly (Along with the odd Toyota camry).
I hate the blue ones the white orange and red stand out the blue ones sneak up on you
The cops I have talked to are mainly happy with the Skodas less so with the Camrys which I found strange.
@@nickbenfell4327 That is strange, between those two I know what one I'd rather have. It's definitely not the Skoda...
Sadly .??😂😂
The 1971 Ford Galaxie LTD, was an Australian made car, The back window and tail lights are not the same as the USA.
I have a 1988 V3000 in mint condition, that my grandfather bought new. GLX 5 speed manual. I still have all the receipts and sale info! Goes bloody good for its age. Have heard form many accounts that they were quicker than the falcons and commodores of the day.
yeh all the rest went to the scrap yard really quickly git there way before Ford Falcons , i still have my 1991 Ford EB falcon wheres the bickies at??? lol
The V3000 looks like what we called a Mitsubishi Magna in Aus but it didn't have that grill, yeah it was FWD & available with a 3 litre V6.
The second V3000 is exactly like a later Australian Mitsubishi Magna.
In the early 1980s in New Zealand traffic cops were a separate department to police. One time I got pulled over driving unlicenced by the police but was let go because they didn't have jurisdiction of the traffic cops 😂
makes you wonder why they pulled you lol
That’s awesome 😂
check out the Leyland P76 way ahead of its time
Until the windscreens cracked, and Leyland went bankrupt...
The first generation mitsi v3000 were very fast cars- fastest in the police fleet at the time. The Commodores were preferred to the Falcons as they generally had fewer engine issues and now they have Skodas which have their own issues with high maintenance costs. Good video - I would love to see some Dodge Chargers down here though...
Interesting, I was wondering how the Skodas were going...
First video of yours I've ever stumbled upon. What a nice surprise. Love your comments that are all well spoken and positive. So many channels are just a whole lot of criticism.
Thanks. (From your newest subscriber!)
The Mitsubishi Sigma V3000 MOT Car was a 3 Litre V6 with 147 HP - The Traffic Safety Service and were part of the Ministry of Transport, not the NZ Police. Back in 1992 the TSS began to be integrated with the police
They were also manufactured in New Zealand at that time, which probably played a part in their selection as a police car to feed the local economy.
@@Dug6666666 Oh yeah my dad had a work car Sigma because of that I think.
Late 70s-1988 Commodores were quite a bit smaller than Kingswoods or the VN Commodore onward.
Owned an ex New South Wales Highway Patrol XD 351ci with single rail box.
4 wheel discs, sports seats & tacho dash.
Had a set of Hurricane headers, HEI & modified Carter carby.
That thing used to friggin hammer along & held its own in the late 90's/ early 00's when JDM's started rolling in
I worked for the sign writer that did the decals on cop cars in NZ from 1996-2015
I remember my friends dad was a cop in Palmerston nth NZ and drove the mitsi v3000 and he also had a MOT motorcycle too/he used to give me a ride home and i had to keep low in the back seat as they weren't allowed to just use it as a personal vehicle lol
The Mitsubishi pictured was a Magna in Australia and was pretty popular for many years
A relative of mine had a Magna & I have to say it just kept going. It was passed along to lots of young family members as cars were upgraded, everyone had a stint in it 😂😂 Finally sold to a friend & was still going until they got rid of it a couple of years ago. The acceleration in that thing was unreal!
There's been a lots of emergencies in New Zealand over the years! Model T, one of our old neighbours had one! The Holden FC, looks very Australian! 👍 The Ltd looks very American! Some look like the ones in James Bond movies and "Blues Brothers"! Prisoner Transport vans! Good that the mostly Black has been changed! The Falcon wagon looked same as Australia - "Homicide", "Division 4"! More trade with Asia here I guess! Feminine looking Commodore! 🤭 Crewman, fishing gear in the back! They can drive to get lunch and drive back with the siren on! Yes, Red for emergency!! More sleek and fast! 😂👍
My grandma bought a ford Falcon au ex police car back in 2001. On the speedometer it went 20km faster than civilian cars. Obviously they would have put a limit on that and we never tested it's top speed but it was unique. Still have it now with over 300,000km on it.
A lot of the station wagons and base models had speed limiters, but most of the XR6 and XR8 sport models achieved 220-240 kph when tested by automotive journalists. They can do it, but it won't be like driving a Mercedes or BMW at that speed.
If her car has OPT20 stamped on the plate with car info under the bonnent its got a few factory upgrades to make them suit traveling at very high speeds. I had a opt20 police car at one stage. Not many were sold to NZ for use as police cars.
That Leyland Sherpa at 6:34, also known as a Freight Rover 400 and an LDV later on. I had the 3.5 litre V8 petrol manual riot van version in the UK with a rare manual gearbox. Had some police stuff still fitted like an Eberspacher diesel heater, extractor fan, plexiglass windows, thick custom made steel grille with blue light cutouts and deadlocks. Went like stink. I converted it to live in. Unfortunately it only did around 8-12 miles per gallon and I couldn't afford to run it with UK petrol prices in the early 1990s! Miss that van!
holden captiva is known as the craptiva in australia they were plagued with even more reliability issues than usual for a gm product. the last thing holden needed was even more warranty claims and court cases. a lot of people blame the craptiva for holdens demise but in reality it was just another nail in the coffin.
That's pommy cars for you... Heh heh
Captiva was a Opel product.
@@alastairdow4400 you'll find all holdens after the 70's are some other manufacturers car.
@@alastairdow4400 Nope. :) It was a GM South Korea (ie. Daewoo) product, where Daewoo's shitty design team were handicapped even further by being forced to design the Captiva off of the old 2nd generation Saturn Vue. So it was a real actual parts bin special. Even GM knew it was crap from the outset which is why, in the US, it only allowed to be sold to fleet buyers and wasn't available for retail sale through dealers
My sister has a Captiva, and it's actually pretty decent.
now we have the Škoda Superb as newest one nz police has short video on it there YT
A ute's full name is "Coupé Utility" which is a two door car or wagon based vehicle with integrated tray. There are also some that are not intedgrated but still based on a car platform like the Holden one tonner ute and Ford equivalent.
To me...any Hilux or Triton type vehicle is a truck because it's not car based...and it's not a coupé.
The Falcon alloys, were known as snowflake design.
I think used firstly in gold on the XE ESP pack ( European Sports Pack ), from about 1982.
The red/orange version with the Scheel seats and 5.8 litre V8 and manual, I still think is one of Australia's best ever cars.
This was when Ford Australia stopped V8 production until reintroducing them again for the all new EA.
The last batch were sold to the Italian sports car company: De Tomaso
i know the golden snowflake colour
I love the ol EH Holden and the premier...if you see ANY of these cars on our roads now the reaction is always..."whoa...man that's nice". 👍
@IWrocker, in the late 1970's early 1980's my Aunt had an all white ex Kingswood Police car. At the time her son, my cousin was a St. John's Ambulance member, and he would sometimes leave his hat in the car. I used to like wearing it while we were going out. The number of drivers and pedestrians who would suddenly be roadwise was funny to watch. 😂
@mateIwrockers0 Fake Account.
The black and white ones were MOT (ministry of transport) the traffic cops only dealt with transport issues but were later incorporated into the police.
The last Black and White that I saw in Police 'use' (as a fully restored MOT Commodore, complete with the big MOT Coat of Arms badge on the doors) was at the Police depot at Ellerslie, next to the Southern motorway, just sth of Greenlane on ramp, c2015.
@@kenwatkins7097 i picked up about 25 of the mot emblem stickers 2 x door ones and the rest are the motorcycle small ones at a garage sales of a guy from the government workshops in Christchurch
What you called a Ute is actually called a Panel van nicknamed a ‘shaggin’ wagon’ because of what sometimes went on in the back! Utes or Utility vehicles started out on farms used for all purpose farm work and had no top on the back.
The V3000 was a 'special unit' - Motorway Pursuit Vehicle. The Utes were (and are) K9 units. The Yellow Vs Orange Vs Reds were Regular Police/Highway Patrol/Heavy Traffic. Crewman were 'community response' vehicles and could have basic anti-riot and emergency gear; Rodeo's were rural units because 4WD; Steelies were on patrol and hi-speed vehicles because the rubber is cheaper and the wheels perform better at high speeds; Alloys were on 'community' cars - for PR visits etc; vans are anti-riot; Captiva's had Traffic Control gear along with Civil Response (emergency supplies, etc)
1965 Vauxhall PB. 3.3, litre, straight six and the last of the PB's. I had a bright white one in the late 60's. and stood out like a marshmellow But it could really go like the clappers. Best and fastest car I ever owned. The traffic cops, in Invercargill, who did traffic offenses only, were different than the 'police' also used the PB'.s. I needed something that could give them a run for my money. Invercargill cop 'Smithie', was way too smart and I found I couldn't outrun a police radio.
Good show..... loads of memories there for me now in Chicago. Tx.
Missing from this list is a 1980's Mk V Ford Cortina 2 Litre OHC.
I owned one [bought from a Govt Auction, complete with flashing lights in the grille although the siren was taken out.]
In it's day it was all black with white doors and white roof.
The guys in the Govt workshops just brush-painted the white, black when I got it.
So the Holden Utes are dog units and the double cab utes are normally either commercial Investigation units ( Truck police ) or a Raul based officer.
Utes were usually based off the wagon chassis. Which led to many questions why ford dropped the wagon range with the FG and FGX models yet still produced Utes
Falcon wagon, all the car anyone could ever need. Fits an inflated air mattress or a full-sized fridge in the back, tows a trailer like there's nothing there. RTV lift kit and LSD if you need to go on dirt or hard sand. RIP Falcon 😥
Over here in NZ and Australia, the ECU when the Holden police cars were around were the best made and programmed for use in cars. So if you manage to buy a decommissioned Holden Commodore, they don't replace the ECU
SWEET VID MAN , UR EXPLANATION OF WHAT MAKES A TRUCK A TRUCK VS A UTE TOTTALLY MAKES SENSE . THE MITSI V3000 HAD A REPUTATION FOR BEING FAST AS LOL
So the second Mitsubishi is known in the UK as still a Sigma
Mitsubishi's luxury arm, called Diamante had hardtop versions and more better styling.
This car in Australia was the second generation Magna, based off the Diamante not the Galant. Still had 2.6 astron four but also now a 3.0 litre V6, which became I think more popular. We also did a wagon.
When I was in the NZ Police we had the Holden Commodores, everything had the 3.8 or similar V6 engines. Plus we had Ford Falcons as well with the straight 6, 4.0litre or thereabouts engines. The old Ministry of Transport had some V8 Ford Cortina’s and Ford Falcons, but they never came across to the Police. The Mitsubishi V3000’s were all front wheel drive 3 litre V6’s. Great cars in a pursuit with heaps of grunt, but too heavy in the nose and prone to under steer because they were essentially beefed up Sigmas or Diamantés. The Fords and Holdens come with up spec alternator’s to drive all the electrics, beefed up suspension and some we managed to get up spec chips in the computers. We also had Subaru Legacy’s with AWD, including turbo models. Pretty much Police have used many different vehicles from different manufacturers, like Toyota’s, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Ford, Holden, VW, Skoda, as well as others, and now they’re bringing in BMW EV’s.
When I was busted in 1990's Christchurch for not giving address I was driven thru the back of cop shop. I saw all the differentials hanging on wall in garage which amazed me.
I later found this was due to cold wind outs which destroyed diffs. I think if using Amsoil gear oils it wouldn't had happened.
12:35 I forgot about that AU wreck!
This used to be in the suburb of Avondale, in Auckland, outside a wreckers yard in plain view of everyone driving along Rosebank Rd.
A few years before, the wrecker had allegedly had a run in with the police, so he'd buy the written off police vehicles and display them on top of a shipping container in plain view of passing traffic on the North-Western Motorway. This was in the mid-late 90s.
He later moved further up the road to 705 Rosebank Rd - opposite the Gull station, and that old AU was on top of that container for a number of years in the early 2000s.
A quick look on Google Street view shows the wreck was still up there in 2009 but gone by 2012.
Is that the pick a part off rose bank road you’re talking about? Never knew that
@@levibeatson3247 No a Ford wrecker that was opposite the Gull by the roundabout. Pick A Part was by the motorway.
Probably long gone now.. I left Auckland about 12 years ago
Most of the utes were k9 or delta units. Holdens came in a standard, an "S" model and an "SS" model ( and then there were club sport models, GST models, a Maloo model for the ute as well as others). The 4wd trucks were mostly rural
My mother owns a ex 1992 eb ford falcon police car and she loves the car she's had it since 2004 . Definitely one of the best cars I've driven ever
back in the days, the Mitsi v3000 were used by ex "Traffic Cops" (at that time only dealt with Traffic related offenses) eventually they were combined with the "NZ Police" so only 1 entity enforced the law,
I owned the 1975 HQ Holden Kingswood, it was the same age as me, and I got it when I was 21. It looked a little different, it had trident mags with fats on the back and smaller thinner tires on the front, which gave it a mean profile, and was gun metal gray . Powered by a straight six, 202 red, 3.3 litre with lumpy cam, chrome extractors and twin Weber carburetor. It handled like a boat, took a bit to get up to speed, but was always a very cool ride, although a bit of a workout when going slow with the small WILDCAT steering wheel, it was super fun on the open road at speed. And you could literally swing a cat in there it was so spacious, you could easily fit four on the back seat, although I had racing seats in the front, it originally came out with a bench seat front and back, handbrake between the door and driver seat, and three on a tree column shift, and the very cool headlight dipper peddle switch. Man I do miss that car.
Very interesting review of the police vehicles,but as an aside I found it interesting that there was a picture of one of the buses (1527) that I used to drive (being an ex bus driver of 35yrs) at 3:49.. P.S. Back around the mid 60s to the 80s you could tell which was an undercover car by the plate number,I think the police would take in a batch of cars to get them registered at the same time and would get consecutive plate numbers,it used to be a running joke with us to pick them out.
Mr Croaky voice. Great reaction to these. You picked up the finer points of the models immediately.
The Mitsubishi is basically a Galant, and is what Mitsubishi Australia based it's new car on, after retiring the Sigma, which really is a Galant as well. We called ours, the Magna.
Only with the 2.6 4 cyl astron engine.
We actually made the car wider and did our own wagon.
Did have a V6 too
@@Alberthoward3right9up our first Magna here in Australia had no V6. But the model afterwards, code named TR, did - 3.0 litre. Next series, dumped the Astron and replaced it with a 2.4 new, more efficient 4 cyl. The 3.0 litre six became so popular, that they then cancelled the four as well.
The luxury version, we called a Verada, got a 3.5 V6.
Later on this was also offered on the base models. Such a good engine and much more fuel efficient than the commodores and falcons of the time, along with the 5 speed auto. It too was so popular that they got rid of the 3.0 litre and just had the 3.5.
This remained until, the Magna finished and they did the 380 as a swan song, modified from the US.
3.8 litre V6 with either 5 speed auto or manual. Very nice, but lost it's fuel advantage. Bigger than commodores 3.6 V6.
They also last long. Still many on Australian roads - set a benchmark in Australia for refinement and crash safety and efficiency.
Sorry, did any come with AWD ?
We were in NZ in 1988
Absolutely adore NZ and kiwis.
I car for the North Island was a Galant - base model - but really good. Much better than the Nissan bluebird ? and the front wheel drive Corona
@@adrianmclean9195 I don't think it did in that model in Australia. And funny you mention it. I have a 94 bluebird and it's an awesome car. Better than there rear wheel drive rust heaps
We have a mix up happening. Lol. I'm talking about the magna later on in the video sorry. The fatter shape. Not the one that was also badged the Holden Apollo sorry. And your probably right with the above longer comment. I was talking about the TR TS model magna in the video.
Most of the cars are the same as Australia, but in Australia after 1980 a police car could be any colour.
My father was a cop way back in the day and he drove a Holden panel van as he was a dog handler. He then drove a Holden kingswood. I can still remember the smell lol
That Ford Laser is a twin to the Mazda 323. Ford's connection to Mazda in the Pacific, meant that when the rear drive escort finished, we didn't go with the new FWD escort, rather developed together with Mazda the new FWD Laser.
BUT
the wagons were rear wheel drive and had stronger bodies, I think.
I their lifetime, there were also TX-3's, with AWD and turbos.
My first car was a '55 Humber Supersnipe. Had to hand crank it in the mornings. Back in the day we didn't stop for Ford Cortinas or HQ Holden Kingswoods. They were slow as.
Police special squads (versions of your SWAT) used Range Rover/Land Rovers/Nissan Patrols and Toyota Landcruisers. A special pursuit squad used the V10 M5 BMW's. Some M-spec BMW's still used
The “trucks” you mention we call utes (short for utility vehicle). They are often used by dog handler officers. But the ones that are bigger 4WD are for rural areas to better cope with conditions off main highways. The buses are for formal confirmation roadside breath testing, (once you’ve failed the handheld one), we call them booze buses 🤣 (although they don’t look like that model). We also various models of police motorcycles.
At 5:56, it says 1992 ford falcon. That's actually a ~ 1984 XF Falcon.
1984 XF Falcon Utility, yet produced until 1993! The old body style utes continued to be manufactured for years after the new EA sedans/wagons were released. The same thing happened with the Holden Ute, it took several years after VT for the VU Ute to replace the VS Ute!
@@thekiwicanuck Thanks for that. I thought they stopped making them prior to the 90's.
Mitsy V6 V3000 pissed all over the standard V8s at the time. With the lighter over all weight and the better handling, it was hard to get away from these Jappa cars. Trust me, I've tried. Most police cars in NZ have a bit of work done to them before they reach service, chipped motors and performance breaks etc. The breaking ability of the police cars is usually what gave them the advantage in chases. The Skoda Superbs that they have gone to now are made by VW and are surprisingly quick for the size of the motors, easily get over 250km/h and fairly quickly too. I've had to upgrade my motor bike to keep ahead of them. Cheers for the vid bro.
NZs only homemade production car is a Trekka. The cop cars were either Brirish or later Australian.
Couple of things Ian, the crewman dual cab had a half chassis and removable tub/bed. Was powered by 3.6 V6 or 5.7 V8, mostly auto's manuals were dying out by then. Was also available as a RWD or an AWD, plus as a HSV think was called an avalanche. The Chevrolet SS, could be super sport or super sedan, sports car for the family man, you know like you.
I remember reading the original review in "motor" magazine for the Avalanche. I remember they had to use a smaller v8 than the normal full siz HSV unit as they simply could not find a way to fit the 4wd system in with the full size unit. A 4wd HSV. Almost as cool as that special edition 427 they made as a prototype only I think.
The later model Commodores are two different trim levels, the ones with steel rims are an entry level Commodore whilst the ones with alloys are the sport model. Entry level was used by regular cops whilst the up spec ones are highway patrol/pursuit cars.
We live up on a hill in NZ, about half a km from a highway down below it, and the new led light bars reflect off of our house
the craptiva as we called them here was originally buit by daewoo from korea
@mateIwrockers0 hi ian good to hear from you please excuse my type o's from time to time
My sister has one. It's actually pretty nice.
When i was growing up in central otago new zealand in the 90's and 2000's . My town had (fully marked police cars) Mitsubishi v3000 (early 90's model), subaru legacy rs (bf model) two commodores and on unmarked c32 nissan cefiro. Been in back of all them too!!!
Another Nz car at the time of the quickest police holdens was a twin turbo, 4 wheel drive Subaru legacy.
It was the only car I can remember being able to outperform the holdens. Although I’m sure there were others.
When the falcons were chosen a friend of mine got abridge ported Rx3 with a 5 speed box and it could leave the old Falcons in its dust.
That's a Colorado - if body on frame, classed here in Australia as a "commercial" vehicle, I think.
I've had most of these vehicles. The Mitsubishi V3000 was a traffic police car. Black and White was traffic only and they merged the MOT(Ministry of Transport) & Police together. I also had a 1987 Ford Fairmont XE ex police car.
NZ cops are using Skodas now as their primary fleet vehicle so the Commodores are on the way out. They have also just started a trial of the BMW i4 fully electric. Bought 5 of them I think to trial around the country.
That 88 Mitsubishi V3000 looks a lot like my 83 Galant Super Saloon. Mine is a 1.8 liter front wheel drive. I still use it as my daily driver. Very comfortable and easy to drive. I prefer it to newer cars.
Yes, front wheel drive. Sigma was rear drive. The six, was 3 litre and a V6. Theirs could have been AWD , from the Galant VR4 rally car.
Watch the movie 'Good pie pork pie' the original. Haven't seen the remake yet 🙄
You will love it. A twisted Kiwi movie 😂😂
The original is far superior. Remake doesn't have the heart/soul of original.
@@almostyummymummy Agree. The original was the non-PC version.
We've got Skoda Superb's now
5:55 this is what you would call a pannelvan. Its like a ute, but the top is built into the body of the car and is open from behind the front seats into the back. its like a cross breed of a van and a ute in one. Holden and ford had these for quite a few years, i think from the 70s into the 90s in the Commodores and Falcons. Holden had one that was named/released as a Sandman. Very hard to find a real one these days and if you do you better have some deep pockets.
Oh and truck vs ute... you might have to convince all of Australia and New Zealand that its called a truck, we still call them a ute. I consider American ones trucks, just due to there over all size in comparison to any Japanese/Australian Brand.
From the 90s onwards our nz cop cars have usually been distinguishable between highway patrol, regular police and detective car purely by steel or aluminium wheels…
Back when the regular police had the V3000 out highway patrol had the turbo four cylinder misty sigma
NZ Police has now moved to Skodas.
Sadly... Would've been nice to see something a little more interesting as the replacement. Aus has BMWs, Chryslers, Dodge's, etc.
I don't think Chrysler 300s send the right message. They're cops, not rappers.
First off great vid bro, Born and raised NZ seen many a cop car in my day. My old man Drag races a VY ute using rear rims from a police car as they are steel but wider. Keep up the good vids bro 🤗
As a kiwi myself, appreciate this video of the classic, 80s baby 90s kid, new zealand born n bred.
We also had a couple of S14 200sx/Silvias in the waikato (middle of north Island NZ) as police chase vehicles for a year or two, and they used lightly modded honda EK civic sedans etc as camera cars on Boy-racer undercover sting ops - to combat underground street racing. Also Mazda 6 unmarked cars, and I saw a subaru outback in the central plateau region too.
ya missed out the late 50's early 60's vauxhall PA's with fins and the big curved windshield painted black, they looked real cool, the PB Vaux in your vid paled in comparison to these finned spaceships.
The 80's movie 'goodbye pork pie' has lotsa grey HQ Holdens,. they're my fav.
The first V3000 Mitsubishi, only came out to the public as an automatic and the police cars were a 5 speed manual
Ford had a factory in Manukau ,Auckland where the cars were made. It closed down in the 90’s.
our local cop in the 80s drove a XD falcon MOT car that packed a 302 under the hood and manual trans
The Utes (Utility vehicles) will be K9 - dog handler units.
Holden and Chevy Captiva (Pronounced cap_tee-va) was made by Daewoo in Korea.
The red and blue Highway patrol cars are rumored to have drivers who are allowed to pursue chases upto speeds of 200km +
The early Consul is a English Ford which was a 4 cylinder motor they also had the Zephyr 6cyl motor . The Holden ute with the high canopy on the back was refered toas a Paddywaggon . Used for transporting prisoners around in . The ute that was fitted out in the back was used for transporting the police dogs around in .
7:03 I bought one at the car auction still with the lights (deactivated) and stickers still on it in 2002😅 Visited my friend ,what a laugh
ooohhh i have never heard the distinguishment between a ute and a truck before I rate it. Unfortunately we have switched to skodas in nz and they definitely don't have the wow factor anymore.
The Skodas are better cars. Hence why so many other countries also use them as police vehicles. They're great value, and built to a much higher standard than anything from the US or Australia.
My brother in-law is a kiwi, he had a nz cop car (83 VH commodore, from memory it was a V8, not sure if that was standard or not). That thing was a beast, scary to drive though. Ex cop cars are a lot of fun.
v8 option , 253 or cops would of had 308s , for sure
Two cop car stories from my time growing up.
There WAS the occasion some boozed up individual taking part in the Undie 500 (get a car for under 500 dollars, do it up, drive 400km from Christchurch to Dunedin, get mad roaring drunk with the Otago students, drive back the next day) decided to do up a Nissan Sunny as a police car. The quality of the work was so good that when it got to Dunedin it was immediately impounded, because they didn't stop to think that maybe pretending to be a policeman on a weekend known for an increase in police presence due to drunken students was a bad idea.
Also, the term we used for unmarked cop cars was "mufti cars". Mufti days were days that school kids were allowed to go to school in something other than uniform, thus a cop car without it's livery was a mufti car. In my era, they were exclusively the Commodores, and by god they could go. The main highway going South cut through South Dunedin on a raised embankment next to the train lines, and at night, the entirety of South Dunedin could see it if a police car blasted down there up to 100 miles per hour.
Glad you like our cop cars. They use holdens still!
they missed the subaru rs , that was also a police car, for non city regions, like towns in winding roads
I’ve owned a vt commodore, which is the 1998 one from that video, and currently own a 2014 vf commodore, probably the same as your Chevy ss
Yeah my grandparents had an HQ Holden and Kingswood. My uncle a premier, and my father a 4 door monaro that ran on cng gas.
I spent a day as a 5year old with an uncle in Auckland whom owned drove a 72 Chrysler Valiant with a 265 Hemi 4spd actually a Hemi Pacer, He done an armed robbery with me sitting in the back seat of it, we got chased by 2cops in HQ Holdens for 45mins around devonport on Aucklands north shore, he even led them past my grandmothers house his mum, sounding his horn and telling me to wave to Nan, as we flew past , the cops never stood a chance at catching us in a Valiant..!!! But they did get him. I ended up bying to Hemi pacers in my 20s I love MoPars from aussie Valiants to Plymouth superbirds Dodge Daytonas Imperials furys Belvederes it's a MoPar or no car for me.👌well I got a Nissan aswell, and a Toyota Aristo 2Jz-gte.