Nov 12: There's a new sheriff in town

There's a new sheriff in town. But first, let's say a sad good-bye to our late sheriff (or state or provincial or city police car), the beloved Ford Crown Victoria. The supreme ruler and enforcement vehicle of almost every city, county, province, state or federal police agency for almost 20 years. Not particularly fast, but cumbersome and with average handling, it seemed that the Crown Vic's only positive attributes were its size and reliability. Maybe that's all it had going for it. But's its shape came to mean cop car, so when you saw it, you'd better walk right.

Things change and as I noted in an earlier blog, there are a new crop of police spec sedans trying to fill the CV's shoes (or tires). But what I've also noted is how many agencies are now replacing the Crown Vic and other sedans with suvs. Now this doesn't mean, that the police "car" is going by the wayside, but I see a lot more usage of vehicles like this Tahoe, the original police spec sport utility, meant for patrol or pursuit........

New York State Police unit

Rear wheel drive, lots of room and with a high performance V8, the Tahoe in the late '90's replaced the very much loved and extremely competent Caprice (widely considered to be the best police car ever). So over the past few years, the use of these trucks for routine patrol duty has gone from nothing to quite common. Now everyone wants in on the action........

City police Dodge Durango

But the suv that seems to be giving the Tahoe a real run for its money is the new Ford Explorer. Even my city of Toronto has added them to its patrol fleet. I think you'll have to admit, that they are a great looking police truck........

Typical police Explorer

Toronto Explorer courtesy of PoliceCanada.ca

Quick enough, but with tons of room inside, one can see that these suvs make a good replacement for the Crown Vic or many other sedans. And as far as size goes, even the biggest of them, the Tahoe, is 10" or 25 cms shorter. Don't believe me? Look it up.

So shortly there'll be a new sheriff in town with the intro of the 2015 Tahoe police version.......

Think that this business isn't very important to the car companies? Then why was such a fuss made when Chevy showed this new truck last week at the much publicized SEMA Show? I believe that they sold more Tahoe police trucks, than they did the last Impala. And for 2014 the Tahoe is all they sell.

So things change over the years and we'll see more changes in the near future, because now there's a new sheriff in town.

Until next time......