Police look to Jaguar for high-speed fleet -
October 2009
Inspector Morse was famed for his, and now a policeman near you could be driving a Jaguar.
Police forces have been testing Jaguar’s widely acclaimed XF as a potential recruit to their high-speed chase units. The 3.0 litre twin-turbo diesel produces 271bhp and will hit 60 in less the six seconds, all while providing the piloting officer with a comfortable environment in which to spend a long shift and enough space to carry the vast amounts of kit a modern patrol car requires.
Plus, the big cat also makes sense financially for our boys in blue. Not only does the XF return very respectable fuel economy figures, according to EurtotaxGlass’s – publisher of Glass’s Guide – it is also holding its value more than any other car in its class, retaining 80% of its value after one year.
While it may be not quite as glamorous as the 193mph Lamborghini Gallardo used by the Italian police to patrol the Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway outside Rome, or the Porsche 911s favoured by German autobahn patrol units, it is great to see the UK following our European neighbours’ habit of buying home-manufactured police vehicles.