Hunting down criminals in a high-powered police car is something all petrolheads – fed on a diet of Traffic Cops, Motorway Cops, Police Interceptors and many more – have fancied giving a go, but what would make the ultimate police car? That's the question that was left rolling about in our heads after earlier this week, we reported on the Lamborghini Urus donated to Italian police. The Urus stars here, as does a host of other illustrious metal, but you'll also find stalwarts of policing like Volvo's T5 and Mitsubishi’s Evo. Here's our rundown of the world's most excellent cop cars.
The ten coolest cop cars in the world
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1. Lamborghini Urus Performante
As we reported earlier this week, Lamborghini has supplied Italian police with an Urus Performante used for fast response and organ transplant deliveries.
While the idea of a Lamborghini police car might sound dubious, the Urus's combination of a practical backseat, huge boot, and outrageous performance makes it an ideal candidate for police duties. As well as the cool paint job, lights and sirens, this car features a gun cabinet, defibrillator and fridge for transporting organs.
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2. Ford Escort RS Cosworth
Back in the 1990s, the Ford Escort RS Cosworth's mix of turbocharged power, four-wheel drive grip and rallying pedigree meant few cars could catch it cross country – car enthusiasts loved it; unfortunately, so did crims looking to make a quick getaway. Police rarely saw more than a picnic bench rear wing as the fast Ford disappeared into the darkness.
How to beat them? Join them, of course, which is why the Humberside Police Vehicle Crime Unit – and others like it – were equipped with Cosworths with the sole purpose of ending high-speed pursuits.
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3. Lotus Evora
While the majority of the cars on this list are working police cars, others, like this Lotus Evora, fulfil a PR role, increasing community engagement and raising awareness in road safety. The threat of the boys in blue tooling around in a Lotus would be enough to put some off speeding, we're sure.
This Evora, a GT410 Sport, capable of 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds and a 186mph top speed, was loaned to Devon and Cornwall Police for a year in 2021.
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4. Ford RS200
The Ford RS200 is the greatest rally car that, as Group B spiralled out of control, barely got to rally – but it was around long enough to feature in this iconic (and staged) picture of it liveried-up and preying on a Sierra RS Cosworth.
The RS200 brought the idea of a blue-collar performance car to levels even a Cosworth couldn't compete. It boasted a mid-mounted engine that, in rally spec, produced more than double the Cossy's horsepower, courtesy of a dustbin-lid-sized turbo. Four-wheel drive and a mid-mounted engine meant immense traction was all part of the package. It was a thoroughbred rally car you could buy and use on the road.
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5. Lamborghini Huracan
While we sensible Brits use police-liveried supercars merely for show, when the Italian police get handed a supercar, be in no doubt – they use it.
Huracans, as you can see, replaced the forces' fleet of ageing Gallardos. Like the Urus, they're primarily used for the fast delivery of organ transplants, a role it's mighty good at. Back in 2020, a Huracan police car clocked an average speed of 150mph transporting an organ from Rome in the south of Italy to Padua in the north.
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6. Mitsubishi Evo X
The Ford Escort RS Cosworth showed how devastatingly effective rally cars could be in law enforcement, and the Mitsubishi Evo X is the Cosworth's spiritual successor.
Police loved the Evo so much that they used three generations of the car, culminating in the Evo X you see here. The Evo's A-to-B performance meant high-speed chases ended before they got started (on the sight of an Evo, most hoods new capture was inevitable, giving up on the spot), and four-wheel drive meant they could be conducted in relative safety. Factor in the Evo's rugged build and relative practicality and it's easy to see why police loved them.
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7. Bugatti Veyron
If you want something to be done bigger and better, head to Dubai, home of the Bugatti Veyron police car. Given Dubai's famous love of excess, you may be surprised to learn the Veyron isn't an active police car; it heads up a fleet of police supercars – that includes Bentleys, Aston Martins and McLarens – that spearhead the Dubai police's PR drive for road safety.
Nevertheless, that hasn't stopped the UAE's Bugatti from scooping the Guinness World Record for the planet's fastest police car – with a 253mph top speed. The Veyron beat the previous record holder, the Italian police's Lamborghini Gallardo.
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8. Volvo T5
The Volvo 850 T5 estate is the least glamorous car on this list but is possibly the best police car. The Volvo's unexceptional appearance meant it could blend into the scenery, stalking its prey from a distance before using its turbocharged five-cylinder to hunt them into submission. Its back seat was roomy enough for burley officers, and its boot had plenty of space for the tools of a traffic officer's trade.
More than anything, the T5s were durable, regularly clocking up 200,000 miles during their two-year stints on the force, without the overheating issues suffered by the BMWs they replaced.
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9. Holden Commodore
It's not just American cops that love V8-powered police cars; until recently, Australian bobbies ran a fleet of V8-powered Holden Commodores – practical enough for policing but quick enough to catch crims (hoons) in similarly high-powered Holdens.
The Commodores were so effective, Aussie cops rue the day they sold them; apparently, their BMW replacement's batteries can't handle the demands of the police-issue two emergency-band radios, CB radio, number-plate recognition and, naturally, the flashing lights and siren.
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10. Porsche 911 Targa
German police are famed for stalking the Autobahn with a fleet of Porsche 911s, but it is the Dutch that can claim to have the largest historic Porsche police fleet in the world – having run a mixture of 356s, 914s, 924s and 964s up until 1996.
The 964s proved popular thanks to their impressive performance and famed durability. Still, one factor made them particularly interesting – they were all Targas, allowing the Rijkspolitie (the Netherlands elite national guard) to direct traffic while standing in their cars.
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