Check this out, Dubai Police! The UK police force – the Central Motorway Group in the Midlands, to be precise – has equipped its officers with a brand-new McLaren 12C patrol car. And unlike the Arabs, they are going to put it to good use. It’s not just for showing off.
Mind you, the McLaren probably won’t be used for high-speed chases, as it is very valuable – £240,000 valuable. But, according to PC Angus Nairn, it is a good ice-breaker between the police and people, so they can deliver health and safety messages. Not exactly the sort of service you’d normally expect from a 200 miles an hour supercar.
“The car breaks the ice and gives us the opportunity to get across the safety message – especially about the dangers of excess speed,” said Narin.
Unveiled at the Autosport International 2014 in Birmingham, the McLaren 12C police car is, oddly enough, a Spider with a folding hardtop. The officers won’t be enjoying much in the way of alfresco motoring though, as the there is a lights bar on the roof. Apart from that and the police livery, the 12C is a standard car with a 3.8 liter twin-turbo V8 engine developing 620 horsepower. It goes from 0 to 60 mph in under 3 seconds and can reach a top speed of 207 mph.
UK police has always been criticized for their rubbish diesel-powered hatchback patrol cars that are so slow they are useless in a chase, or so expensive the officers are reluctant to give chase in the first place, fearing they might wreck the car. The McLaren won’t change any of that, but at least it improves the image a bit.
via DailyMail
