A Cadillac Escalade (newer) doing a police detail on a major highway (crew was using an excavator along the side of the road). The Escalade had the full blues- top of the windshield, inside the grill, headlights and taillights wig-wagging.
Do police ever outfit their personal cars with lights like that? I mean, I can’t imagine the local PD spent that kind of money on an unmarked cruiser.
This was on Route 1 north of Boston. No other police cars were present to indicate if he was local or state.
I don’t know if you’re in Milwaukee, but there is this:
Bottom line: interesting cars get seized in the course of arrests all the time. Some of the more interesting ones get refurbed as police vehicles and put into service.
Googling “seized car converted for police use” turns up lots of interesting examples.
In the 1930’s, rumrunners in powerful cars were outrunning the Detroit police department. The Ford Motor Company made a special Lincoln Police car with a “hotter” engine and better brakes.
In the 1980’s, when the Ford Motor Company wanted to test airbags in real-world conditions, they made fleet of airbag-equipped Lincoln Town Cars - and leased them to the local police department.
DARE cars. They used to line them up at various community functions and they’d all been repainted, badged and lightbars installed just like regular Crown Vics. Used to piss me off something terrible. Asset forfeiture is legalized robbery.