Thanks to John Prescott Jaguar may be more closely associated with Fat Cat culture than The Thin Blue Line (geddit?) but that wasn't always the case.
In days of old, when PHers were bold and the Gatso hadn't been invented, motorists 'pressing on' would not have been surprised to see a Jaguar jam sandwich filling up the rear view mirror.
Now traffic offenders in the Midlands will once again be able to feel their hearts swelling with national pride as they're busted by the latest addition to the Central Motorway Police Group fleet. (Even if the ugly Battenberg livery in use today means their new XF Diesel S doesn't look half as good as it could have with classic red-on-white racing stripes.) Nonetheless, hats off to the boys in blue for their improving taste, although Jaguar tell us it's really a combination of class-leading economy and excellent residuals that has seen the XF get onto police fleet wish-lists.
As well as the 275PS 3.0-litre Diesel S engine, the Police-spec XF gets a roof mounted light bar (with 3600 blue flashing lights) and integrated side-alley lights, blue and white flashing LED lights inside the front grille, side-mounted blue flashing LED lights, blue and red flashing LED lights integrated in the rear light clusters and a Home Office-specification electronics 'Police pack' that powers a full suite of electronic equipment. (That's a lot of lights!)
Wouldn't it be nice if this was the first of many new Jaguar patrol cars to be seen on our roads? What could be a surer sign of a return to the 'intelligent policing' we're all crying out for, instead of the 'dumb enforcement' imposed on us by the Highways Agency and so-called 'Safety Partnerships'. Ooh, don't get us started...