Can Police signs be on show on Classic Cop cars

[sapy]

I have a Sunbeam Tiger which was a very racey Police Car back in the 60's. It is almost restored and I have been told I can use it on the road with the Bell on front as this is not longer Police issue. However I believe it had a POLICE sign on the boot like a nuber plate above the rear no. plate. Does anyone know the rules on Police signage? Although the car is fast enough to give many motorists a suprise, they would have to be a bit daft to think its a current cop car

[V8RX7]

Very much depends on the Officer IME

Dad had several USA police cars - which were black and white with Sheriff on the side.

He was stopped several times and warned about having a blue light on the roof - eventually he had a cover made.

We led the car procession around Coventry and were asked to turn the lights on - it was a closed road event - we even had one cop tell us to turn them off.

[neutral 3]

Sergeant George Wilson was the lucky regular driver of this Tiger.
And as for the rear sign, Go for it !
If you get tugged ( which is highly unlikely ) plead ignorance !
And photos please , I Love the Tiger, can't believe I've never owned one !

Edited by neutral 3 on Saturday 26th January 01:00

[neutral 3]

Another superb shot! Alpines or Tigers

[davhill]

I've a few things from memory that may be worth Googling.

The TV series 'Heartbeat' had a Minor 1000 Panda car in full livery. The whole of the Whitby area and inland
can't have been a closed set.

The Lakeland Motor Museum has a genuine police Sunbeam Tiger.

I saw (at York Historic Vehicle Rally) a Rover SD1 in 'Jam Butty' livery, comeplete
with light-up police box-type sign on the back.

In Custom Car magazine in the '70s, a U.S. police car produced by customiser
Al LLewellyn was featured. In think it was a Chevrolet and Al checked with Los Angeles
Police Dept before doing the signage.
It had 'Police' on it, and 'A.L.P.D.' (for Al Llwewllyn's Paint Dept!)

HTH

[DickyC]

Talking to the owner of a 1960's Police Mini Cooper S at Beaulieu he said he contacted the Police areas he would drive through on his way to a show to alert them. Sometimes, as a result of this, he would be stopped by officers on duty who just wanted to have a look at the car.

[sapy]

Thanks for all the informative replies. Just found them in my Junk email
I have attached a couple of photos of my car when it was used for the press release outside New Scotland Yard and on Westminster.

[Stephanie Plum]

I recall seeing a load of classic police cars getting on the ferry one time in France on their way home from an event - they had covers over the lights, but that's all.

[sapy]

Photo in Westmister

[RZ1]

A mate of mine had an ex prop car, an E39 5 series which was used in the Bill.
He was stopped a number of times and was told to cover the light bar, even though it was not functional.
He also got told to cover the police signs and remove some of the battenburgh(?)

[sapy]

Fair comment but I think a Beemer is rather more likely to be mistaken for a Police car than a 60's Tiger. I am having it rebuilt to Police spec., but with more power and much wider Minilte wheels

[hilly10]

Pictures when it’s done

[john2443]

I suspect that the law says 'thou shalt not drive a car with police or blue lights', it's unlikely that it also says 'unless it's old enough that only an idiot would think it's real'

So it's how high the risk is of getting nicked that's the question!

Actually, if plod used Morris Minors with ANPR and speed cameras they'd nick lots of people because no one would believe they were real!

[996Type]

A touch of frost was filmed at my old works HQ and as it shot over such a long period, it was quite common to arrive at work and see the place dressed as Denton Police with a lot of squad cars outside and actors milling around dressed as BIB.

I recall there was a permit requirement and also they were obliged to contact the police when filming but they forgot once early on a Sunday for a big outdoor scene, that was a little dramatic.

Someone reported a load of police were jumping out of cars etc, so the real ones somehow heard of this, shot down wondering what was going on in their area and it all got pretty elevated as the real ones confronted the pretend ones.

Sorry to digress but think it’s permit and notifications you need which may be OK for TV but maybe not allowed if your just driving around for a hobby.

[neutral 3]

sapy said:

Photo in Westmister

Superb shots!
Do you know more about its use ? who drove it ? And how long it was in service for ?
Sure I read that any Plod who wanted to drive their Tigers had to under go a driving test in a Tiger @ Hendon ?
There is an ex Police car club, a few years ago I had an ultra scarce ex Leicester Plod 2 door Range Rover that I should have kept !

And as for the sign, it's no SD1 / 528i / 3.0S / Rover 820 Jam Sandwich, so a sign on the boot lid of a Tiger, is hardly going to get helicopters and armed Plod chasing one.

Edited by neutral 3 on Thursday 31st January 10:08

[Jukebag]

The "you'd have to be abit daft to think it's a current cop car" bit made me laugh. Sadly some people will think it's a real police car.

Ahh the days when we had proper police cars as well as proper police who did their jobs properly, unlike the hi viz clothed, tasers at the ready, body armour (becoming more common now with all this terrorism propaganda) cocky, thuggish prats we have today who get their 15 minutes of fame from being on Bodycam Squad.

I remember seeing a classic police car in black and white (can't remember what make but may've been a Ford) with "POLICE" across the side of the door at a local classic meet, though one half of the name was missing. I presume they removed half the lettering in case they got pulled over for it. To think that the police once used MGAs (my town's police used them in the 60s) and other sporting classics as their police vehicles is somewhat hard to imagine.

[Dapster]

I was at a the Emergency Services Vehicles day at Brooklands last summer ( https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/whats-on/emergenc... ) and at the end of the day I could see the exhibitors just covering up the blue lights. Later in the afternoon I passed a few on the M3 - all had their blue lights under cover and most if not all, still retained their full livery. The average motorist could have easily mistaken anything post mid 80's as a legitimate police car.

Edited by Dapster on Thursday 31st January 10:51

[neutral 3]

Jukebag said:

The "you'd have to be abit daft to think it's a current cop car" bit made me laugh. Sadly some people will think it's a real police car.

Ahh the days when we had proper police cars as well as proper police who did their jobs properly, unlike the hi viz clothed, tasers at the ready, body armour (becoming more common now with all this terrorism propaganda) cocky, thuggish prats we have today who get their 15 minutes of fame from being on Bodycam Squad.

I remember seeing a classic police car in black and white (can't remember what make but may've been a Ford) with "POLICE" across the side of the door at a local classic meet, though one half of the name was missing. I presume they removed half the lettering in case they got pulled over for it. To think that the police once used MGAs (my town's police used them in the 60s) and other sporting classics as their police vehicles is somewhat hard to imagine.

Agreed ! I can still see in my minds eye that blue 2500S Triumph pulling out of that side rd in Nth Chingford and giving chase, as myself and another loon in our MK 1 3 Litre Capris roared past them, the other Capri was trying to get past me on the inside on the pave ment lol.
Plus the blue 3500 Rover that chased and cought me on my push bike and the white 240 Jag parked up on the Ridgeway in Chingford.

[Labradorofperception]

There is a story about an SD1 in full livery from the Met Police Heritage collection being used by a Met Sergeant as part of a PR exercise at Hillingdon back in 2010.

He got a call over his personal radio about a burglary underway, close to where he was. He duly jumped in the car, put the blues on, rocked up and nicked the bad lads- the full Tony Stamp.

[Dr Jekyll]

996Type said:

A touch of frost was filmed at my old works HQ and as it shot over such a long period, it was quite common to arrive at work and see the place dressed as Denton Police with a lot of squad cars outside and actors milling around dressed as BIB.

I recall there was a permit requirement and also they were obliged to contact the police when filming but they forgot once early on a Sunday for a big outdoor scene, that was a little dramatic.

Someone reported a load of police were jumping out of cars etc, so the real ones somehow heard of this, shot down wondering what was going on in their area and it all got pretty elevated as the real ones confronted the pretend ones.

Sorry to digress but think it’s permit and notifications you need which may be OK for TV but maybe not allowed if your just driving around for a hobby.

There is that story of some navvies digging a road up who were warned that some students dressed up as police for their colleges drama club were going round the town pretending to be real coppers and making a nuisance of themselves, Meanwhile the police had been told that students dressed as navvies were digging the road up...……….