ODDDOOD

iTrader: (3)

Sorry if this is a repost! I promise I searched...

http://jalopnik.com/5230928/lapd-to-...yline=true&s=x
By Ray Wert, 10:30 AM on Tue Apr 28 2009, 15,162 views (Edit post, Set to draft, Slurp)

Starting with the LAPD, up to 40,000 Chevrolet-badged Commodore police vehicles could be exported annually in a deal to replace Pontiac G8 volume lost by GM killing Pontiac. A re-badged Commodore police car? Sweet.

This after the folks at Melbourne's National Safety Agency put together the above LAPD-liveried Chevy-badged Commodore for the 2009 APCO Australasia Conference & Exhibition last month in Sydney. The expectation is the LAPD would be the first police force to buy the new vehicle, with more exports potentially going to Canada, the UK and the Middle East.

Here's what the Aussies at GoAuto have to say about the potential plan. A plan, which, by the way, we wholeheartedly support:

"...a plan to supply hi-tech Australian-made patrol cars to US law enforcement agencies – led by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) – could be joined by lucrative police vehicle exports to Canada, the UK and the Middle East.

And while the prospects of reviving plans to sell the Holden Ute in the US as a GMC continue to exist, it is understood the now-defunct Commodore-based Pontiac G8 has a good chance of morphing into a full-time Chevrolet model for US public consumption.

In an ironic twist, if green-lighted, the police project could see Holden's Commodore effectively replace Ford's aged Crown Victoria as the vehicle of choice for many US police departments, which require large, V8-powered rear-drive sedans.

The Crown Victoria, which was discontinued from public sale in 2008 and will be phased out of production for US fleet customers next year, has long been touted as Ford Australia's most obvious US export opportunity for the Falcon.

Some US police departments have already adopted Dodge's new Charger, but the Crown Victoria still attracts 60,000 annual sales for Ford, representing a potentially massive export opportunity for Holden.

Officially, Holden remains cautious about spruiking the prospects of sending Commodores to the US as part of a police vehicle export program, but national media relations manager Scott Whiffin admitted to GoAuto this week that a Pontiac G8-based LAPD prototype produced by Port Melbourne-based National Safety Agency (NSA) has "enormous" potential.

2SeeKU

iTrader: (1)

Wow.. Every second car on the road here in Australia is a commodore (it's even worse for some reason when you own one!), and now they'll be exporting them!

Thanks for the info.

Oh, and this is what our cop cars look like:









Unfortunately we have 4 or 5 unmarked ones similar to the one above in my area...

alfy28

those look pretty cool. this is the front facia that chevy should be using.

Transam kid 01

iTrader: (1)

Nice. Looks like they might keep the one good car from Pontiac and some money from PDs should help gm a bit

zoom44

idk if ford would start building the Interceptor a a replacement for the CrownVic




thatd be a tough choice for the PDs to make-

which would you rather be pulled over by? the Commodore or the Interceptor?

mscamp02

iTrader: (3)

I hope they do this....it would still give hopes of me owning one down the road as a main drive car

ODDDOOD

iTrader: (3)

^+1

I still own an old '94 caprice with the LT1 painted blue's brother style. I hated when they quit making the rwd caprice/impala in '96.

I've been drooling over the Holden's since then. I almost jumped on the GTO bandwagon back in '04 when I got the RX8...Luckily I chose right.

However, I would love to own a new Chevy Impala SS/(whatever they call it) for the family grocery getter.

alfy28

ill take the commodore. Interceptor looks like something that RoboCop would drive.

MyRXdrug

I gotta say... the Pontiac G8 looks a lot more badass than the Commodore.

mscamp02

iTrader: (3)

^
+1

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

i wouldnt mind being pulled over by the g8.

YaXMaNGTO

That's bad ***.

And honestly, I don't think the G8 looks better than the Commodore...

2SeeKU

iTrader: (1)

G8 looks alright actually.

Here's the clubsport, which is basically a commodore with a bodykit and interior upgrade:




Here's a question to you guys, this is our ford falcon, is it rebadged in usa?

ODDDOOD

iTrader: (3)

Not that I'm aware of...someone else correct me if I'm wrong but I'm not aware of any rwd sedans that Ford makes that remotely resembles the Falcon.

I really like that clupsport version of the Commodore!

Do they still make the HSV versions of the Commodore down there?

zoom44

no we dont have any cars in the US on the falcon platform what is that called AG or something like that?

zoom44

ah so the new platform is FG. what i read is there will be a new global full size platform from either US or Au which will underpin any future US Ford and Aussie Ford (or for that matter European) large rwd cars. so the next Falcon will ride on this new (possibly US designed) global platform

MyRXdrug

The G8 is an aggressive looking vehicle with it's air ducts on the front hood, while the Commodore looks a little 90's to me.

Steiner

My God I'll never understand why manufacturers limit cars to certain markets.

ASH8

Actually the LAPD cars are really the Holden Statesman, they are after the Longer Wheelbase version of the Commodore (G8) (aka Holden Statesman).

And Ford Australia do not make any LHD Vehicle for Export.

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

maybe the ford falcon platform will be used for the new ford taurus?