http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/n ... 6522299721
IT has a supercharged engine but this ultra-powerful highway patrol car will spend most of its time attracting revheads instead of chasing them.
The limited-edition Falcon GT is the fastest car built by Ford Australia and has all the latest technology to catch high-speed crooks.
But it will be used as a public awareness vehicle at events across the state in a bid to break down barriers with car enthusiasts.
Senior Sergeant Mark Stevens, who took the car to its first meeting with revheads at Sydney Dragway at Eastern Creek on Wednesday night, said he and his colleagues were unsure of the reaction they would get.
"I was a bit apprehensive at first and so were the guys, I think," Sen-Sgt Stevens said.
"But once people came up and started asking about the car, it was all good."
The first outing appeared to be a success - someone at the event posted a photo of the police car on Facebook, which attracted 67 comments in half an hour.
At the track, it quickly drew a crowd. Ford fans Brett Luland from Wyee and Nick Vardakos from Cronulla were among the admirers.
"It isn't fair. It has too much power I reckon," Mr Vardakos, the owner of a Falcon XR8 ute, joked.
"They should be allowed to race it," said Mr Luland, who owns an almost identical Falcon GT bearing the number plates "CanFry".
Police traffic technology commander Inspector John Lipman said the new police car was "a conversation starter".
"It's about interacting with car enthusiasts and having a similar vehicle to what they would have or what they might aspire to," he said.
"Its also about having rev-heads realise what technology police have and hopefully encourage them to stay within the law."
Fully loaded with the latest radar unit, number plate-reading technology and a suite of onboard computers, the police GT Falcon is worth in excess of $100,000, about $70,000 of which was for the car alone. It was funded by the Motor Accidents Authority.
After two years the car will be displayed in the police museum. The car is build number 150 of the latest limited edition Falcon GTs to commemorate the NSW Police 150th anniversary.
The standard Falcon GT has 335kW of power but this one has 400kW after it was upgraded with a bigger exhaust.
