NSW Cops turn 150 years old !

Martin place, Sydney – 20th November, 2012: Martin Place in the Sydney CBD was host to a birthday celebration with a little bit of a difference.

Today marks 150 years since our boys in blue, the NSW/Sydney police force began and since they first took a ride in what ever police transportation was available at the time !

That was most likely a horse ! And in celebrating that momentous milestone, there were almost 2,000 horses in total power terms between the 3 Ford and Ford Performance super cars and 2 super bikes on display !

First on display was an original 1971 Ford XY patrol car, very sheepishly labeled as a “Falcon 500”. Whilst most Falcon 500’s of the day were 250ci/4.1ltr 6 cylinder’s, the Police pursuit vehicle was powered by `Cleveland’ 351ci/5.8ltr, 4 valve engine matched to an FMX auto gearbox and a 9″ diff ! That’s the same drive train the carried most GT’s to endless race victories of the day, including the Bathurst Phase III’s (although they had a 4-spd manual `Top Loader’ gearbox and of course the characteristic `shaker’ air scoop cut through the bonnet). The only giveaway to this sleeper’s power and glory, besides the rumble on idle, was the dual exhaust pipes at the rear and the GT bonnet clamps on the front. If you ever came across one of these bad boys in the day, you knew they meant business. And if you were able to get close enough along side one to see the interior, you’d see the additional speedo mounted by the console that went to 240kph – as if the standard 220kph wasn’t enough !

Along side the XY classic, was a modern FPV F6 highway patrol car. Known as the `V8 killer’, the performance of the F6 is well known in most automotive circles and the car has top end street credibility with it’s high performance 6 cylinder engine and performance figures that rival most V8’s.

Sitting quietly at the other end of the field though, is a very pleasant surprise .. most FPV enthusiasts will no doubt first notice the R-Spec markings and branding of the FPV GT. Although the first series RSpec GT was recently released in Black with red stripes and highlights, this second (and final) edition, is White with black stripes and accents.

What makes this car particularly special though, is that the engine – usually standard GT335 spec on all RSpec models – has been given some extra special attention on this Police Highway Patrol version.

This is a BOSS400 version, which relates to the Kw output measured at the wheels of this beast, ie 400Kw … at the WHEELS !

In actual fact, the NSW Police spokesperson on the scene, mentioned that the car recently made 406Kw in a recent dyno test (that’s 545Hp for the old school mechanics!)

Our friendly police officer also mentioned that this particular vehicle can only be driven by 4 officers who have received special training on how to handle the power and traction outputs.

“Even with traction control turned on”, he said, “the car is very slippery at the rear tyres as it transfers power to the road .. especially in the wet!”

As testament to the incredible Miami BOSS engine that powers these FPV beasts, the only modifications that lift the standard 335Kw GT to 400Kw, was the replacement of the original supercharger pulley with a much larger one and a remap of the computer. Ofcourse the red K&N air filter makes a difference .. because it’s red !

As a special promotion, the BOSS400 will be driven by Ford Bathurst legend and V8 SuperCars star Dick Johnson at the Telstra 500 finale of the V8 Supercars in Homebush between the 29th November and 2nd December this year. That event will be the final Ford vs Holden battle as Nissan and Mercedes prepare to enter the series from next year’s season.

This particular car is Build # 150 R-Spec also commemorative of the celebration at hand.

There two bikes on display, were a Honda and a BMW version of the 1,000cc Superbike series.

Today also marked the 30th anniversary of the  Random Breath Test (RBT) program !

Happy Birthday NSW Police!

More info on the 150th anniversary of Policing is available here: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/about_us/150th_anniversary

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