Here in the States, we have our historical cop cars: the Chevrolet Caprice 9C1, the Ford Crown Victoria P71, the Dodge and Plymouth 440-powered Pursuits, and more. In England, they have this: the Rover 3500. To some, it might be better remembered as the Rover SD1, one of the last true Rovers before British Leyland really went the way of the dodo and the brand became nothing more than Hondas with British build quality. The 3.5L V8, originally introduced as the Buick 215 back in the early 1960s, was the natural engine of choice for the department who wanted to rule the road, and the 125 mph top speed was theoretically more than sufficient to catch even the wildest speeder out on the motorways…or so the police would claim. While the cars, nicknamed “jam sandwiches” due to the white with orange stripe paint job, weren’t known for their quality or reliability, it was still a fast V8-powered saloon that the cops felt like showing off. This footage is from the West Midlands Police, which surprisingly enough, is where the Rover/British Leyland factories were situated. The car itself was a product of it’s times and did it’s job, but the voiceover that goes along with it raises the nerves on the back of our neck. Is it the disco-tastic music in the background or the voiceover that is more unsettling?
My Brother had a US version of one these and it hauled ass …