cleveland police Traffic car, Vauxhall senator, l899 hpy, In Restoration, preservation and service.

 The MK2 Vauxhall Senator was one of the most popular Traffic patrol cars ever used by the UK Police. It was an ideal motorway car with a 3.0i, straight-six, 24v motor that produced 204 bhp, giving a genuine 150 mph performance with a 0—62 mph time of 6.9 seconds.

The Senator was built in Germany but to UK Special Vehicle Operations Police specification.

This meant that the body shell was the lower grade CDi body with no sunroof fitted, basic interior trim levels with “Kendal” cloth seats rather than leather & steel wheels rather than alloys. SVO upgrades included improved brakes, Carlton GSi low cut suspension & manual window winders. Items like air conditioning & cruise control were deleted. 

The purchase price for the Police market was considerably reduced from £27,000 to £14,910 a standard practice of manufacturers.   

The Senator was certainly very fast but did suffer from poor build quality and were rather suspect in the wet. Nonetheless they are regarded by many Police officers who drove them as one of the best patrol cars ever and they have fond memories of them.

It was replaced by the Vauxhall Omega in 1996. This particular vehicle was in service with Cleveland Police from 1993 to around 1996 and was one of the last Police spec Senators to be produced before the advent of the Omega.  It is believed that this car was based either in Middlesborough or Hartlepool but little else is known of its history.

In terms of mileage its actually quite low because after the car was retired from Cleveland Police it spent the next few years in the Ministry of Defence Police collection in Essex. The current owner purchased the car from the MDP Museum in 2017.  

The car is exactly as it was when in service with all the correct kit including a Whelan Edge light bar with take down lights and side projecting alley lights. There are additional blue strobes in the grill, wig-wag head lights and fog lamps, tri-sound siren with junction clearing electric buzzer and p.a system. A calibrated speedo and VASCAR are also fitted.