Carbon Motors

Although this police car looks like a Chrysler 300, it's not. It's a Carbon Motors Corp. E7, the first ever car built just for police applications. The company, which is based in Indiana, doesn't have the funding or the orders necessary yet for real production (they've got 13,000 orders so far), but they're getting closer.

Carbon points out that while many municipal vehicles -- fire engines, postal trucks, ambulances -- are purpose-built, police cars haven't been.

It's got a number of novel features that the big three don't offer -- and since Ford is ceasing production of the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor soon, the company has a chance.

It's powered by a BMW 3-liter twin-turbo V6 diesel that produces about 250hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. It'll do 0-60 in 6.5 seconds and get better mileage than the Crown Victoria (about 28-30 mpg).

Its suicide doors open wide to make putting people in the back easier. There's no light-bar on the roof -- all flashing lights are integrated into the body of the car. Its size is deceptive in the photos: although it's slightly shorter than the Crown Victoria, it's just as wide and six inches higher. And as the photo below shows, the back seats are easy to clean.



According to the New York Times, while Ford is ending the Crown Victoria's long run, it's still trying to stay in the running for police contracts with a modified all-wheel-drive Ford Taurus SHO (a 365hp turbo V6 that does 0-60 in 5.7 seconds).

Dodge's Charger is already in use as a police cruiser, and Chevy is pitching a rebadged Pontiac G8, an Austrialian-built car that was only sold in the U.S. for two years. They'd be calling it a Caprice this time around, a reference to another old police cruiser favorite. The Caprice has a big 6-liter 355hp V8.