Sometime in the 1970s, as far as I can recall, several police forces were offered former Police Mobile Column vehicles as they were thought suitable for conversion to Forward Command Vehicles. Hertfordshire Constabulary acquired an ex military Bedford RL 4 wheel drive lorry, registration UGY 828F and put it to use for that purpose. It ...
Read more Hertfordshire Constabulary Ford Fiesta patrol car.
Read more In 1977 Ford brought out the Mark II Granada. Hertfordshire Police had never used the Mark 1 version, although several other forces had. Several of of the new cars with a 2.8i V6 engine were purchased from 1978 onwards and this Mark II model proved to be a very popular and reliable workhorse. I drove all ...
Read more Traffic Patrol vehicle – Ford Sierra index H146HNM pictured at Police Headquarters.
Read more Ford Transit van and Trailer – index number SHO680P
Read more In the early days of the M1 Motorway, Hertfordshire Constabulary patrolled our section with white Ford Zephyr Mark 2 Farnham Estate Cars. The first two, bought late in 1959, were distinctly registered 2000 AR and 2001 AR. These were replaced a couple of years later with two more, 3111 RO and 6400 RO. In the snowy ...
Read more Following the initial batch of Ford Zephyr Mark II motorway cars, the next one to appear was this 1963 Ford Zephyr Six Mark III, registration 475 PJH. There may well have been others of the same model in the fleet but I am personally only aware of this one which I photographed from the bedroom ...
Read more Around 1970, the Force purchased a small number of Hillman Hunter Area Cars. They were not in widespread use throughout the Force area, so I am very grateful to Robin Bracey for sending me this photograph of one of them, which I understand was based at St Albans.
Read more In 1964, many of the earlier Austins were replaced as Traffic Cars by the Humber Super Snipe Estate Car for both main road and motorway use. These cars had a 2965cc six cylinder engine and automatic transmission. They were a big roomy car but a bit roly poly on corners. The car had a bench ...
Read more Isuzu car transporter seen here fully loaded in the rear yard of the now demolished Rickmansworth Police Station.
Read more In 1967, Hertfordshire bought a number of Jaguar 340 saloons for traffic patrol. These were a development of the well known Mark 2 Jaguar but were a ‘stop gap’ model, pending the arrival of the Jaguar XJ6 late in 1968. Using the Mark 2 body shell and mechanical parts, the 340 for police use lacked some ...
Read more A black Jaguar Mark VII, registration PAR 421 was purchased by the Constabulary in 1953 for use as a chief officers’ staff car. After a number of years, it was approaching time for replacement but had a relatively low mileage. It was decided to give it an extra lease of life before sale, so it ...
Read more Introduced around 1999, this was the first Armoured Vehicle owned by Hertfordshire Police, an ex-RUC vehicle. (Photo courtesy of Duncan Grieves)
Read more The second Armoured Land Rover owned by Hertfordshire Police, with significantly improved performance, equipment and upgraded livery. Used as a containment vehicle and carried up to 8 AFOs, including driver / Observer. Seen here on duty at Luton Airport.
Read more Rural Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team Land Rover, index OY52YPJ.
Read more In service in Hertfordshire Constabulary in 2001 for about 12 months. Soon replaced by the Ford S-Max amongst other vehicles due to short service intervals, cost and low ride height.
Read more Mystery surrounds the identity of this car!
Read more In 1958, I joined Hertfordshire Constabulary as a Police Cadet stationed at Watford. For part of my time there I was attached to the Traffic Office in the corner of the yard and sometimes found myself washing patrol cars. In the days when almost all police cars were black, there was a unique Area Car ...
Read more In 1970, Land Rover brought out the Range Rover – a sturdy 3.5 V8 4×4 vehicle – and were keen to show it off to police forces. For a few days, Hertfordshire had a demonstrator on test and I was asked, together with John (Ozzy) Thorne and a few others, to see what we thought ...
Read more I had been studying the history of Hertfordshire police cars for many years and was not aware that the force had ever used Rileys. However, in 2015 I was sent some photos by Jean Campkin, the widow of the late PC Ron Petts showing Ron with some police cars. One of them shows a Riley ...
Read more In the early 1970’s, after a brief and unsuccessful excursion with some Vauxhall Traffic Cars – the Victor fitted with the 3.3 litre Ventora engine – the force took on the Rover model P6 as its standard Traffic Car. Powered by a 3.5 litre V8 engine, the first ones had automatic transmission, but by 1972 ...
Read more Following a successful run with the earlier version of the Rover V8 (codenamed the P6 model) , the company brought out a new model in 1976, codenamed the SD1. This car still retained the 3500cc V8 engine, which originated from an American Buick engine, but had a completely redesign body. It was a bulkier car ...
Read more This luxury vehicle was a Headquarters Staff Car, seen here flying the penant of the Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire. The car was based on the Austin A110/Wolseley 6/110 but fitted with a 3.9 litre Rolls Royce engine and automatic gearbox. This vehicle was later used by the Driving School and I drove it on my ...
Read more Vauxhall Astra, General Purpose (‘GP’ or ‘Golf’) patrol vehicle, index L337KGS introduced to Hertfordshire Constabulary in 1993. In a range of models, the Astra is still seen in service in 2021. This early version at Hitchin Police Station featuring a single blue lamp, only recently introduced to ‘Golf’ cars and the Police/Stop box light on ...
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