We’ve just received a very interesting request from our good friend Davie Kerr for our collective opinions about the best and the worst-liked Traffic patrol cars we’ve had in Bermuda.  Dave explains his reason for seeking the opinions of our ExPo members:- 

I’ve searched through our photo collection and realized that we have photos going back all the way to  our very first police car, seen below together with our then entire Police fleet of 4 motor vehicles in 1946. I suspect that none of our members will be ancient enough to provide us with a critique on any of these vehicles, but if you can assist in identifying the make of the other three vehicles in the 2^nd photo it would be much appreciated.

police car, a Dodge Sedan purchased second-hand for the Commissioner of Police in 1946

Apart from the Dodge Sedan can anyone identify the other three "motor vehicles"?  As a matter of information, the wooden structure at top right is a dog kennel for stray dogs.

P.C. Robert “Bob” Railton outside Hamilton Police Station

Remember the days when we used to have vehicle inspections at the Traffic Department?  

We are keen to obtain the opinions of anyone who worked in Traffic or as duty drivers or Divisional drivers.  Our first thought was to ask our good friend retired Inspector Roger Kendall for his professional opinion as a former head of the Police Driving School and as a very experienced traffic patrol driver.  Here’s what we received from Roger:-

BEST AND WORST BERMUDA POLICE CARS

I agree with Davy, one of the best cars must be the Mark Two Ford Cortina GT. It was the ideal size for Bermuda’s roads and performance wise for traffic at the time when it was used for chasing speeders or transporting prisoners.

Then came the two Datsun’s, the 160J, a little too small and not as well on handling and performance as the next one, which was the 180B, with the bigger engine, but a bit too big for our roads.

A certain Senior Officer at HQ looked over the balcony at the cars parked below and saw a Hillman Avenger GT and said we should get some for traffic. I believe we got four and what a big mistake that was. Talk about being underpowered, even a souped up Mobylette could outrun it. Not much room for prisoners in the back seat and I could go on and on. 

They were eventually used for Courtesy Patrols when the first Policewomen joined traffic, (Tracy Armstrong, Coralie Trott, Cathy Every and Marg Amos). These ladies were tasked with giving praises for safe driving/riding or issuing warnings for traffic offences. One car was even used by Garry Murrell for the Diplomatic mail runs, as that is all it was fit for, so this easily has to be the worst traffic car.

Then came the Mitsubishi Lancers, four models in all. Like its predecessors, Japanese cars were all ideal as Bermuda traffic cars, because of their size, handling, and performance. The last of these four was, of course, the Turbo, what a pocket rocket.

  Driving School Instructors Roger Kendall and Charlie Mooney with their 

Seven turbo cars came to the Island, some of the others were Nissans (a rebranding of Datsun’s). The turbo unit requires constant lubrication by oil, and this led to the demise by Civilian users who drove them hard using the turbo, only to switch the engine off (so no oil circulation) which disintegrated the turbo unit. The Police were aware of this issue and had to make sure the car came out of turbo mode before switching off the engine, when responding to emergencies or chases etc. The Government quickly amended the law to outlaw any more turbo cars coming to the Island, by changing the power to weight ratios allowed on new cars (turbo trucks were not affected by this).

Also purchased in the same period were the Morris Marina TC’s. A British Layland product that used up all the left-over parts from other discontinued models. The TC had an MGB engine which was nice and various other steering, suspension, and brake parts, not the best thing for a police car. 

Traffic was restricted by the only models coming into the Island, and we even tried a Rover, and a Toyota Corolla, but neither were up to par. Even the Audi and BMW which were brought in for the AFO’s but did not last long. The final car was the Subaru Impreza, one of the safest cars to be used for high-speed work, but that too, did not last long.

Then like the United States, Bermuda changed from patrol cars to SUV’s. What a mistake this has turned out to be. First came the Jeep Patriots and the Chevrolet Trax, both of which spent more time in the repair garage than on the road. The SsangYong continues to be used, but not the best, as spare parts are not always available. Finally, the KIA, which is the best of the four SUVs, is being used by our AFO team.” 

Roger also supplied us with these brilliant photos of the following patrol cars in use during his time in Traffic:-

 Roger and Rover patrol car

Nowadays, police rarely chase speeders in cars, as radar and now laser speed checks have taken over with the police bikes doing the chasing." 

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The photo below was taken of our good friend Sgt Mike Burke when he was 2 IC Traffic and shows the Traffic garage as it looked when most of us were serving in Traffic

 

Sgt Mike Burke in the Traffic Yard

 

We would be delighted to hear from you all about your personal preferences; which in your opinion were a joy to drive – and which were lemons! And please feel free to send us your photos of cars you drove while serving here in Bermuda

I know most of our readers have difficulty using our comments column, so if you want to share your opinion and your photos, you can submit them to us via email at info@expobermuda.com  or post it on our Facebook page at  https://www.facebook.com/BDAExPolice/   If you are sending photos can you please send them in JPEG format and in the highest resolution possible.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Charlie Mooney