Well, that’s it, I’m done for. It’s a fair cop. Turns out smuggling narcotics, manufacturing fake ¥3000 notes and leaving sushi restaurants without paying the check are all illegal in this country. Who knew? I’ll come straight with you, officer. Lead the way. Oh, we’re going by car? Goodie! Let me just take a couple photos, if I could.
No, it’s just that I write these posts about cars for a website. I’m sure they would be curious about Japanese police cars. What kind of car is it? Crown, eh? Nice one! Fit for a king, that. What kind of engine you got in that thing? The 2.5 litre V6? Well, that’s very modest of you…
I mean, why not go for a bigger engine, like they do in the US. Oh, this is a patrol car, not a highway cruiser, I see. Well at least it’s not one of those kei vans. This is the S200, right? The 13th generation, wow. And it’s a facelift model, so made between early 2010 and late 2012. What, I can’t take a photo of the back? No matter, I’ll just find one on the web. Take cover when the bamboo shoots!
Love the interior of this Crown, officer. I must say, you guys and gals know how to turn a luxury saloon into a padded cell with style. That vinyl seat material is reminiscent of what can be found in certain taxis, if I’m not mistaken. Hard-wearing stuff. Move out of the way? But why?
What, I can’t pretend to be a hardened criminal any longer? Oh, this lady wants to take a picture of her toddler in the driver’s seat. Isn’t that special. Ok, fine, I’ll get out. Nice to see that you allow people to photograph your cruisers and even sit inside – without handcuffs – when there’s a weekend market on.
Pity, I was about to offer you a bribe for a quick test drive, preferably with the siren on. How would ¥3000 sound? No? How about ¥6000, then? Just joking, of course. I’ll get my coat and, as some of your foreign colleagues rightly say, please disperse. Nothing to see here.
I wonder how the lights flash on the front. They almost look like Oakland Country Sheriff’s cars, with two little red lights on the spot. When they flash, I always think of railway crossings. ( like in the picture )
Livery wise, American influence is relatively obvious in a black and white fashion ( and license plate dimension )
This nationwide black-and-white livery has been unchanged since at least the 1960s. It was used on Nissan Fairlady Z as well as air-cooled Porsche 911
Quite an arresting machine!
Many online videos of these Crown cruisers in action escorting the emperor/empress all over Japan.
The police radio equipment seems to be jury-rigged, and not very neatly. Normally the Japanese fit things together MUCH better than Americans, but this is an exception.
I like it! You had me looking up Japanese police sirens, and they remind me somewhat of police sirens from the US and Canada from the 1960s and 70s. A very authentic retro sound, I find very appealing. All Tokyo needs now are some electric-powered early 70s AMC Matador squad cars.
Compare the Tokyo siren to the late 60s NYPD Plymouth Fury from “The Seven Ups” (1973) chase scene. Starts at 5:10:
Well, that was fun too watch! Definitely true about the siren. And it seems that the concept of low-profile light bars doesn’t carry much appeal in Japan, either.
Love it! I miss those sirens.
I like the unmarked cars’ flip-up panel in the roof for the light, but I can’t imagine why they custom-cut a hole rather than developing a universal drop-in one for a factory sunroof car.
I’ve just started watching the Ukrainian TV comedy series “Servant of the People” On Netflix, starring the current actual president Zelensky, as a school teacher who becomes president. A great show, relevant in many ways to today’s current events. But, most surprising was seeing 3rd gen Toyota Prius police cars in the show, and a quick search showed that the Prius is indeed far and away the most common police car in Ukraine. Are there any Prius patrol cars used in Japan?
Toyota Prius police cars were tried out near where I live (not Japan!) with much approval from the Green contingent. Unfortunately they lacked the characteristics that make for a POLICE car…ruggedness, durability, stamina, more than speed and handling. As they ran up time in the repair shop they were soon set aside and relegated to civilian City runabout service, replaced by Dodge Chargers.
Never seen a Prius in black and white livery here, no. I don’t think a Prius would cut it as a police vehicle for the reasons outlined by G.Poon above.
I did ask about whether they used hybrid Crowns, which have existed for a while now. They said they don’t. Must be something in their regulations.
Here in the NY Metro area, I see Prius taxicabs all the time, they run them pretty hard from what I can see. While they are not police cars, they have similar 24 hour duty, stop and go city driving, numerous potholes and constant use of the rear seat.
Oh, they have Prius taxis in Japan too. But not police cars. I think it’s not so much about the durability and more about the reliability. Prius taxis also make sense from a fuel economy perspective, which is not a #1 priority for the police.
Also the Crown is RWD, which I’m pretty sure counts in its favour for police use. They have smaller kei class FWD police cars too, but for other purposes. Big cruisers are necessarily RWD.
That’s nonsense, the Prius is incredibly reliable; one of the, if not the, most reliable cars made, and have been used for hundreds of thousands of miles as taxis.
The only reason they would be unsuitable for police work would be if they were required for pursuits.
In fact, I would say the main unique operating requirement of police cars is lots of excessive idling, something the Prius would excel at.
The info I found said that there are 1500 Prius police cars in Ukraine, far more than any other model and they’ve been in service since 2015. I found another article comparing performance and interior volume with the Charger and Explorer Interceptor and it seems adequate for urban use, especially given that many municipalities avoid high-speed chases anyway. And the silent, emission-free idling seems like a huge benefit. I think image (plus Japanese origin) is the main obstacle in the US. Once Ford gets the hybrid police car business up to speed, I think hybrid patrol cars will be everywhere. But not as cool as black and white Crowns.
It looks like a perfectly serviceable vehicle for Godzilla to toss around during his next rampage.
I loved the picture where the lady is letting her kid get into the car. With the open door the lettering on the side makes it look like the Japanese take lice very seriously. 🙂
My initial thought when seeing the lead picture – so this is what happens when you lurk around strangers’ cars taking pictures of the insides when you are in Japan.
Baffled why Toyota abandoned the larg-ish RWD market in Aus years ago. This looks like a decent car, if a bit plain. The Cressida (Mk2 X80) had a really solid audience who greatly – and rightly – whined and pined when it departed in ’92. There’d surely still be a healthy little niche for one of these, and with the Toyota Premium* tm, large wads of profitable mark-up. Even our coppers, now deprived of Falcons and Commodes, might squish themselves into a few.
Instead of the appropriate grinning groan, I got a good outright laugh from “Take cover when the bamboo shoots”, btw.
*the small print in Toyota pricing has long read “Toyota Premium, definition: We’re Toyota, nothing we have ever made has ever broken in the history of ever, so pay up or fuck off. Note: also applies to used items.”
Vaguely familiar to anyone living in or visiting Israel (in a shrunken sort of way).