Way back in the 80s I was 2 up on my Z1000 on an empty M5 clocking about a ton. The weather was warm and dry and I could see a good mile ahead when a police Rover SD1 came alongside I glanced across to see an officer wagging his finger at me with a big grin on his face. I immediately shut the throttle and slowed to 70 expecting them to pull me over and give me a ticket. But they didn’t they just kept going. To this day I consider myself v lucky. Im guessing the officers were in good moods and seeing the road and weather conditions as well as my riding a then new bike they gave me a break. 😊👍
They had common sense and realised you were only causing any danger to yourself. Although a lot of the time. New bike means new rider. Do I might have tugged you and given you a warning and enquired about experience
@ at the time I had been riding for around 4 years. I carried on riding until 07 when a Ford Focus pulled out on me from a side road and I could not avoid it. Broke 3 vertebrae and both arms at the shoulders the GSX1400 I was riding was written off. She said to the police she didn’t see me but heard me and to the ambulance crew that she saw me but didn’t hear me. If either words were true it still didn’t explain why she pulled out. Oh and she told the police I was doing 80 but the investigating officer said from his assessment I was doing 30. She was from Nigeria had no insurance or UK licence and the car was her boyfriend’s. He had let her borrow it to go see a friend or relative. That was the only serious accident I had in riding for 27 years. I did take up riding again a few years back but nerve damage from the accident meant I don’t enjoy it as much so I’m selling my bike 😔. Over the years I never got a speeding ticket on a bike and only had 1 encounter with a police officer I would say was negative. In my experience British police officers are usually ok as long as you treat them with respect. All the best 👍
I love it when a working vehicle, like a police car, survives the years and is preserved like this. They’ve got a story to tell and feels like it’s earned its retirement!
What you referred to as "your force ops" is the "Stirling Automotive Met-Sound", the electronic generator for the siren system. These were able to produce three different siren sounds at two volume levels, as well as a P.A system, hence the microphone. The radio in the centre is called a main set. It was connected to Information Room at New Scotland yard via channels 1-4 for Area Cars (attached to police stations) and 11-13 for "Oscar" (Traffic units. like this vehicle).The remaining channels were used for car-to-car messages and events such as demonstrations. I expect that things are all done very differently now!
Hi Ben, I'm retired West Yorks Fire. When I was at Halifax in the 70s/80s and early 90s we ended up with those Dragon lights and nobody wanted to use them because they would just conk out then you had to carry the bloody things. They could have been used instead of the big red key they were so heavy. good old days my friend. Stay safe, cheers Paul Williams.
Yey, great to have you back, again! I'll just reiterate my point that we need to get back to proper policing. With the SD1, Series 1 Range Rover, and original Ford Transit.
I’m well happy to see you making another video Ben, i was getting worried you may have been struggling. I’m the lad who came to shake your hand outside school that day buddy. Love your work both police days and certainly the RUclips channel. Good to see you back buddy.
Hi another great video, I also worked on the radio equipment, Mrd at Northolt modified the car to be more responsive better brakes and Austin Rover used these mods to produce the vitesse . Regards mark
Where you been? Missed the videos,had a model of one of these when I was a kid & always liked the SD1.Remember the “Liver Run” video using two of these,great bit of driving across London
Years ago I was looking for one of these, and the best advice i was given was open the gloveboxs on both sides if there were any water in them run away, you have no idea how many had this issue, 😁👍
I got to drive this car a few years ago from Hampton traffic garage to Finchley for a community event. It certainly turned a few heads on the M25. Its still part of the MPS fleet and has its own log book for recording mileage and refuelling etc.
Hi again while working at Catford traffic garage TDP , in the basement we had all the met old cars were stored , it went to Alperton when all car repairs garages were closed down and outsourced to Vensons then lex . If you would like any info with regards to the radio equipment channels etc let me know . Regards mark
Liver Run car! Would love a go in that. I had a Rover P6 V8 and it went brilliantly and would keep up with modern traffic, so this definitely would too
Great video Ben, love these old cars. My grandad worked at the police workshops back in the early 70s and they used to get their cars locally so as a kid I could play in big Jags and early Range Rovers it was great!! How about a series of videos on the evolution of police uniforms and kit carried that could be an eye opener 👍
Didn’t you already post this yesterday? I have always liked the Rover SD1. Never been in a Police one though. 🤣 The Vitesse 3.5 was the best spec ever produced.
Rotator beacons had 55w halogen bulbs in, just as bright as the headlights, just as visible. We didn't have he same amount of light pollution in 1983 as we do today The centre speedo is/was a properly and regularly tested and calibrated one, so unlike the factory speedo could be used for evidential purposes. Rear sign was not as rear reds are today, but said "STOP" when lit, some I believe had one side as stop, the other as slow There is a story that the SD1 was so good as an area/traffic car that when it was announced production was to cease people were dispatched from Hendon to pick up the last of the vehicles from dealers across the nation, so some lucky sods got to drive Vanden Plas models, some less fortunate had to put up with base spec 2300 models. I understand part of the reasoning behind this is that rear diffs were a little week, so having plenty spare rear axles was considered a good idea.
When I was at PD, Catford Police Station, we had the SD1 as PD1 and PD2, the two Area Cars. As the radio operator it was always rather exciting booming through Rushey Green with the light flashing and the gongs going off. I think it was PD2 that was almost new when I first went in it. Some fool had dug out the padded dash so they could stick their biro in the hole they’d made. The SD1 was a wonderful vehicle. Bloody fast and incredible comfortable.
@@robbierobson3251you are absolutely right…. It’s been a very long time 😂. Papa 1 and 2 were the area cars. Papa Delta 1 was the governors car and Papa Delta 2 was the transit. I recall falling out the back of PD2 when on an urgent assistance. The driver, hammering down Sangley Road had to throw out the anchors when a car pulled in front of us from Plassy Road, despite the lights and bell… in our haste the rear doors hadn’t been slammed shut and as the transmit came to a rapid halt, myself and another fell out the back. It was the same van unit that had a Dymo printed warning us to mind our heads when boarding from the rear. I still have the groove from the door latch on my head. The best thing about the Transit was you could store your Esso drinking glasses under the bench seats 😂 thanks for the correction. 40 years seems to have flown by without me noticing!
@@RobinHullBuilds I broke my last ESSO freebie drinking glass only last year. I was buying my first house when the offer was on, so I never had to buy any glasses at all. It was very difficult to find a police car (or van, for that matter) which was not topped up to the brim with petrol at that time, because everyone was collecting them! My wife (who I had not yet met back then) still has one survivor, a whisky glass, which I still use. Happy days. Yes, it really was forty years ago!
@@RobinHullBuilds This is what happens when you take your eyes off the ball, as we all do. My granddaughter was only born last week, but my son assures me she is 8 already! I found that policemen started looking young at precisely the same time that I stopped.
Popular back then with W Mids police as for its time the V8, especially the late twin plenum fuel injection Version (based on a U.S. Buick aluminium engine so lighter than many v8s) was nippy. They also loved the Leyland Sherpa vans with the same V8. I doubt there are any of those left now 😔
Very nice video! Just a shame you didn't show that siren, I know it's extremely rare and a very classic siren sound from the UK! And also, I never saw one with Country, Night and Town functions
Ben the SD1 in the video is an A reg which is 84. Regarding that 3.5 V6 from 91 to 05 when it was used in the Range Rover Classic & P28 Landrover defenders i was responsible for Foundry Tooling approva dimensional engineering deviation reportsl of the Aluminium block & V8 . It didn't just go in cars it also went in Boats with the Landrover removed from the block & head . I look forward to seeing Vauxhall Senator 24V which i know was a loved Traffic car from 90ish onwards while the Senator was in production.
Great video. Was this one of the cars used on the famous "liver run" through London? As i remember it being said that one of the cars used was still around. Take care mate.
missed you bro❤ please can you take us deeper into the infamous liver run if tbats possible,the sd1 'challenge' grijpped a nation back in the late 80's early 90s on itv
Pity Geof didn’t tell you to watch the Liver Run that this car was used as number 2 back up and filmed the run. Area cars were SD1s 6cylinder 2600 cc autos with single roof light. Traffic used SD1s with V8 3500 engine and auto box and had 2 roof lights known as Mickey Mouse lights. The last ones the Met bought were top of the range Vanden Plas and stock piled but they then sprayed them white and debadged them so public wouldn’t moan met wasting money even tho they probably didn’t pay full price for them.
This would have been the front car carrying the Liver, driven by Bill McIntyre. The following car, driven by Les Crossland, was the one fitted with the camera, which was part of the in-car ProViDa system. It recorded to VHS tape, hence the video of 'The Liver Run' is such bad quality.
Hey up Ben hope your doing OK buddy. Did the police take the power steering off the SD1? I don't understand why. I'm pretty sure they had power steering from day one. I had a few of them.
Out of question did the rover leave the met and go into private ownership at any point or has the met kept it from new? How long have the been running the collect for?
Met police cars of this era never had power steering, even when the civvy versions had it as standard. Power steering was considered the work of Satan, and was regarded as acceptable as incest, witchcraft and genocide.
@@BenPearson1965 depends how you feel about jeremy clarkson, james may and richard hammond turning second-hand cars into cop cars. with varying degrees of success.
@@BenPearson1965 it's hilarious. "hope you like prison-food, crims!" - James May, whilst driving an old lexus he paid £900 for, and converted into a cop car.
Only the Vitesse V8 190bhp did 0-60 in 7.0 sec. Perhaps the cops had this engine spec? A very pretty car for its time, but reliability let it down. My father's 2600 Vanden Plas at 60,000 miles, 3 years old was an unreliable wreck with head gasket issues. Remember as a kid we went to the Isle of Shepy on a trip and he thought it would break down. 😢 Such a shame considering what Rover was in the 1950s and 1960s. My Toyota at the same mileage never gave me an issue. The government, BL and trade unions ruined this once proud prestige brand
Actually had an ex cop sd1,,fast enough,but wouldnt catch everything,not the best handler, nice inside,loads of electrical probs,horrid seating position though( imo) the seat had to be way back to get steering wheel right but you were stretching to get to the pedals then,,, not the rotbox of the times like most cars were,but that could b cos the cops looked after it
Way back in the 80s I was 2 up on my Z1000 on an empty M5 clocking about a ton. The weather was warm and dry and I could see a good mile ahead when a police Rover SD1 came alongside I glanced across to see an officer wagging his finger at me with a big grin on his face. I immediately shut the throttle and slowed to 70 expecting them to pull me over and give me a ticket.
But they didn’t they just kept going. To this day I consider myself v lucky.
Im guessing the officers were in good moods and seeing the road and weather conditions as well as my riding a then new bike they gave me a break.
😊👍
Those Jap speedos were notoriously optimistic, you were at 73mph 😂🤣.
They had common sense and realised you were only causing any danger to yourself. Although a lot of the time. New bike means new rider. Do I might have tugged you and given you a warning and enquired about experience
@ at the time I had been riding for around 4 years.
I carried on riding until 07 when a Ford Focus pulled out on me from a side road and I could not avoid it. Broke 3 vertebrae and both arms at the shoulders the GSX1400 I was riding was written off.
She said to the police she didn’t see me but heard me and to the ambulance crew that she saw me but didn’t hear me. If either words were true it still didn’t explain why she pulled out. Oh and she told the police I was doing 80 but the investigating officer said from his assessment I was doing 30.
She was from Nigeria had no insurance or UK licence and the car was her boyfriend’s. He had let her borrow it to go see a friend or relative.
That was the only serious accident I had in riding for 27 years. I did take up riding again a few years back but nerve damage from the accident meant I don’t enjoy it as much so I’m selling my bike 😔.
Over the years I never got a speeding ticket on a bike and only had 1 encounter with a police officer I would say was negative.
In my experience British police officers are usually ok as long as you treat them with respect.
All the best 👍
I love it when a working vehicle, like a police car, survives the years and is preserved like this.
They’ve got a story to tell and feels like it’s earned its retirement!
What you referred to as "your force ops" is the "Stirling Automotive Met-Sound", the electronic generator for the siren system. These were able to produce three different siren sounds at two volume levels, as well as a P.A system, hence the microphone. The radio in the centre is called a main set. It was connected to Information Room at New Scotland yard via channels 1-4 for Area Cars (attached to police stations) and 11-13 for "Oscar" (Traffic units. like this vehicle).The remaining channels were used for car-to-car messages and events such as demonstrations. I expect that things are all done very differently now!
Hi Ben, I'm retired West Yorks Fire. When I was at Halifax in the 70s/80s and early 90s we ended up with those Dragon lights and nobody wanted to use them because they would just conk out then you had to carry the bloody things. They could have been used instead of the big red key they were so heavy. good old days my friend. Stay safe, cheers Paul Williams.
Thanks for all you’ve done pal x
Lived around the corner from the local nick in the 80's and used to see these going hell for leather all the time. Proper police car.
These cars put me in mind evertime I see them of Police Camer Action, The Liver Run.
30 minutes of mayhem. Why not a bike though?
Yey, great to have you back, again!
I'll just reiterate my point that we need to get back to proper policing. With the SD1, Series 1 Range Rover, and original Ford Transit.
I’m well happy to see you making another video Ben, i was getting worried you may have been struggling. I’m the lad who came to shake your hand outside school that day buddy. Love your work both police days and certainly the RUclips channel. Good to see you back buddy.
Hi another great video, I also worked on the radio equipment, Mrd at Northolt modified the car to be more responsive better brakes and Austin Rover used these mods to produce the vitesse . Regards mark
Still one of the best looking cars ever made, beautiful inside and out, still my fave big car.
One of my favourite cars ever, along with the mighty mini, oh not forgetting the Jaguar xjr, proper motors.
Blast from my era. First patrol was in a Vauxhall Chevette A910KWT. Things we remember, eh? Good to see you back on RUclips. Stay well.
Where you been?
Missed the videos,had a model of one of these when I was a kid & always liked the SD1.Remember the “Liver Run” video using two of these,great bit of driving across London
nice to see you back Ben.remember these been on every roundabout in leeds the day sgt John Speed was shot rip
😂😂😂😂
Years ago I was looking for one of these, and the best advice i was given was open the gloveboxs on both sides if there were any water in them run away, you have no idea how many had this issue, 😁👍
I got to drive this car a few years ago from Hampton traffic garage to Finchley for a community event. It certainly turned a few heads on the M25. Its still part of the MPS fleet and has its own log book for recording mileage and refuelling etc.
So good to have you back brother! We bloody love you. Be well and be happy mate.
Great to see you back Ben.
Very interesting video, this car, although very outdated now, must have been the ultimate police interceptor in its day❤.
Hi again while working at Catford traffic garage TDP , in the basement we had all the met old cars were stored , it went to Alperton when all car repairs garages were closed down and outsourced to Vensons then lex . If you would like any info with regards to the radio equipment channels etc let me know . Regards mark
Liver Run car! Would love a go in that.
I had a Rover P6 V8 and it went brilliantly and would keep up with modern traffic, so this definitely would too
Good to know your back and same with the video :)
Great video Ben, love these old cars. My grandad worked at the police workshops back in the early 70s and they used to get their cars locally so as a kid I could play in big Jags and early Range Rovers it was great!! How about a series of videos on the evolution of police uniforms and kit carried that could be an eye opener 👍
Welcome back. We've missed you, can't wait to see more in this series!
I woked for BL 1972-86 and when I reached a senior level the SD1 was my company car, in total I had 7 SD1, we had to reorder at 10,000 miles
Great video ben, love an sd1 v8 especially in police form, looks awesome, one of the coolest police cars made
The gear selector reminds of Kitts one from knight rider
We loved our Rover SD1 area cars.
i bought one 30 years ago it was great
Didn’t you already post this yesterday? I have always liked the Rover SD1. Never been in a Police one though. 🤣 The Vitesse 3.5 was the best spec ever produced.
Yeah the video crashed yesterday pal
Bet those on their illegal off road bikes and quads etc in Shipley would surrender outright at the sight of this beauty on their tail!
I can't wait for the next video, keep them coming mate
Cheers pal.
Rotator beacons had 55w halogen bulbs in, just as bright as the headlights, just as visible. We didn't have he same amount of light pollution in 1983 as we do today
The centre speedo is/was a properly and regularly tested and calibrated one, so unlike the factory speedo could be used for evidential purposes.
Rear sign was not as rear reds are today, but said "STOP" when lit, some I believe had one side as stop, the other as slow
There is a story that the SD1 was so good as an area/traffic car that when it was announced production was to cease people were dispatched from Hendon to pick up the last of the vehicles from dealers across the nation, so some lucky sods got to drive Vanden Plas models, some less fortunate had to put up with base spec 2300 models. I understand part of the reasoning behind this is that rear diffs were a little week, so having plenty spare rear axles was considered a good idea.
5:21 is not a radio. It is a Sterling Evp METsound siren controller with pa.
Would love to see a video of the greatest police car ever (in my humble opinion), the Vauxhall Senator
When I was at PD, Catford Police Station, we had the SD1 as PD1 and PD2, the two Area Cars. As the radio operator it was always rather exciting booming through Rushey Green with the light flashing and the gongs going off.
I think it was PD2 that was almost new when I first went in it. Some fool had dug out the padded dash so they could stick their biro in the hole they’d made.
The SD1 was a wonderful vehicle. Bloody fast and incredible comfortable.
I think that you must mean Papa 1 and Papa 2. PD1 would have been the Duty Officer and PD2 the station van!
@@robbierobson3251you are absolutely right…. It’s been a very long time 😂. Papa 1 and 2 were the area cars. Papa Delta 1 was the governors car and Papa Delta 2 was the transit. I recall falling out the back of PD2 when on an urgent assistance. The driver, hammering down Sangley Road had to throw out the anchors when a car pulled in front of us from Plassy Road, despite the lights and bell… in our haste the rear doors hadn’t been slammed shut and as the transmit came to a rapid halt, myself and another fell out the back. It was the same van unit that had a Dymo printed warning us to mind our heads when boarding from the rear. I still have the groove from the door latch on my head.
The best thing about the Transit was you could store your Esso drinking glasses under the bench seats 😂 thanks for the correction. 40 years seems to have flown by without me noticing!
@@RobinHullBuilds I broke my last ESSO freebie drinking glass only last year. I was buying my first house when the offer was on, so I never had to buy any glasses at all. It was very difficult to find a police car (or van, for that matter) which was not topped up to the brim with petrol at that time, because everyone was collecting them! My wife (who I had not yet met back then) still has one survivor, a whisky glass, which I still use. Happy days. Yes, it really was forty years ago!
@@robbierobson3251I was chatting to my son this week. I had forgotten he’s 45 this year! I thought he was only 7 or 8 😂
@@RobinHullBuilds This is what happens when you take your eyes off the ball, as we all do. My granddaughter was only born last week, but my son assures me she is 8 already! I found that policemen started looking young at precisely the same time that I stopped.
Popular back then with W Mids police as for its time the V8, especially the late twin plenum fuel injection Version (based on a U.S. Buick aluminium engine so lighter than many v8s) was nippy.
They also loved the Leyland Sherpa vans with the same V8. I doubt there are any of those left now 😔
the MET and maybe some other forces need to bring back the jam sandwich livery
That is a seriously cool car
Very nice video! Just a shame you didn't show that siren, I know it's extremely rare and a very classic siren sound from the UK! And also, I never saw one with Country, Night and Town functions
I saw this in Sidcup last week.
Beautiful car.
Could be wrong but was there not another from Scotland (Grampian police) that was restored on a tv program for the love of cars
Yeah, that was a traffic car and is now in the Grampian transport museum
Ben the SD1 in the video is an A reg which is 84. Regarding that 3.5 V6 from 91 to 05 when it was used in the Range Rover Classic & P28 Landrover defenders i was responsible for Foundry Tooling approva dimensional engineering deviation reportsl of the Aluminium block & V8 . It didn't just go in cars it also went in Boats with the Landrover removed from the block & head . I look forward to seeing Vauxhall Senator 24V which i know was a loved Traffic car from 90ish onwards while the Senator was in production.
The ‘A’ registrations ran from March 1983 to February 1984. This specific car was registered in 1983.
3.5 litre V8 not V6.
@@andrewwaller5913if you read further down I did type V8 !!!
@@jeremywentworth1833 OK, apologies ! 😁
We want more stories
Great video. Was this one of the cars used on the famous "liver run" through London? As i remember it being said that one of the cars used was still around. Take care mate.
Liver Run special
missed you bro❤
please can you take us deeper into the infamous liver run if tbats possible,the sd1 'challenge' grijpped a nation back in the late 80's early 90s on itv
I’m back…….fasted police motorcycle in the UK next week
Cheers for the reply. . I'll wait with baited breath..
Also . Your my age . -ish . You remember the Liver run surely . . Itv Alistair Stewart ?
@@TregMediaHD Well maybe he doesn't but I do! It was absolutely gripping, and amazing professional level driving
Was that filmed at Marlowe House Sidcup?
Pity Geof didn’t tell you to watch the Liver Run that this car was used as number 2 back up and filmed the run. Area cars were SD1s 6cylinder 2600 cc autos with single roof light. Traffic used SD1s with V8 3500 engine and auto box and had 2 roof lights known as Mickey Mouse lights. The last ones the Met bought were top of the range Vanden Plas and stock piled but they then sprayed them white and debadged them so public wouldn’t moan met wasting money even tho they probably didn’t pay full price for them.
Yes. Not only the Met if what I was once told is true. A bulk order to Rover to get whatever they could and then warehoused them.
This would have been the front car carrying the Liver, driven by Bill McIntyre. The following car, driven by Les Crossland, was the one fitted with the camera, which was part of the in-car ProViDa system. It recorded to VHS tape, hence the video of 'The Liver Run' is such bad quality.
I had ten of them all V8 some manual some I converted to manual
Lovely video (age shown) keep it up my good man 👍 How can i support you in your endeavour? Im a local lad (halifax) sorry if its a reach?
lol good jpb the officer didnt have the moggy panda car, on his last day :)
Hey up Ben hope your doing OK buddy. Did the police take the power steering off the SD1? I don't understand why. I'm pretty sure they had power steering from day one. I had a few of them.
Yeah it was so heavy!
Out of question did the rover leave the met and go into private ownership at any point or has the met kept it from new? How long have the been running the collect for?
Back up car for the famous liver run
Smartly dressed Special constable
SD1's absolutely did have power steering. It was super light, if anything far too light.
Met police cars of this era never had power steering, even when the civvy versions had it as standard. Power steering was considered the work of Satan, and was regarded as acceptable as incest, witchcraft and genocide.
The Met Police ones did not. The powers that be decided that non-assisted steering made for better control.
I put a rover v8 in a capri the sd1 could catch me years ago lol
Possibly but, the series 2 XJ probably is….🤔😉
The old jam sandwich.
SD1 did have power steering ...
Wait, didn't I watched this yesterday?🤔
The video crashed 😂🤦🏻♂️
@@BenPearson1965 How ironic
Such a shame about the Brit motor industry at the time. The SD1 should have been a world beater.
I always thought these made 190bhp.
The later fuel injected vitesse was quoted @190hp
did you ever watch the top gear cop car episode?
Unfortunately not, and s it any good?
@@BenPearson1965 depends how you feel about jeremy clarkson, james may and richard hammond turning second-hand cars into cop cars. with varying degrees of success.
@@BenPearson1965 it's hilarious. "hope you like prison-food, crims!" - James May, whilst driving an old lexus he paid £900 for, and converted into a cop car.
They have got power steering😂
Only the Vitesse V8 190bhp did 0-60 in 7.0 sec. Perhaps the cops had this engine spec? A very pretty car for its time, but reliability let it down. My father's 2600 Vanden Plas at 60,000 miles, 3 years old was an unreliable wreck with head gasket issues. Remember as a kid we went to the Isle of Shepy on a trip and he thought it would break down. 😢 Such a shame considering what Rover was in the 1950s and 1960s. My Toyota at the same mileage never gave me an issue. The government, BL and trade unions ruined this once proud prestige brand
Earlier ones were a disaster. By the end Rover had it pretty nailed on though.
Only the Vittesse model did 0-60 in 7,2
RUclips liver run
Great video, but please loose the crappy music all the way through 😫
no power steering dont think that right
Actually had an ex cop sd1,,fast enough,but wouldnt catch everything,not the best handler, nice inside,loads of electrical probs,horrid seating position though( imo) the seat had to be way back to get steering wheel right but you were stretching to get to the pedals then,,, not the rotbox of the times like most cars were,but that could b cos the cops looked after it
They always looked 2nd place to the 28i Capri Police car
Awful cars I had to work on the damned things, late ones were better. 820 was a much better car.