BlueOvalNews.com

F E A T U R E

It's a natural proving ground to test any vehicle's reliability and durability as a Police vehicle.

It's also a prelude of many good things to come from Ford's Focus as it prepares to take on another role - as a high performance street machine.

The Focus Police Vehicles have been in use since February of 1999 and have more than proven that the Focus is capable of handling the mission successfully.

The Ford Focus police cars have been handed over to UK police forces as part of a national appraisal programe run by Ford.

Each participating UK force is being given a Ford Focus to test for six months. The majority will be fully liveried, but some forces have asked for unmarked vehicles for lower profile uses. The first cars delivered were marked vehicles for Essex and Norfolk and an unmarked car for Greater Manchester.

The cars on test will be a mix of five-door and the new Ford Focus estate models, with 1.4, 1.6 and 115PS 1.8-litre Zetec petrol engines or the new 90PS 1.8-litre turbo diesel.

Every Ford Focus police car will be fitted out by Ford Special Vehicle Preparations with cabling and equipment boards to Home Office specifications so individual police forces can fit their radios and other electronic equipment.

"The Ford Focus, Europe's car of the Year 1999, is an ideal vehicle for police use. It handles superbly, has a good choice of bodystyles and engines, and has excellent fuel economy and class-leading interior room," said John Berry of Ford Special Vehicle Preparations, Ford's one-stop shop for police vehicles.

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