TriShield
09-30-2011, 01:14 PM
Anything But A Trivial Pursuit
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/01-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c1-opt.jpg
Posted Sep 30th 2011 11:57AM
There's something inherently satisfying about using a blunt force object for its exact purpose, be it ripping the cover off a baseball with a Louisville Slugger or bonking one of those animatronic pop-up varmints with a rubber mallet at the local arcade. At the opposite end of the spectrum, there's something equally satisfying about using a precise tool designed for an exact purpose, be it a Montblanc pen or a pickle fork. With the introduction of its 2012 Chevrolet Caprice PPV, General Motors is betting that law enforcement customers are willing to trade-in the former brand of satisfaction for the latter.
For decades now, an overwhelming majority of America's policemen and women have relied on the four-wheeled equivalent of a blunt object, the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, as a primary tool in combating crime. Stubbornly resistant to change since its introduction during the Carter administration, the Crown Vic proudly rode its pig iron and scrimshaw frame into retirement earlier this month, a victim of growing legislative hurdles and slowing sales. Yet despite – or perhaps because of – its antiquated technology and crude construction, precincts far and wide have been clawing over each other to secure the last few examples.
GM believes it has a better way: 2012 Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle. Company officials say they are so cognizant of the unique needs of law enforcement that they've designed and built this special pursuit vehicle specifically for their use. GM has divulged no plans to park a civilian version in your Bowtie showroom and you won't be seeing them in New York yellow, either. This is a purpose-built piece of kit. Of course, the truth is a bit more complicated than that. The Caprice PPV is actually a lightly modified version of GM's long-wheelbase Zeta sedans that are marketed in Australia as the Holden Commodore and in the Middle East as... well, a Chevy Caprice. GM recently offered ordinary U.S. consumers a shorter Zeta, in the form of the well liked but short-lived Pontiac G8, but it expired when its brand was shuttered.
GM invited us out to its Proving Grounds to play cops and robbers on the very same day that the pilot light was going out at Ford's Crown Vic plant. Coincidence? Rather than mull the question, we hightailed it out to Milford, Michigan to live out our childhood policeman fantasies and file this report.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead4-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c3.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead3-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c3.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead2-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c3.jpg
As longtime readers well know, while most of the Autoblog staff wasn't exactly torn up about GM killing off Pontiac, we did mourn the loss of the G8 sedan – particularly in GT and GXP guises. And that's basically what we have in this Caprice PPV, albeit with a bunch more legroom and a pretty wicked rear overhang. Swap the Bowtie out for a crimson arrowhead on the grille and you might even confuse the two at a glance. The important changes, of course, aren't with the exterior; they're under the skin and in the cabin.
Despite stretching the wheelbase by 3.7 inches to 118.5 inches and increasing overall length by 8.1 inches to a massive 204.2 inches, the Caprice is fairly anonymous looking, whether in Police (9C1) guise or in Detective (9C3) spec. The latter is something of a plainclothes special, but even GM's law enforcement program manager, Dana Hammer, sheepishly admits, "It's kind of hard to have an undercover car that's only sold to police."
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead9-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c1.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead7-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c1.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead8-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c1.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead6-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c1.jpg
Most of the extra space inside has gone to backseat passengers, who are treated to a limousine-like 43.1 inches of legroom. That may seem counterintuitive considering that rear seat occupants will likely be in handcuffs or dog collars (perhaps both), but the gain in space is important, as it allows the full-width prisoner partition to be installed without the officers up front having to sit bolt upright or too close to the wheel. Because said partition might interfere with the side curtain airbags, the standard PPV only has them up front, though Chevy will outfit your cruiser with full-length bags if you ask them to. Either way, the 2012 PPV comes standard with eight airbags (knee bags are new for this model year).
The Caprice isn't just larger in the back seat – it's bigger in nearly every dimension than its new rivals, the Ford Taurus Police Interceptor and Dodge Charger Pursuit. Front seat space, trunk space... just about everywhere. That large cabin will be familiar fodder for those who have plunked their tuckus into a G8, which is to say competent and well-organized, but not terribly stylish or premium. But let's not kid ourselves – the officers won't give a damn about a dearth of soft-touch plastics or rich-feeling switchgear after working a double-shift. They'll be contented by the Caprice's specially constructed buckets, which are clad in hard-wearing fabric and give added support and comfort thanks to special cutouts for equipment-laden belts. Or they'll be won over by the special center console on the Police 9C1 package that moves the window switches to the door and the parking brake to the footwell in order to free up space for typical gear like a laptop computer. Other unique concessions to the law enforcement community include an available auxiliary battery, heavy-duty vinyl flooring, common fleet keying and disabled rear door handles, locks and windows. You can even get remote start or prewiring for auxiliary lighting and sirens.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/01-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c1-opt.jpg
Posted Sep 30th 2011 11:57AM
There's something inherently satisfying about using a blunt force object for its exact purpose, be it ripping the cover off a baseball with a Louisville Slugger or bonking one of those animatronic pop-up varmints with a rubber mallet at the local arcade. At the opposite end of the spectrum, there's something equally satisfying about using a precise tool designed for an exact purpose, be it a Montblanc pen or a pickle fork. With the introduction of its 2012 Chevrolet Caprice PPV, General Motors is betting that law enforcement customers are willing to trade-in the former brand of satisfaction for the latter.
For decades now, an overwhelming majority of America's policemen and women have relied on the four-wheeled equivalent of a blunt object, the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, as a primary tool in combating crime. Stubbornly resistant to change since its introduction during the Carter administration, the Crown Vic proudly rode its pig iron and scrimshaw frame into retirement earlier this month, a victim of growing legislative hurdles and slowing sales. Yet despite – or perhaps because of – its antiquated technology and crude construction, precincts far and wide have been clawing over each other to secure the last few examples.
GM believes it has a better way: 2012 Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle. Company officials say they are so cognizant of the unique needs of law enforcement that they've designed and built this special pursuit vehicle specifically for their use. GM has divulged no plans to park a civilian version in your Bowtie showroom and you won't be seeing them in New York yellow, either. This is a purpose-built piece of kit. Of course, the truth is a bit more complicated than that. The Caprice PPV is actually a lightly modified version of GM's long-wheelbase Zeta sedans that are marketed in Australia as the Holden Commodore and in the Middle East as... well, a Chevy Caprice. GM recently offered ordinary U.S. consumers a shorter Zeta, in the form of the well liked but short-lived Pontiac G8, but it expired when its brand was shuttered.
GM invited us out to its Proving Grounds to play cops and robbers on the very same day that the pilot light was going out at Ford's Crown Vic plant. Coincidence? Rather than mull the question, we hightailed it out to Milford, Michigan to live out our childhood policeman fantasies and file this report.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead4-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c3.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead3-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c3.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead2-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c3.jpg
As longtime readers well know, while most of the Autoblog staff wasn't exactly torn up about GM killing off Pontiac, we did mourn the loss of the G8 sedan – particularly in GT and GXP guises. And that's basically what we have in this Caprice PPV, albeit with a bunch more legroom and a pretty wicked rear overhang. Swap the Bowtie out for a crimson arrowhead on the grille and you might even confuse the two at a glance. The important changes, of course, aren't with the exterior; they're under the skin and in the cabin.
Despite stretching the wheelbase by 3.7 inches to 118.5 inches and increasing overall length by 8.1 inches to a massive 204.2 inches, the Caprice is fairly anonymous looking, whether in Police (9C1) guise or in Detective (9C3) spec. The latter is something of a plainclothes special, but even GM's law enforcement program manager, Dana Hammer, sheepishly admits, "It's kind of hard to have an undercover car that's only sold to police."
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead9-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c1.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead7-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c1.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead8-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c1.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/09/lead6-2012-chevrolet-caprice-ppv-9c1.jpg
Most of the extra space inside has gone to backseat passengers, who are treated to a limousine-like 43.1 inches of legroom. That may seem counterintuitive considering that rear seat occupants will likely be in handcuffs or dog collars (perhaps both), but the gain in space is important, as it allows the full-width prisoner partition to be installed without the officers up front having to sit bolt upright or too close to the wheel. Because said partition might interfere with the side curtain airbags, the standard PPV only has them up front, though Chevy will outfit your cruiser with full-length bags if you ask them to. Either way, the 2012 PPV comes standard with eight airbags (knee bags are new for this model year).
The Caprice isn't just larger in the back seat – it's bigger in nearly every dimension than its new rivals, the Ford Taurus Police Interceptor and Dodge Charger Pursuit. Front seat space, trunk space... just about everywhere. That large cabin will be familiar fodder for those who have plunked their tuckus into a G8, which is to say competent and well-organized, but not terribly stylish or premium. But let's not kid ourselves – the officers won't give a damn about a dearth of soft-touch plastics or rich-feeling switchgear after working a double-shift. They'll be contented by the Caprice's specially constructed buckets, which are clad in hard-wearing fabric and give added support and comfort thanks to special cutouts for equipment-laden belts. Or they'll be won over by the special center console on the Police 9C1 package that moves the window switches to the door and the parking brake to the footwell in order to free up space for typical gear like a laptop computer. Other unique concessions to the law enforcement community include an available auxiliary battery, heavy-duty vinyl flooring, common fleet keying and disabled rear door handles, locks and windows. You can even get remote start or prewiring for auxiliary lighting and sirens.