Carbon on a roll

Pack your bags, Fords and Chevys. You are about to be dismissed from the highway patrol team. Crown Victorias may go back to the taxi business or take up under cover jobs with the Feds and Impalas may do whatever they are suited for. Yes, the recession has taken its toll on everything in sight. But that’s not the reason why these old ladies are being shown the door. We have a new gatecrasher in town – the Carbon E7. A whopping 10,000 cars have been ordered by various police departments in the US. Interestingly, the cops are willing to wait for four years till they take delivery.

The name Carbon E7 suits a carbonfibre bodied sportscar. But the subject is not one. It’s a built-for-the-job cop car. While the Crown Vics and the Impalas have to be modified to suit their high voltage job profiles, the E7 comes factory-fitted with all the equipment needed for the action. Being a strongly built machine, it can multi-task as a car chase terminator too.

Powering this enforcer is a 3 litre turbo diesel which churns out all of 300bhp.A six speed automatic gear box transfers all that brute force to the wheels and with a 0-60mph figures coming at 6.5 seconds. A top speed of 155 mph will make the E7 remain in the rear-view mirror of those with too much of need for speed. Cops won’t have to break the chase with stops at the gas station too, as the E7 is a frugal machine. So inter-state chases will be a non-stop breeze.

The oldies have all the time till 2012 to plan their less eventful future. Cabs get to be part of high-octane chases only in movies. Not in the streets. Bad luck ladies.