The last time anyone in law enforcement used the Chevrolet Caprice as a cruiser, Bill Clinton had just been elected president and Tupac Shakur had just been gunned down after watching Mike Tyson go around the ring with Bruce Seldon. GM killed the Caprice in '96 and in doing so laid down arms in the great cruiser battle with Ford; since then, everyone from federal agents to mall cops have been intimidating drivers from behind the wheel of the Crown Victoria. Now that the big Crown Vic is older than the speed trap itself, officers everywhere have an eye out for the car’s replacement. If you believe the word from General Motors, an all-new police-only Caprice will hit the streets in 2011.

Chevrolet is calling the car the PPV, for "police patrol vehicle." GM reached around in the familial fleet and brought the Holden Caprice over from Australia. Under the black and white suit and light bar sits a 355-horsepower 6.0-liter V8 engine, and boys in blue will be happy to know the car’s rear-wheel drive. The big 8-cylinder gets a host of tricks to help it deal with the kind of severe duty that patrolling serves up. First and foremost, the soft suspension from the stock car gets swapped for stiffer springs and bigger roll bars, and beefier brakes bring the whole thing to a stop in a hurry. Enhanced oil cooling, transmission cooling and power-steering cooling and an alternator big enough to power most of Manhattan are all standard, too.

GM has also done a number on the Caprice’s interior, making allowances for things like weapons, utility belts and -- a driver’s worst nightmare -- speed sensors. There are also provisions for a massive in-dash touch-screen computer. Ironically enough, Chevrolet is also bragging about the Caprice’s extra size over the long-in-the-tooth Crown Victoria, saying the Bow Tie has a full 4 inches of legroom in the rear over the Blue Oval. Something tells us legroom is the last thing on anyone’s mind if you’re taking in the view from the back seat of a cruiser -- though perhaps every little bit helps.

The bottom line is that law enforcement finally has something to look forward to. The PPV is a purpose-built police cruiser rather than a retrofitted street vehicle, and since GM has no plans to sell the Caprice to civilians, you won’t have to worry about the octogenarians on your block impersonating an officer any time soon.

(Photo courtesy of General Motors.)