That one time a French city bought cars too big for its roads.

"BATC42" (BATC42) 02/22/2015 at 22:54 • Filed to: None

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Back in 2003, the city of Montpellier, in Southern France, bought 3 Ford Crown Victoria for its own police force, the Police Municipale. Their role was too patrol the street to look for parking tickets as well as manage traffic during events. Only problem, those massive behemoth were a bit big for the streets of Montpellier, so they were only used as moving barriers and in 2008 they were trying to sell them. And because they are so long, they didn't fit in the city police's garages....

They managed to sell one of them in 2010 for a mere €4,500 while they had bought the cars for more than €40,000 each.

Pictures are from here : !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

ranwhenparked > BATC42 02/22/2015 at 23:06

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€4500 in 2010 would have been about $6000 at the time, which is equivalent to $6500 today. That isn't terrible for a 7 year old Crown Victoria, but given how drastically they overpaid for them, I could see how that depreciation had to hurt.

desertdog5051 > BATC42 02/22/2015 at 23:09

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Panthers roam the earth.

cuts_off_prius > BATC42 02/23/2015 at 00:08

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Makes me wonder how they fare in Old Quebec in Quebec City, Canada. It's also weird listing to policemen talking in French while driving Crown Vics.

Saoul-Virage > BATC42 02/23/2015 at 01:30

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Cool story, didn't know that.
That's the typical example of how badly the money of taxpayers is spend (120 000 euros to move policemen who give parking tickets seems a bit excessive).

CRider > BATC42 02/23/2015 at 01:32

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I don't think I've ever seen a Crown Vic that wasn't on steelies. Interesting.

Tohru > CRider 02/23/2015 at 02:05

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Quite a few Wisconsin State Patrol CVPI's had the full hubcaps (which is all these are) to help keep snow out of the steelies. It can cause a vibration at speed if you get ice and snow in the wheels.

Zibodiz > BATC42 02/23/2015 at 03:13

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What's with the missing door trim? Both cars show it missing, so it doesn't look like the fault of an accident, though it hardly seems like something they'd intentionally plan; if bumper guards were unwanted, you wouldn't think either door would have them.

Too many M's > Zibodiz 02/23/2015 at 03:53

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I think that's a trait of most CVPIs. Many agencies in the states have large door graphics that would look out of place with the trim there.

Cé hé sin > BATC42 02/23/2015 at 06:40

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15l/100km and what one commenter called "une boite neandertalienne"

Probably not the local flics' best purchase!

jkm7680 > CRider 02/23/2015 at 07:52

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I've seen hundreds, probably depends on the wants of the region.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Zibodiz 02/23/2015 at 08:28

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Armored doors. They often didn't bother putting the trim back on.

sellphones2493 > CRider 02/23/2015 at 09:37

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Zibodiz > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 02/23/2015 at 19:56

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Interesting, I had no idea. I guess I've learned something new today, so now I get to veg for the rest of the day!

Zibodiz > Too many M's 02/23/2015 at 20:05

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That makes a lot of sense.