Chevrolet Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle (PPV). Photos from wikipedia.com

Sold only to law enforcement agencies in the US and Canada, the Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle (PPV) were not sold to the general public yet some of these vehicles managed to find their way to individuals via dealer sales channels – mostly through dealer demos and dealer excess.

Captive imports are automobiles that are foreign-built and sold under the name of a domestic automaker through its dealer distribution system. In the case of the Chevrolet Caprice PPV, the vehicles were imported from Australia as the Holden WM Caprice, which was the main patrol car in Australia.

Based on GM’s Zeta platform, the full-size rear-wheel drive chassis developed by Holden, the Caprice PPV initially came with the 6.0-liter L77 V8 as the standard engine until the 3.6-liter LLT SIDI V6 engine replaced it as the standard in 2012.

It is identified by the PPV lettering on the right side of the rear fascia and a FlexFuel nameplate on the rear. The PPV has dual exhaust, a floor shifter in the console, a prisoner partition with assault rifle and shotgun mounts, lights and siren controls in the console, 18-inch steel rims & center caps from the Impala 9C1, and a touch screen in place of the radio and HVAC controls.

Special features were added by Chevrolet for the Caprice Police Patrol Vehicle. The driver’s seat has a special indentation made to accommodate a police officer’s equipment belt so it makes it more comfortable to drive. Special tuning and a performance-tuned suspension was added for increased performance meant specifically for police needs.

A true street performer, the Caprice PPV is a pretty rare vehicle for the everyday car junkie to get their hands on, but those that do are not disappointed.