Description
Here we have for sale my 2004 ex-Thames Valley Police Vauxhall Omega 3. 2 V6 manual Roads Policing Department car.
This car served with TVP between 2004 - 2007 and is suspected to have been based out of Bicester Traffic base, where it accumulated 141, 000 miles in that short space of time.
This car is one of a very rare specification of police-specific trim for the Omega called 'Special', featuring the largest V6 engine, but uniquely mated with a manual gearbox, limited-slip diff and GLS spec interior. According to HowManyLeft, one of only 8 Specials are left registered on the road.
I bought the car in 2021 from Matthewsons Auctions and when the car arrived with me as it had sat for several years I gave it a significant service, including oil, oil filter, spark plugs, timing belt change, water pump replacement, coolant flush, new battery, front and rear brake discs and pads, transmission oil change, and LSD oil change in the rear diff. I also replaced a leaky bypass heater bypass valve and gave the car an underbody detail. It has also had a new crank sensor, temperature sensor, fuel pump, and intake manifold gaskets. New low-mileage seats fitted.
It is fitted with the following period-correct and authentic equipment:
- Whelen 9U lightbar [Fully working].
- Whelen siren speaker using Alpha siren [Fully working].
- Correct Headlight Flash [Fully working].
- Vascar video system [Partially working].
- Optilink emergency control system [Fully working].
- Twin Maglite torch holder [Not wired].
- Cleartone radio [Partially working].
- Nokia phone holder [Not wired].
- Tracker Stolen Vehicle head unit [Not wired].
- And many many miscellaneous accessories to go with, like GPS guidance, antennas, switchgear, documents, etc…
I installed all of the emergency equipment to run off a leisure battery that is stored within the boot, running off a split charge system, so that it will never drain your main car battery. The lights can be run at shows for several hours without issue. All electronics are on a board within the boot, controlled via master-switched to prevent accidental activation.
I’ve attended many shows in the car and it gets a great reception at any show and even won ‘Best Classic Police Car’ in show at Hampshire Emergency Services Day 2024. The car has also attended TVP Open Day and was received very well by officers who used to drive the Omegas in service.
The car drives very well, pulling nicely, stopping nicely and driving straight, with no concerning noises. Due to how many miles it did in such a short period the car is in incredible condition with minimal corrosion, especially compared to the majority of other Omegas.
However, the car is not perfect and could still do with some further work if the next owner wished to do so. I own six other cars, so never got around to completing these works:
- Keyfob buttons have gone soft and no longer function to unlock/ lock the car. Key works just fine.
- There is a quiet vibration inside the car that I wasn’t able to locate the source of. Only makes an appearance around 2k RPM.
- After sitting the fuel flows back to the tank, which means first starts after sittings require a long-crank/ priming with the key.
- During quick cornering with very low fuel the car can splutter, which I suspect may be related to this.
- Central locking on the front passenger door is intermittent.
- Air conditioning does not blow cold.
- Reverse light does not function. Unsure of what causes this, but thankfully this is not required for MOT and still passes.
- There is old damage to the nearside rear arch where it appears to have been run against something, though this has been painted over and isn’t particularly noticeable.
- The Battenberg is getting quite tired and could do with a refresh. After its retirement from the police, the car was owned privately for several years, but unlike most of these ex-police manual cars, it was never turned into a race car or a drift car. It can be seen that the car floated in and out of MOTs between 2010 - 2021, only doing just over 400 miles in that time.
During that period in roughly 2011 the car was fitted with a full battenburg livery, miscellaneous non-authentic markings and had a multitude of incorrect equipment fitted to it, including an LED light bar bolted through the roof skin, front LED side markers, head light flash and siren, all of which was wired in using house-hold wiring and completed to a very poor and unsafe standard.
I tore out all of the previous wiring install and I began sourcing and building all of the correct equipment to outfit the car with.
The car was also incorrect in many other ways, having had a leather interior installed from a pre-facelift Omega. I had to purchase another GLS Omega to swap the correct interior back in. This new interior is in great condition.
It also had the wrong wheels on it, having narrower ones fitted, so now the calibrated speedo works perfectly having sourced the correct wheels and tyres.
The car comes with 1 key, a USB containing various images of my build progress and various invoices from the build. It also includes several correct cones and signs for the car and interior documents including rare genuine forms. Also includes a lightbar cover, signs of the windows and magnetic covers for the bonnet decals.
Please keep in mind that this car should not be driven on the road unless for road testing, MOT or unless on-route to a show. Despite being 20 years old, many members of the public will see this car at a glance and assume it is a serving police car. I keep a log book to evidence any drives I make with the car, cover all POLICE wording, blue lights and disable the lighting via the master switch. I also display ‘not in service’ on all sides. I will not sell to you unless you can satisfy me that the car will only be used lawfully.
