Talk:Panda car

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[edit] Stub?

The recent change of stub has brought this to my attention: does the community at large think this article is a stub any more? It's got quite substantial. -- Scott Wilson 02:34, 4 November 2005 (UTC) Another advantage is that it would avoid these arguments about what stub to use... -- Scott Wilson 11:30, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Origin

I always thought that they were called Panda cars, because in the old days a lot of them were actually Fiat Pandas. - Not true then? Jooler 00:56, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Well, firstly, the term was around long before the introduction of the Fiat Panda in 1980 (the OED lists its first recorded usage in 1966), and secondly, I've never heard of a Fiat Panda being used as a police car in the UK, although I may be wrong. Quite frankly, the idea of driving a Fiat Panda on duty (well, at all actually!) sends shivers down my spine! -- Necrothesp 01:37, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

• I thought that Lancashire Constabulary were the first to use Panda cars and swap doors etc between pairs of cars to get the right effect. There are various references on the WWW to 1965 for this. Lancashire were very innovative and pioneered Personal Radios with the LANCON radio set.

This website would seem to confirm that Lancashire were first Police 'Panda' cars, so-named because of their black and white / blue and white liveries, were introduced by the Lancashire Constabulary in 1965. --jmb 13:12, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

• The website about the Dumbartonshire Hillman Imps seems to confirm this. The newspaper is dated 1967 as are the number plates on the cars. All references to Lancashire seem to give 1965 for their use of Panda cars though not found confirmation of their swapping doors around. --jmb 13:18, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

• There is an article by the Chief Constable of Lancashire in The Times (Mobility Answer to Police Shortage (News) Colonel T. E. St. Johnston - The Times, Wednesday, Jan 26, 1966; pg. 13; Issue 56539; col F) which describes the introduction of patrols by Ford Anglia Panda cars in blue and white in Kirkby and the use of the Personal Radio. It describes a blue car with a white band around it which would suggest that they were specially painted so perhaps the idea of swapping doors came later. --jmb 13:26, 28 May 2006 (UTC)