New Photos: 2011 Chevrolet Caprice Police Car

[blaksabb]

Originally Posted by 2002 Caddy

There is a lot of "knee bone connected to thigh bone" logic going on here... but it goes like this...

The 9C1 police use only car comes here in 2011... its a hit... GM admits that it was wrong to kill the Zeta... in 2012 a civilian car is announced... (one that you could actually buy).. on a platform that is now about 14 years old ...and it is a hit too... a couple years after that (2015) we are building a new Impala SS in Oshawa...

Not all that bad a plan... It misses one small problem... If it is a good idea to build a Impala SS in Oshawa in 2015... is it not a better idea to build that car now? And who would really invest that much effort in 2015 on a platform that is still too heavy and dates back to 1999.

Zeta debuted in AU in '06 and is based on the Sigma chassis which debuted in '02 in the US and is still a very competitive platform. The old Statesman/Caprice/Commodore/Monaro/GTO sprang from the Opel Omega (nee Catera) chassis which has been around since at least '96... not much commonality other than the RWD layout and general size.

[gotz_otto]

The only thing that bugs me about this car is the tail lights, they look way to much like the Impala's tail lights, kind of generic and standard. Is the name only Caprice and not Caprice Classic, because there is nothing classic about this car, it is fresh and fantastic looking.

[Rick_VT]

Originally Posted by prototype66

Then why comment?
Its a RWD full size Chevy that has 4 doors, some of us would love to get a hold of one !
This tells me there is a remote possibility of a civilian version. (maybe with any luck)


It's not a SWB Commadore its the LWB Caprice/ Berlina

Just to correct u there, Berlina is SWB Commodore, sits just above Omega LWB is Statesman/Caprice

But like u i think its exciting news to, i been a huge Holden fan all my life ever since my dad raced cars here in Canberra when i was a kid, i want Holden to stay profitable and live on, things like this will help, this is a small step to maybe more Zeta variants being eventually made in the US, thats great for Holden and good for people who want a fun car to drive in NA

[A.J.]

Wait a minute...what happened to this?


The images with the huge in-dash touch screen also have a Pontiac emblem on the steering wheel and "G8" in the guage cluster.

Which interior is it? The one that looks like the Omega or the one with the in-dash touch screen?

[WishIhadatruck]

Originally Posted by A.J.

Which interior is it? The one that looks like the Omega or the one with the in-dash touch screen?

Or both? Is it an option? If you want to go with the integrated computer you get the one shown here and if you want a computer from a different supplier you get the other dash? Anyone know?

Yeah, can we order a 9C3 as a civilian? Why not?

[Rocket 88]

That thing looks like a G8 that was beaten with an ugly stick. Its like last generation Chevrolet "yawn" style. This is like seeing that really hot girl from high school 10 years, 3kids and 30 pounds after graduation....

Still pretty cool, though. Better then nothing, I guess.

[Rick_VT]

Originally Posted by blaksabb

Zeta debuted in AU in '06 and is based on the Sigma chassis which debuted in '02 in the US and is still a very competitive platform. The old Statesman/Caprice/Commodore/Monaro/GTO sprang from the Opel Omega (nee Catera) chassis which has been around since at least '96... not much commonality other than the RWD layout and general size.

Think your wrong there, im pretty sure you will find Zeta was a clean sheet design by Holden, they looked at Sigma but was to expensive and not as adjustable to diff variants like Holden wanted.

All Commodores had been based of Opel designs before that but modified to take a bigger car

[GMOwner]

This puts the Pontiac G8 at the same level as any other cars relegated to cop cars--Ford Crown Victoria, Chevy Caprice from the '90s and such.

Next you'll see them in NYC as taxis...

Personally, I wouldn't buy this as a civilian as I wouldn't buy the cars it is probably replacing.

Hate to be a G8 owner now as it really lowers their potential market value as well as overall look.

Finally, this should not be GM's market test to see if the G8 can come back again. So long as the Aussie Dollar makes manufacturing the car in Australia and "assembling" it in the states, there is no business value in doing this. But, I could be wrong...

GM is supposed to be a for-profit company right?

[A.J.]

Apparently, the black/white Caprice shown in the "new photos" is not the one we're getting.

Apparently, it's a showcar designed by Holden to showcase new technologies. That would explain why the first interior shots look more realistic. If you look at the trunk shots in the following article, you'll see that the taillamps are the G8 GT's taillamps.

Click here for the article - LeftLaneNews

[KDA66]

Originally Posted by rsbaker

So the only way I can get one is to wait for the government surplus auction 4 or 5 years from now and get one with 200k miles on it?

I'm really surprised how much it looks like the current Impala from the rear.

One thing I do not like is using the name "Caprice" on a cop car. I didn like it when they did it in the '80s and '90s either. Caprice was supposed to be top of the line luxury for Chevrolet when the Caprice name was first used as a trim level in "65 and as its own separate Model in 1966.

Why use the Caprice name? They should save that name for the civilian version when it becomes available. Why not just name it after the police packages 9C1 or 9C3?

[SS427]

Personally I am holding out for the Volt 9C1



Just Kidding!!!!

[ByTheLake]

I realize that this is a cop car ... functionality first, I suppose, but was that the best grille design they could come up with?

[BBDOS CV8]

Originally Posted by A.J.

Apparently, the black/white Caprice shown in the "new photos" is not the one we're getting.

Apparently, it's a showcar designed by Holden to showcase new technologies. That would explain why the first interior shots look more realistic. If you look at the trunk shots in the following article, you'll see that the taillamps are the G8 GT's taillamps.

Click here for the article - LeftLaneNews

No, the black/white Caprice is it. The G8 was the earlier concept car including the integrated touch screen. The shots with the shotty in the seat pocket is it.

[2002 Caddy]

Originally Posted by blaksabb

Zeta debuted in AU in '06 and is based on the Sigma chassis which debuted in '02 in the US and is still a very competitive platform. The old Statesman/Caprice/Commodore/Monaro/GTO sprang from the Opel Omega (nee Catera) chassis which has been around since at least '96... not much commonality other than the RWD layout and general size.

It debuted in 06 but the design of Zeta was started in 1999 by Holden. It was needed to replace the V-body platform underpinning their Commodore. It was to be a "world" platform... but has proven to be a bit of a challenge to transplant it in North America. (or anywhere else for that matter)

This must make sense to someone.... But this is still "no soup for you" marketing... how does that make anyone happy?

Hoo Woo maybe around 2013 GM will sell one of these to you or I.... Til then we will just keep this platform on life support.

I would be better if GM just stuck to its guns for once ... killed this platform and made a committment (one that it keeps this time) to build a Large RWD sedan in North America that we can actually buy. The existance of this police car means that there will be NO RWD sedan that we can buy for at least 2 maybe 3 years...

[YupYupYup]

- Amazing how the boring Crown Vic still looks good as a police car all these years, and even bests this "newer" looking car.

- grill sucks and looks out of place on a blacked-out police package

- light bar does not integrate as nicely as some of the newer versions for Vic and Impala

- center stack: you are seeing the future of GM and other cars...One big screen is now easier to engineer, up date and fit in a car. In the near future, you will see a mix of gauge and center-stack screens...The cheap cars will just get a big old screen, while luxury cars will have wood and other premium materials and shapes around it. Next Vette for sure has screens only. A couple of other vehicles are starting to implement them now.

But, hey, it is just a police car. ;-)