Police handed Lotus Evora pursuit car

It isn't often that we envy the traffic coppers tasked with patrolling the M6, but we'd happily turn 'smoky' if it meant being handed the keys to West Midlands police's new motorway squad car.

The traffic unit has just received a Lotus Evora for a four-week evaluation. The 280bhp 3.5-litre V6 sports car has been cloaked in police livery and blue lights for the job.

The manufacturer has a history of handing out Exiges and Espirits for this kind of publicity stunt, but the idea of fantasy police 'interceptors' is so appealing that we're already picturing the Mad Max style pursuits which are surely occurring on the M6 toll road right now.

Of course the West Midland's officers didn't have anytime to let their imaginations run wild, and received the Evora with the practiced understatement common to all plod.

PC Angus Nairn said:"It's a very quick car and we hope it will prove an effective deterrent to anyone thinking of speeding or trying to outrun us...It has incredible performance yet still does around 30mph to the gallon. It will attract a lot of attention on the motorways but that is the whole idea - it will remind drivers of the need to keep to the speed limits at all times".

Not to burst Angus's bubble, but the speed limit isn't the first thing we think of when we look at the Evora.