Our favourite Aussie cop cars on TV

Cop shows on TV from around the world have frequently featured local models of cars used by the very police forces depicted in each episode.

Who could forget the Plymouth Belvedere from America's 'Adam-12', or the Rover SD1 from 'The Bill' in the UK?

Australia was no different. Our 'police procedurals' from as long ago as Homicide (1964) right through to Rush (2008) have been a showcase for local cars – some of them pretty mundane at the time, but now quite collectible.

We've got all teary-eyed with nostalgia compiling a list – not an exhaustive one – of some of those cars, including the plain-clothes jobs.

For the sake of simplicity, we've focused on just the purely fictional shows – no Blue Murder, for instance. And we didn't include Underbelly either, since that mainly portrayed crooks rather than coppers.

The grand-daddy of Aussie police shows was Homicide, a Crawford Productions series broadcast on the Seven Network right through to 1977 – a 13-year run.

Cars appearing on screen over the years included Ford Falcons (XP, XR, XT, XW, XY), HT and HG Holden Kingswood, VH Valiant (sedan & van), VJ Ranger sedan and Studebaker Cruiser.

Capitalising on the success of Homicide, Crawford Productions produced and sold Division 4 to the Nine Network, and the show ran from 1969 to 1975.

Set in an inner suburban police station in Melbourne, the show started out with HR, HT and HG Holdens, as well as Fords (XT and XY Falcons), before finishing with VH and VJ Chrysler Valiants.

Ironically, Division 4 star Gerard Kennedy years later recalled of the series that he became fit due to all the filmed chase scenes – on foot.

Matlock Police was yet another Crawford police series, but set in country Victoria. First airing in 1971, two years after Matlock Police debuted,

Matlock Police featured HK, HT and HG Holden Monaros, HK and HG Kingswoods, HG Belmont van, and VH and VJ Valiant Rangers (sedan, wagon).

Cop Shop was yet another show from the Crawford Productions stable, but one that promised more of a 'soapy' sensibility than the episodic Crawford shows broadcast previously.

Running on the Seven Network between 1977 and 1984, the show brought back VJ and VK Chrysler Valiant Ranger sedans to the small screen.

That led some to suspect Crawfords were getting a pretty good deal on new Chryslers at the time – and Chrysler was probably happy with the product placement in part exchange for cash.

On the rare occasion the Valiants on camera were asked to change direction at speed, they did so with much body roll and tyre squeal.

The ABC has occasionally broadcast well received police dramas, although some have edged closer to the truth than crime series shown on the commercial stations.

Phoenix was one such example, airing in 1992 and 1993. The series was loosely based on the Russell Street Police Station bombing from seven years earlier. Ford EA Falcons featured prominently throughout the series.

Two different shows focusing on rescuing people – Police Rescue from 1989 and Rescue: Special Ops from 2009 – drew on heavy-duty four-wheel drives to transport the troops.

Toyota's 60 Series LandCruiser featured in the former and the Nissan GU Patrol was the star of the latter.

Blue Heelers ran across 12 years from 1994, which was more than long enough to play host to a wide variety of cop cars – Fords seemingly more popular than Holdens.

In addition to the imported Explorer SUV, the Fords comprised different flavours of Falcon, including an XG divvy van, and EL, AU and BA sedans.

Holden also supplied VP and VR Commodores, and an 80 Series Toyota LandCruiser also appeared in police livery.

In 1996, Water Rats screened for the first time on the Nine Network and ran until 2001.

Although set on Sydney's harbour, the characters in the series did get around on land – in a succession of Mitsubishi, Ford and Holden products, including a TF Magna V6 wagon, TJ Magna Executive V6, EAII Falcon wagon, EL Falcon, AU Falcon Forte, VS Commodore and VT Commodore.

City Homicide was broadcast on the Seven Network between 2007 and 2011, with the detectives in that series driving AU and BF Falcons.

Relatively new to the local cop genre, SBS initially aired East West 101 during the same year as City Homicide, 2007. The 'lead' vehicle in the series was an early Ford Explorer.

Rush was broadcast on Network Ten over four seasons from late in 2008. The series followed the exploits of the Victoria Police Tactical Response team, which was a fictional rendering of the real-life Critical Incident Response Team.

In the series the characters drove Ford's SY-series Territory and the FG Falcon.

Sadly, the traditional Aussie cop show appears to have fallen out of favour in recent years.

Local crime shows are no longer appearing on the small screen. And coincidentally, new cars built in Aussie factories are no longer appearing on our streets.

The late Leonard Teale would be turning in his grave...

Images: Sourced from Crawford Productions