Panda car

Panda car, or just panda, refers to a small or medium-sized marked British police car.

The term "panda car" was first used to refer to British police cars painted with large panels of light blue and white. In Britain, they were never painted black and white, so "panda" appears to be a reference to the cars as seen on popular British television shows, such as Z-Cars, via the medium of black & white TV which was commonplace at the time.

The first use of panda cars seems to have been in Lancashire Constabulary area in about 1965, the chief constable described the use of blue and white Ford Anglia panda cars in Kirkby in an article in The Times, on 26 January 1966.

These were blue with a white line painted around them. In 1967, the Dunbartonshire force bought two Hillman Imps (subsequently nicknamed Pinky and Perky) for escort duties on the A82 road; one blue and one white. The boot lids, bonnets, and doors were then swapped to create a panda car style scheme.

In the 1980s, police cars in the United Kingdom began to be ordered in white to save acquisition costs, usually with orange or red "jam sandwich" reflective stripes. Today, patrol cars use Battenburg markings or stripes, although many forces still use a mainly white colour scheme. The name panda car or panda is still sometimes used.

In many areas, the panda car replaced the traditional "bobby on the beat", when it was seen that larger suburban or rural areas could be more effectively patrolled by officers in cars, as opposed to on foot, bicycles, or motorcycles. The provision of shelter from the weather and a two-way radio were also benefits. The panda is distinct from the "area car", a larger and more powerful vehicle which acts as support to the beat constables, usually carrying two officers.

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