The idea of ​​turning a confiscated Ferrari supercar into a police car caused a stir last week, and the news even made it to leading foreign newspapers. How much did the project of the Czech police cost and won’t our security forces be blacklisted by the famous car company?

The police confiscated the originally red Ferrari F 142 – 458 Italia ten years ago as part of a raid in Prague, during which they went after a group of people who committed tax crimes. The car belonged to one of the bosses, who were supposed to prepare the state by cutting taxes by hundreds of millions of crowns. The sports car then waited in storage for many years (which is why it has driven only 2,000 km) before the police showed interest in it, to which it was transferred free of charge by the Office for State Representation in Property Matters.

This week, the police presidium informed that a new police officer is starting his service with the traffic police. The Presidium spokesman specified for the Echo24 newspaper that the car will be driven specifically by police officers from the newly established special surveillance department, which falls under the traffic police and has two headquarters: in Prague and Prostějov, while the Ferrari is supposed to go on a hunt for road pirates from a garage in Prague’s Vršovice.

Police presidium spokesman Jakub Vinčálek told Echo24 that only specially experienced police officers will drive the Ferrari.

According to the director of the traffic police service, Colonel Jiří Zlý, the police expect to use the Ferrari against “the most aggressive pirates of Czech roads”. He also wants to use the car’s potential in the pursuit of stolen vehicles passing through neighboring countries. The car will probably also serve as part of various promotional events and prevention – for example on highways.

A refurbished Ferrari for half a million

As soon as the information about the police intervention of the Italian stallion appeared in the media, speculation immediately arose about the cost of driving and also the operation of the car. The police stated that the vehicle cost less than, for example, a new Škoda Scala car (roughly over 300,000 crowns).

In reality, the cost is slightly higher, although not by much. The police paid 340,000 crowns for the necessary modifications (i.e. repainting in police colors, equipping with radar, radio, etc.), and 130,000 crowns for the initial costs associated with putting the car into operation after storage, so a total of roughly 470,000. To this, it is necessary to add the costs associated with Regular Service, which the police presidium estimated at 25,000 crowns per year. Mandatory liability or accident insurance for police or other IZS vehicles does not apply according to the law, otherwise the insurance alone for such a car would climb into the hundreds of thousands.

What is certain, however, is that the car will not survive over time without higher investments stemming from wear and tear – for tires (higher than tens of thousands), for brakes, even hundreds of thousands.

The police consulted the Italian car company about the plan

There have also been conjectures as to whether the Police of the Czech Republic, by changing the factory colors of the car to their own, did not commit a violation of the brand code — similar to, for example, the well-known Canadian singer Justin Bieber, who was recently blacklisted when he had his white Ferrari repainted in pearl blue. He then wanted to sell the car at an auction, which is also prohibited by the car manufacturer’s rules.

In response to a question from the editors, Presidium spokesman Jakub Vinčálek said that the police, with their intention, require the Italian Ferrari in advance and are not breaking the rules. “These are customers who are buying a new car, which we haven’t done. However, even so, we contacted Ferrari and announced the intention, so we did not break any code on our part.”

Police officers from the aforementioned nationwide unit (Special Surveillance Department of the Traffic Police Service), which was established at the beginning of the year, still drive fifth-series BMW cars or classic Skoda Superbs. Similar vehicles like Ferrari are also used by foreign security forces in Italy, Germany or Great Britain.