Doug is the type of guy to say we can’t buy a car, but then post it on Cars & Bids…

The speedometer check is absolutely related to it being a police vehicle, as pacing is one way to record someones speed for writing a ticket. As such, the speedometer needs to be certified and calibrated to ensure accuracy, as if it wasn't, the ticket would be able to be thrown out of court.

Doug's the type of guy to sit in the back of a police car and tell the officer about its quirks and features.

There's a near 100% chance I worked on assembly for that exact car. I was in paint across various processes at that time. Fun trivia, we also used to export these as Daewoo Veritas and they were classed as limousines. The rear seats were massaging, which is contrasting irony for some of the seats in the Caprice PPV which were plastic with handcuff recesses. And a correction for Doug: The Left hand drive wasn't a conversion done in the US, these cars were build that way from body assembly, swapping out panels like the firewall for mirrored variants. Interior LHD variants were also all fitted here. They were fully drivable LHD off the line.

There are a lot of things wrong in this video that are made up. 1. That is a 9c1 (patrol model) not 9c3 (detective model). Look at the decal (SPID). This car has the rubber floor instead of carpet, police rims instead of the full hubcaps, somebody removed the spotlight as you can see with the hole inside the A pillar trim and patched outside A pillar, and this car had a cage installed as the wear marks give it away. 2. They come from the factory with a Caprice badge on the rear. Someone removed it on yours. 3. That console did not come from the factory. From the factory they come with a bare plate for agencies to mount their equipment to. So the previous agency installed that console and the reseller probably installed that armrest/cupholder. Where they put the swinging cover probably held the radios and lighting/siren controls. Also most laptop mounts are a plate on the passenger seat front mounting bolts with a post that runs up next to the console. They are hardwired in. 4. The certified speedometer is just for the police market. Most law enforcement vehicle manufacturers include this feature for speed patrol use. 5. The rear seat isn't real leather. Its fake. That is factory. 6. That vehicle was used for patrol use. It had a cage in it, spotlight, was marked, etc. Typical police setup.

The speedometer is specific to the police model. In order to issue a citation based on the officer's speed, their speedometer needs to be certified.

Australian here... 1. The Holden Statesman and Caprice are two different specs on the same platform, the Caprice being the top of the range. They used to be the car of choice for our Prime Minister and all VIP and chauffeur cars. 2. The Caprice/Statesman are a long wheel base models. The Pontiac GTO and the Chevrolet SS were based on the regular wheel base Holden Commodore. 3. The speedo calibration is part of the 9C1 Police Pack and this absolutely was a patrol vehicle. Debadging a vehicle isn't hard and was done some time after manufacturing. Plently of pics online of service Caprices with the badging they came with. 4. The side "vents" were never vents. They are where the side indicators are in regular models. 5. Engine covers are often removed as they create heat soak and lower the power. 6. They were never used by the Australian Police services. We used the Commodore models, including the higher spec models. It's a sad indictment on Doug that since he sold out for 8 figures, he obviously hasn't put as much effort into the videos as he once did.

When these first came out, there was a dealer that managed to convert a few of these into civilian vehicles, and sold them to the general public. GM caught word and put a stop to that. Regular Car Reviews also did a good review of it years ago too.

Fun fact, on these cars you could get either engine for the same price. There wasnt a price jump for the V8.

You always say the cruise control on the stalk is weird but that’s where all the cars had it until steering wheel button became mainstream.

I was an officer when these were still being sold new. They did have badging on the rear. There was a Chevy bow tie dead center on the rear facing surface of the trunk lid, and a “Caprice” badge lower left under the chrome bar. Great cars. Handled like an early 2000’s BMW but was much quicker off the line and sounded fantastic.

i got pulled over by one of these about 5 years ago. guy gave me warning and was super chill, but i remember looking at the police cruiser and not knowing what type of car it was. I'm a car guy like most of you and usually know any car on American roads pretty well, so it stuck out to me that I did not recognize it. but I soon forgot about it and moved on with life. This video has jogged my memory and now I am happy to have closed that loop. I got pulled over by a 6.0L chevy caprice haha Thanks, Doug!

This is technically not a detective model as it has a vinyl floor and offset shifter it’s considered a 9c1, this was probably a detective car since it’s all blacked out doesn’t look super beat up, and only has just over 70k miles on it,but you can tell the car at least had a spotlight by the hole in the driver side a pillar, you can also see the wear on the back of the front seats and the indent on the floor from rubbing against a partition,the 9c3 is the detective model it has carpet and and a normal center console, the 9c3 was discontinued starting the 2014 model year and all caprices came with the vinyl floor.

The certified speedometer message doesn't mean it's being checked every time the car is started. It is specific to police vehicles and is required because often times, an officer will match the speed of a vehicle and follow it for a while before pulling it over for speeding. When the patrol car's speedometer is certified, it's just as valid as a laser or a radar in court.

I've been a cop for over 20 years and first off I can say that Certified Calibration is not normally used for pacing since that is pretty much viewed as archaic now. It can be used to judge the approximate speed another vehicle is going but most certainly is not used for writing speeding tickets anymore. It can be used for other things as reckless or aggressive driving. But the fact also is that the speedometer is calibrated from the factory with the tires that came on the vehicle. Once the tires were changed the speedometer had to be recalibrated which almost none of them were. In addition the particular exhaust on this vehicle is most certainly not stock. I drove many of these V8 cars and none of them sounded like that, nor did the exhaust have chrome tips. And you can definitely tell this car had a cage in it as some point in it's life due to the damage and indentation on the backs of the front seats. The cruise control on these vehicles contrary to what some may think is very useful and got used a lot in different departments. Since most departments ordered these vehicles in bulk they could be assigned to divisions such as inmate transport which almost requires cruise control. Because if you ever drove 600 miles to pickup an inmate from another facility wearing a vest and 40 pounds of gear, the last thing you want to do is have to drive a car with no cruise control. But, the fact remains that most of the ones that came to our department spent more time in the shop than on the road. Engines were a big issue. the cylinder deactivation on these always inevitably failed. And when it did it required an engine out. Any other parts that were needed had to come directly from Australia. I remember a car was dead lined for 6 months once because it needed a front fender. These cars were good in concept but after a couple years of buying them we switched to Explorers.

Doug twitching and gesturing like Elmo having a seizure.

You can definitely buy these as decommissioned police vehicles

Doug, the Pontiac G8 wasn't a Caprice, it Was a Lumina or Commodore.

Australian here - I have a 2015 Commodore ute that was originally a police vehicle. The lights and sirens were not drilled into the roof, but secured on a rack to the roof, and probably had a shell over the tray. It has two batteries behind the seats, one which ran the L & S. Inside, it's fairly basic but not as basic as the Caprice in this video. It came with steelies, but I swapped them for matt black alloys and a hard lid on the tray. It was a year old with 60000 kilometres on it and has so far been a great car that I cannot replace as they aren't made anymore. The "utes" they sell now don't have a 7ft tray like mine and as I use the length to carry things, I don't know what I will replace it with in the future.

Thanks Doug. I'll just add that the Pontiac G8 and Chevy SS was the Australian Holden Commodore, with the standard wheelbase. The Chevy Caprice was based off the Australian Holden Statesman/Caprice, which was a long wheelbase luxury version of the Commodore. The Caprice name was used by Holden in Australia for it's top spec luxury model.

I have a cammed one making 500hp. They were built 15k of them from 2011-2017. A lot of them do have a Caprice badge on the rear, as mine does also. Great cars. Fun as hell. One of the best cars I've had.

The G8 and the Chevy SS are both based on the Commodore, the SWB car the Caprice is based on. Interesting that for our Aus markets, the Caprice and its Statesman brother were both luxury version of the Commodore/G8/SS, but the US got the luxury version stripped down as a police car and Australia never used the Caprice in any police capacity.

Doug you should absolutely come down to Australia and review all our cars It'll absolutely change how you feel about the Caprice (Statesman) as you'll be able to actually drive a nice example and not some beat up cop car

The Holden Caprice was the last patrol car I used before retiring from law enforcement. They were faster, handled better, had better brakes, and had better leg room in the rear, but they were much more fragile than the Crown Vic it replaced.

Fun fact, here in Canada we machined the engine blocks for these cars, then shipped them to Australia. Agile block machining was our departments name and we specifically called the 6.0 a "W" block, the machining line was built in 1994 and it was run until the early winter of 2017. Very nolstelgic to see this engine!

These definitely came with a chevy emblem on the rear... this one just happens to be de-badged. I love you Doug, but that's a 3 second google search before you say it's because of cost cutting.

Had these in in our Police department from I believe 2012 till about 2015. A few older guys are still rolling with theirs today. They are dead reliable and a true sport sedans in disguise. Touch and hold the traction control button for a few seconds and that completely disengaged the traction control if you desired to do so lol. But beware, these things had a tendency (at least in my experience) to react very slowly to counter-steer then VIOLENTLY snap back. Overall the Caprice is a car that I really miss. Lot of good times and good memories in that car. Now I’m a detective and sit at a desk and drive a Hyundai Kona 😂 (it’s an undercover vehicle).

And us Aussies didn’t use them as police cars in Australia. They were built and sold as the luxury version of the Holden. We used the Holden commodore SS as pursuit cars here..

The calibrated speedo is so that people can’t appeal speeding fines based on a technicality

waiting for the Lotus Carlton review

The steel wheels weren't for cost-savings. These police-only steel wheels are rated for impact survival with curbs to a given speed rating, which happens to patrol cars. Same goes for these type of wheels on previous USA Caprice PPVs, it was an option under the 9C1 police package with the suspension upgrades, bigger alternator, etc. These heavy-duty wheels also had unique center cap mounting bolt holes compared to other steelies of inferior construction.

Big fan of the vinyl flooring actually so much easier to clean

I put 50k miles on a 2014 6.0 v8 with the updated interior. It was a fantastic car with comfortable seats, huge back seat, and so much power. I begged admin to let me keep it but was eventually forced into a trash Ford Explorer. Absolutely tragic!

I just purchased a Tahoe PPV yesterday. Damn cool that you can buy these things in Govt. auctions.

You forgot the best quirk, stealth mode! Push both + and - buttons for the dash light adjustment, and it turns off all interior and dash lights besides the speedometer. My favorite feature on my G8!

These were quite popular in the Gulf region even if they weren't as well regarded as the once loved 80s and 90s Caprices. 4 trim levels were available here: LS, LTZ, SS and Royale, with the LS being a bare bones fleet spec car with similar interior to the USDM PPV while the Royale is far more luxurious and closer to the Holden Caprice equivalent. While a V6 was available for the LS during the years 2007-2010, the 6.0 V8 became standard on all models since 2011 so it became the cheapest new GM car with an LS/LT engine.

Doug is the kinda guy to get pulled over by a state trooper who turns out to be a fan of his channel and get asked to do a review of their car in exchange for forgetting to give him a speeding ticket

This is known as the WM caprice, still on the zeta platform but different from the VE and VF commodores mentioned at the start . We got the G8 as the Chevy Lumina/ss in the middle east and the Caprice as a Chevy model which only ended production in 2016. Our SS came with sunroofs as standard which is how you can differentiate them from regular models

The Caprice is the long wheel base version of the Pontiac G8 and Chevy SS. They are built on the same platform, Caprice is just slightly longer as it was developed by Holden as its luxury model. These were built in Aus from 2006-2017. The Caprice in the video is from the 2010-2013 generation and majority of the dashboard is from the base, short wheel based model Commodore, even the touch screen.

Most of the features Doug is pointing out are what base model VE Commodores have. The speedometer check, the systems menu on the cluster, the map and navigation buttons that don’t do anything. They might be specific to that car in the U.S, but all those things are just what a VE/VF Holden Commodore Omega/Evoke does. Just thought as an Australian who’s owned plenty of these, that would be good to let some of the U.S viewers know, it’s not police specific. It’s commonly known in Australian that all Commodores have “Cop Mode”. Where you can press a sequence of buttons and every light in the entire car turns off except the speedometer. Like a stealth mode. You can also go into “Engineering Mode” where it shows you things like your exact RPM, Hours spent idling, and other even more detailed information. Pretty cool stuff all local Commodores have! I’m fairly sure most modern Ford Falcons can do the same.

Doug the kind of guy to charge fans 50 bucks for a signed photo of himself.

The speedo check is there for a purpose. The officers can catch up to a car they are chasing and see how fast the speeder is actually going. These don't have any bias like some other civilian cars that over report your speed. It helps to write speeding tickets. Civilian cars don't have that.

My wife drives a top of the line holden caprice here in Australia. The final 2017 model that's been decked out I'm every optional that holden offered. She always wanted air ride suspension so we just installed a Limo air ride kit and its definitely a plush ride. I also added a exhaust cup out while the car was off the road ans now she can operate the valve on the exhaust via a key fob. I have the final maloo holden ute and the final vf holden wagon and a 2005 cv8 holden monaro (Pontiac gto). I took the LSA supercharged v8 out of the ute and installed it in the monaro and now the ute has a crate LSX running a Harrop supercharger. The monaro is being customized and is off the road but isn't far off being completed. The wagon has a built supercharged LS3 is a completely customised wagon from its one off dash to the full leather interior and custom interior lighting including the roof starlights like the rolls Royce has that my kids wanted. And also has remotoperated opening doors and remote starting. I ditched the automatic in favor of a tremec manual. I definitely love these cars and I doubt I will ever sell them

The modern Caprice is the long wheel base version of a Holden Commodore. The G8 and Chevy SS were based on the Commodore, specifically the VE SSV for the G8 and VF SSV for the SS. The Holden Statesman is what the Caprice was called here in Australia for years until they changed it to Caprice. The HSV team also built suped up versions of the Statesman/Caprice with the HSV Grange.

Doug should’ve drifted it Saudi style

Doug is the type of guy to say that you can't get a certain car in the United States while standing in front of, reviewing, and then auctioning said car. Love you Doug.😁

Doug the reason there is no storage or fold down armrest in back is to reduce any areas where a person can conceal items while being transported, the officer would otherwise have to search every storage pocket with each crim they put in their car. Love your videos and hope to see more Australian cars.

The PPV shares its dash with the cheaper swb VE Commodore (actually Chevy Lumina in LHD markets). Whereas the Holden version of the PPV that was sold along side the VE used a different dash

As a PO.. I had one of these as police car and it was glorious! Car was super fast, handled awesome and was hard to outrun! Absolutely loved it! Now don’t get me wrong, the crown Vic was quick and robust, but going from a crown Vic to a caprice was like going from a ‘75 Cadillac Eldorado to ‘03 Porsche GT3!

Ive beeen waiting for the day u would review a police car. Now just do a Crown Victoria or a Explorer.

I live in Australia and own a Holden Caprice. The Caprice here was a long wheel base luxury sedan. It was actually Holden’s top of the line model. Most were bought by the government to chauffeur around our prime minister, parliamentarians and dignitaries. Holden ceased production in 2017 and my car is an end of production 2017 model. The end of era Caprice had the potent LS3 6.2L V8 engine. It’s the most comfortable highway cruiser being LWB, supple suspension and V8 powered.

I got one. A super sleeper with some engine and suspension mods. Great value for a fun rare daily

My buddy in Florida has one of these that has had all of the police stuff removed and converted to civilian. It's badass

As an owner of a 1991 Capri, its a Chef's kiss moment that Doug got the Brand wrong. No notes!

I absolutely love the Caprice PPV. I've wanted one for the longest time and it's my most wanted car right behind the Excursion, which I actually got one of those 7 months ago. Now I gotta get me a Caprice.

I still see these in use all the time in Georgia. Love seeing them driving around

An Australian Caprice? Man, this looks awesome! Also, it's related to the Chevy SS, so it's also pretty quirky, interesting and cool, not just by its quirks, but also because of its backstory. Awesome police car!

The instant fuel read out will change to MPG once you start moving. It's a GM Europe thing, my Opels do the same, at standstill it measures litre/hour and once you move it switches to litre/100km

When I lived in Eureka, Missouri, our police department had one and I always thought it was the coolest police car. Then when I moved to Kansas, one of the local departments had a Caprice PPV as well. I was able to sit in one and the officer let me take a look at it. He said he liked the Crown Vic, but said the Caprice was a nice experience to drive.

I saw a Holden badged one driving around Austin. As an Australian, it put a smile on my face.

IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS THANK YOU DOUG!!!!!!

I love how the cars & bids ad says it's a 6 speed manual while the one Doug shows is an automatic.

My local PD still has one of these in it's auxiliary fleet, and a couple detective cars. Love seeing them around.

That flat space was for mounting radio and light/siren! Computers are mounted on a stalk that is partially adjustable! The big dome light also lights up red only to preserve your night vision!

was this car painted at Maaco with the $199 special?

@Doug DeMuro the Caprice PPV did come with "CAPRICE" on the back left of the trunk, under the silver moulding. The "Certified Speedometer" used to be printed on the cluster, before they went digital. They have to be certified, for high speed chases. Non-Police vehicles are upwards of 10% inaccurate. With the certification, I think it gets cut down to less than 1%.

This is exactly the type of car content i want on this Channel, Real quirky stuff

In Australia the domestic VE Series II Commodore had the NAV and MAP buttons fitted even if the particular car wasn't fitted with navigation.

Due to the lack of parts...my local Chevy dealer has 3 of these in the back lot, in which they are cannibalizing for parts to repair the local police cars.

I think Chevrolet and GM would've had great success with the Caprice if they allowed us Americans to have a civilian model. I bet a lot of older people would have bought it instead of searching for a new Buick or Cadillac in today's time. This car would've brought back memories for a lot of folks and I do believe it would have sold. They could've put a detuned 6.0/6.2 in a luxury oriented form.

Only 2011 to 2017. I saw one brand new at the international auto show. 6.0 LS with the LS3 top end with posi rear drive I was in love. Same drive train as a G8 GT but with Flex fuel. And alot cheaper. Sleeper!

Hey Doug! An interesting quirk I noticed while you were driving is how the shoulder strap isn't adjustable.

When I first started seeing these it was like what’s this chiseled impala lol 😂😂😂

By looking at the Service Parts Identification label on the trunk lid I can see L77 for the 6.0L Gen IV all-aluminum V8 with rectangle port heads, AFM, 10.4:1 compression ratio, 362 HP, and 391 ft/lbs. of torque. I also see GW8 4.10 rear axle ratio; G80 limited-slip differential; MYC 6L80 6-speed automatic transmission. It's a great package of equipment for the powertrain. And of course, we see the 9C1 police package.

I remember back in 2011 or 12 I used to do custom work for the Chevrolet dealership in Rock Hill SC and RHPD was changing from crown Vic’s to Caprices and tahoes, and the fleet salesman was a rad dude and they accidentally ordered a caprice in fire engine red so it was being sent back but first he took me for ride in it and let me tell ya this car is absolutely no slouch! Very impressed at how fast it was

The dome light turns red. The speedometer check is to calibrate the speedometer for traffic stops. Not sure if it would stand up in court, though.

To clarify, this isn't a detective spec car, it might've been used as one but it has the 9c1 option code, which is for police spec, not detective spec. Detective spec also has the same center console as a Pontiac G8.

Damn Doug, this car has to be worth all of about $2000. Where’d you find a gem like that?

I actually got to ride in one of these (as a police car) with a cop around their full test track and it actually handled really well. It was very impressive.

Thanks for the engine rev Doug

my friend owns one, it’s super fun.

Love the doughnut compartment under the arm rest

I love my 2013 PPV. I did a cam, kooks pipes, a tune, a camaro rearend, 3200 stall converter. I dyno'd at 420 at wheels. And I can run ethanol since is a fleet car.

I love the 1 MPH increments on the speedometer. It's a great way to identify former police vehicles.

An interesting detail about this generation of the Caprice that I just couldn't help but notice is that the taillight housings look awfully similar to the Impala's taillights at the time just slightly thinner.

Doug the type of guy to tell people a car for sale on cars and bids can't be bought in the video title.

I have an 09' Pontiac G8 GT that I snagged last summer. Phenomenal car was glad to get my hands on one.

In Australia, the Holden Commodore was the short wheelbase version. Available in sedan, station wagon and truck/ute body styles. The Holden Statesman/Caprice was only available in a long wheelbase sedan body style.

When this was made the Caprice name in aus was exclusively the long wheelbase version. The Commodore name was the core model which is what was what the vast majority of personal buyers went for. While the caprice could be sent was bought be the general public the primary buyers appeared to be the gov as state cars for pollies and limousine companies/drivers. There was also a lower spec version of the lwb called the statesman (think statesman = crown vic, caprice = lincoln town car). There was also a worked version by hsv called the grange. Most cop cars on the other hand were either Commodores, or fords' version, the "Falcon". I don't think they prioritised giving their passengers extra legroom.

Doug is the type of guy to rank a clapped out police cruiser equal to a chevy ss and only slightly less cool than an AMG or V10 powered S6

I had a 2014 PPV from 2016-2022. Upkeep was beginning to get expensive and parts difficult to find. Loved that car and miss it... moved onto a 2022 Camry TRD in Calvary Blue :)

The Caprice in Australia was a LWB sedan. From 1988 onwards, it was a Holden Commodore sedan stretched over the station wagon variant's longer wheelbase- good for the police adding a cage between the front and rear seats to contain perps. That Mercury Capri is a Ford KN Laser convertible designed and made in Australia, hence the "6" on the VIN. The initial Laser hatch was a re-worked Mazda 323.

I really appreciate Doug because he has come a long way despite his intellectual disability 👍🏼

Doug is the type of guy

I worked on these cars for a Police department back in the day.. They were awesome!

I have a 2015. It came from the US Dept. of commerce. 🤔 Every window was completely blacked out it has no holes in the body. On the inside it has a few screw holes in the interior from hidden lighting. Its a lot of fun. 😃 I've done a Holden conversion with a Holden grille, Holden wheels and badging. I put a full Solo unrestricted exhaust and installed an OTR cold air intake. There's still a lot I want to do with it. However I have locked in a top speed of 153 MPH so far.

My 1991 caprice had the Cruze control in the same place.

I seen one at a car show in Orland Park, Illinois.

Dougie enjoying this moment and driving around like an FBI agent 😎😃

Love my ''''''no frills" 2012 caprice. I added leather g8 seats, front and back, and camaro center console.