Droop Snoot Group

SVS 666R - What might have been

There are a few questions from the past that are still openly discussed. Did Neil Armstrong really walk on the moon? Who was behind the assassination of JFK? Are UFO's real? All perhaps topical questions and everyone has their own opinion or spin on them, but what about this for a question: what if a British Police force used the Chevette HS as a traffic car?

SVS 666R on test with the police

Impossible? Maybe not. In September 1977 a Chevette HS, SVS 666R, was on loan with South Yorkshire Police. Traffic officer Christopher Tatlow, now retired, had the pleasure of using & abusing the HS with a view to using them as traffic cars.

Seeing my own HS (SFN 788S) took his mind back to 1977; his memories of the HS were of the superior performance & comfort of the small hatchback. In his own words, "the only car I've driven that would redline in top gear". The only reason the boys in blue didn't adopt it was that it was too small to carry the amount of equipment needed to carry out their duties.

Wearing period Avon Turbosports!

So what if the HS had been taken by the traffic police and the production run from Vauxhall had exceed the estimated 400 units? The maybes are endless. More cars and shells still around, albeit white with a thick red stripe. An endless parts supply, not to mention head linings with zips in them. Imagine the Professionals, Bodie & Doyle, in an HPF and HS instead of a Capri and RS2000; something to dwell on and discuss.

But would the HS have lost its credibility as a formidable rally car? Would it be better known today as part of police heritage? This is something we will never know.