- A Volkswagen Beetle police car? That’s bad news for bad guys—at least those trying to escape on foot.
- The car was on duty in Germany until 1986.
- Imported by Jerry Seinfeld, it has since made several TV appearances.
Picture it: the year is 1985, the place is Würzburg, Bavaria, and you’ve just taken delivery of your brand-new E28 BMW M5. You shift the manual gearbox into third, wind up that glorious inline-six through the rev range and—uh-oh. What’s this? Flashing blue lights in the rearview mirror, only they’re rapidly receding into the distance. This is Germany, though, not Hazzard County, and running from the law is verboten. It takes quite a while for the cops to show up.
Today’s pick from Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos—is a 1979 Volkswagen Beetle police car that is up for sale until Thursday, December 14. Yes, you heard that right: a 45-hp Beetle wearing a police officer’s uniform. Tremble in your boots, you denizens of the Teutonic criminal underworld.
This polizei-kaefer entered service in 1978 and operated as an actual cop car all the way until 1986. By that point, it almost surely was the mount you got assigned if you screwed up a big investigation or perhaps ran over the police commissioner’s dog.
As it was a genuine police service unit, all the expected accessories are present. It has a flashing blue light, that distinctive two-tone European police siren, and a PA system with which to plead, “Pull over! Please! Wait up!” There’s also a period-correct Telefunken police radio.
After many years in storage, this car was found by comedian Jerry Seinfeld and imported into the U.S. It appeared on an episode of his Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee show and was later featured on Jay Leno’s Garage and Spike Feresten’s Car Matchmaker.
The interior shows a little wear and tear such as authentic burn holes from officers smoking on duty, but the exterior was repainted a little over 15 years ago. It can’t be registered in California, but it would be a welcome addition to any VW collection anywhere else.
This no-reserve auction ends on December 14. Head on over to Bring a Trailer for your chance to have the slowest of patrols.
Contributing Editor
Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.