“Ein Schaf im Wolfspelz” - a sheep in wolf’s clothing. That’s how some people described the Porsche 912. A flat four boxer, 1.6 litre engine. 90 DIN horse power. 11.5 seconds from 0-100 km/h. Top Speed 180km/h. That didn’t set the world on fire in 1967. By 2002, a Hyundai Getz would match that.
So all out performance was never the point of the 912. It was meant to bridge the gap in price between the outgoing 356 and the new 911. The engine came straight from the 356, and Porsche did not even raise the output to compensate for the heavier new body.
Initially, the 912 was a success even outsold the 911. And it was praised by the motoring press for its easy to control and nimble handling. The flat-six equipped 911 always had the reputation for being more difficult in that department.
Despite the performance handicap over its big brother, the 912 proved to be popular with various Police departments around the world. The Wiki page shows a Dutch Police 912. The 100,000th Porsche made was a 912, which was presented to Porsche’s local Police department - which just meant they couldn’t outrun Porsche’s loyal 911 customers...
And then there is this beautiful Japanese Police version. Now - try as I might, I cannot find any pictures of real Japanese Police Porsches on the web - but if someone can find some, I’d be happy to see them. However, Tomica have made several Police Porsches over the years, and they never have introduced fantasy stuff into the TLV line-up, so I am inclined to believe this is real.
Given my fondness for TLVs, Porsches and Japanese Police cars. it is no surprise that this one went straight to my “most wanted” list when released. And for some stupid reason, I was too slow and these sold out in a flash. Prices on the bay went from “bad” to “slightly terrifying” and I kept on kicking myself.
That was until Aussie Al kindly informed me that he was off to Japan and would I like anything? Well, I asked him if he could pick me up any Tomica Shop models he might encounter. He mailed back saying he was in the Tomica Shop in Osaka and they “only had the Porsche and Skyline Wagon Police versions, sorry there’s not more”. I nearly fell of my chair in the office - two of my Holy Grails right there and he apologizes for the lack of variety??? Give that man a medal!
So yeah, thanks mate and I’m more than a little happy with these! Das war’s fuer heute. And oh, that girl was let off without a ticket. The officer realized that there is no way that her Toyota Publica could have been breaking the speed limit.