As the Malta Police Corps – one of the oldest in the world – prepares for special celebrations marking its 200th anniversary next July, one of the main spotlights falls on the Transport Section in Floriana, where the story unfolds as to how the boys and girls in blue eventually got off their horses and bicycles and started using more modern means of transport.
The initial police units used horses and, later, bicycles in their law enforcement duties. With the arrival of the four-wheeler, the first recorded, specific police car, seen in Ohio, the US, in 1899, was battery operated and equipped with electric lights, gongs and a stretcher.
The first recorded police car in Malta dates back to 1920, when a Crossley was delivered for use by then Corps Commissioner Col Henry Bamford and senior staff.
This high-quality, hand-made model was manufactured by the Manchester firm of Crossley Motors between 1904 and 1938 and became known as the No. 1 or Flag Car – driven only on special occasions.
Its distinctive registration number, 300, has been kept and is still displayed on the current Commissioner’s car.
The first recorded police car in Malta dates back to 1920, when a Crossley was delivered by Col Henry Bamford
The arrival of this vehicle and a few others for the Force meant the setting up of a Police Motor Transport section, which now boasts a facility that caters for the maintenance and logistics of a modern fleet, comprising over 350 cars and motorcycles.
Inspector Anthony Agius, head of section, says that this unit was always very near the police headquarters, wherever they were sited. “The first section was at the Knights Hall, now the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, where the Police were housed between 1919 and 1941.
“The war necessitated a move to a safer area, and they relocated to Vincenzo Bugeja Institute in Fleur de Lys, where they stayed until 1954. They then moved to the former Central Hospital in Floriana, where the section operated from a large basement garage under the headquarters until it moved to its current site in Notre Dame ditch in 1974.”
Mr Agius points out that from the late 1920s, the various sections of the Force started to harness an increasing number of four and two-wheelers for their daily operations, which started to cover more areas of responsibilities.
The vehicles were mainly Ford, Austin, Vauxhall, Opel, Bedford, Fiat and Land Rovers; and they were used for wide-ranging tasks, including road patrols, prisoner transport, the dog section, the cavalry division, anti-riot, mobile police, fire fighting and hearses.
Until Independence, all police vehicles were provided by the British military services after being deemed surplus to their requirements.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of these vehicles were either scrapped or sold by auction when their time was up. As crime and criminals improved their methods, the police had to keep abreast with developments; this also meant acquiring the latest and fastest car models.
A few classic cars, however, were bought by people who had the foresight of realising that these were part of the national heritage and restored them to pristine condition.
The Transport Section eventually started to set aside some old vehicles, with the idea of setting up a Police Transport Museum, an initiative that was positively embraced after the project materialised.
This museum, which was established in 1994, includes some aspects of former police transport, like the original Flag Car 300 number plate, a horse cart, a hand-driven, fire-fighting foam cart, two old motorcycles and six old bicycles – the bicycle was still in use by the police in some villages up to the early 1990s to deliver court summons or urgent messages.
One of the main promoters of the Police Transport Museum is Inspector Agius, who has a never-ending list of stories about classic cars in this section.
“I joined the Corps as a Police Constable and soon afterwards, was posted as a mechanic to this section way back in 1979,” he recalls.
“With the exception of some years working in districts, I have always been employed here, so I know it like the back of my hand.”
Besides being a walking encyclopaedia on former police cars, he also has an extensive computer database as well as numerous photo albums on this subject.
The Police Transport Section is appropriately nestled and scattered in the vast ditch that meanders around the Notre Dame bastions in Floriana, built by the Knights as the first line of defence for the capital.
Mr Agius opens a number of garages, some of which were used as maintenance workshops for the Malta railway, as well as for the overnight accommodation of its carriages. Inside, one finds 13 classic vehicles, which form the nucleus of the planned Transport Museum.
There are two Volkswagen Beetles, dating from 1955 and 1965, as well as a Jetta, which goes back to 1982. One also finds a Fiat 128 from 1975 and a Fiat Regata from 1982. A Hillman Hunter came off the Malta Car Assembly line in Marsa in 1968.
There are also a Ford Cortina Mark 1V from 1982, a 1981 Ford Granada, which was harnessed as a Flag Car, and a 1975 Land Rover.
Prior to the 1970s, the colour of police cars was black, which then changed to dark blue. Fire fighting was done by the police between 1939 and 1997, and a bright red 1955 Land Rover fire engine, lovingly nicknamed Granny, is a throwback to that era.
Another interesting heavy vehicle is a 1955 Humber Pig, a lightly armoured, anti-riot truck used by the British army. The authorities im-ported six Humber Pigs in the late 50s, but they never saw action here.
Only 1,700 Pigs were built; its name derives from the shape of the bonnet, which resembles a pig’s snout, as well as its unrefined driving characteristics, despite housing a Rolls Royce engine. A 1977 large Bedford transport truck, which used to carry police horses, completes this trio of heavies.
The Transport Section also used to service the Prime Minister’s official car, which in the 1960s and 1970s was always an Austin Princess.
The last Princess, a 1960 model, is still to be found in one of the section garages, after being harnessed by the first two Prime Ministers of Malta after Independence.
Some of these classic vehicles are in good shape and roadworthy and come to life once a year on July 12, when the Corps celebrates Foundation Day.
They are exhibited alongside former old police cars, now in the hands of individuals who have restored them.
Mr Agius acknowledges the fact that there is a lot of hard work to rehabilitate the rest of the Transport Section collection.
“My dream is that all the old police vehicles still in our hands will be restored and housed under one roof,” he says.
www.oldmotorsclub.com
info@oldmotorsclub.com