13.05.2004 Lamborghini have donated one of their Gallardo sportscars, complete with siren & flashing lights, to the State Police on the occasion of their 152nd anniversary

The Lamborghini Gallardo is not the first high performance sports car to enter service with the Italian police.

In 1962 the police in Rome received a brand new Ferrari 350 GTE, chassis no. 3999. With a 3.0-litre engine pumping out 235CV at 7,000rpm, this 1695kg 2+2 rocket could hit a top speed of 230km/h.

Painted jet-black it carried the insignia 'Flying Squad' on the doors and the numerical code, '555,555', the rapid response number of the Rome police.

It quickly became a strong friend of the police in their fight against crime, and its regular driver Marshal Armando Spatafora, who was born in Syracusa in 1927, ended up a legendary figure in Rome, after he heroically chased criminal after criminal around the streets of Italy's capital, always careful though to put the safety of the city's inhabitants first.

The Ferrari was retired from service in 1973 and now belongs to a private collector who has restored it to its original police condition.

material courtesy of the State Police & input from Pasquale Caterisano