It is not so very long ago that the mainstay of the Garda patrol car fleet was the Renault 4, a million miles away from a new vehicle that could just be the future of Police vehicles. The Carbon E7 is built in the USA and is said to be the world's first purpose-built law enforcement car.

The makers say interest in the vehicle has been great, with 10,000 advanced orders even before the price has been announced. It seems, features such as night vision cameras, radiation-detecting air ducts, voice control, backseat video and audio surveillance, and an automatic number plate recognition system are getting police forces excited. US forces hope to get their hands on the E7 in 2012.