Nowadays, whenever we see a story about the Italian police force getting a new car to help them fight crime, we fully expect it to be some type of Lamborghini or fast Alfa Romeo, things of that nature.
Not this time though, as the Italian State Police (Arma dei Carabinieri) has added a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross to its fleet. The car was delivered this week to the General Command in Rome and will initially operate in both Rome and Milan.
As for how it’s going to be used, apparently it’s already been tasked with the transport of organs and blood, as well as cleared for institutional operational needs such as the protection of the territory.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first Mitsubishi model supplied to the Arma dei Carabinieri, as specially-equipped and armored Shoguns have previously been used in high-risk areas such as Afghanistan and Iraq, while the i-MiEV electric city-car has helped uphold the law in low-emission urban areas.
Right now, we don’t know if this Eclipse Cross model has been modified in any technical capacity for police duty, but if it’s stock, we can safely assume that it’s powered by a 1.5-liter turbocharged petrol unit, putting down 163 horsepower and 184 lb-ft (250 Nm) of torque.
Still, if you count those decals as actual mods, then yes, it does differ from a factory standard model thanks to its blue and red themed exterior. It also gains emergency vehicle lights, which was to be expected.
