IT IS perhaps one of the coolest police cars you could wish to be pulled over by.

The 1960 MGA Roadster on display at the Lakeland Motor Museum was one of around 50 supplied to the Lancashire Constabulary for traffic patrol duties.

There’s even a rare photo of this particular vehicle in action with the Lancashire Constabulary. The image was taken on the A6 Preston to Lancaster Road, near Forton, in Lancashire.

The wonderful image was kindly supplied to the museum by Glen Fairweather when he discovered it in a collection of slides he bought at an auction over in America.

Maybe it was a holiday snap captured by an American tourist. It’s now a lovely window into times long since passed.

In Lancashire, the MGA Roadster police cars were divided into white (A Class) and black (B Class) contingents.

They were 1600 Deluxe/Twin Cam models but with drum rear brakes instead of discs.

They also had extended battery carriers which were needed to supply power to additional electrical equipment including the front Police sign and a public address megaphone.

The engine was known to be temperamental but could go from 0-60mph in 9.1 seconds.

The top speed was 113 mph and fuel consumption was only 27 miles per gallon.

The MGA has a long heritage. Cecil Kimber constructed the first MG car in 1923 using a Morris Oxford chassis.

The MGA replaced the T-type cars and was first launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1955.

It was ultimately replaced with the MGB in 1962 after a production run of just over 100,000 units. The majority were exported with only around 6,000 supplied to the home market.

The museum’s vehicle has two uniformed mannequins aboard and offers a lovely reminder of a time when roads were perhaps a little less crowded – and even police traffic patrols had a touch of style.