Hong Kong Police Series III

The Hong Kong Police, a very British colonial force in its uniforms, equipment and vehicles, painted its post-war fleet in battleship grey. After the force was granted the 'Royal' title in recognition of its conduct during the 1967 disturbances, the livery changed to a dark navy blue carrying the Royal Hong Kong Police crest, and that navy blue became the signature of the force's Land Rovers for the next quarter century.

The long-wheelbase 109-inch Land Rover was the workhorse of district policing: the force ran hundreds of them, from Hong Kong Island and Kowloon out to the outlying island communities. Vehicles carried district markings - 'Western District' lettering, or plates such as 'KT' for Kwun Tong - alongside bilingual English and Chinese POLICE signage, with twin roof-mounted loudspeakers for public address and crowd control. A typical patrol crew was a constable driver with an inspector or sergeant alongside. The Series III, introduced by Land Rover in 1971 with its all-synchromesh gearbox and revised dash, succeeded the Series IIA in the fleet and served through the 1970s and 1980s.

In the 1990s the force's liveries diversified - white and navy schemes, navy with white roofs, and white with a red stripe and blue pinstripes - and the Series III patrol vehicles gave way to Land Rover Defender 90, 110 and three-axle models, which continue the Land Rover tradition in the renamed Hong Kong Police Force. The Series III is now listed as retired from the fleet, and the type survives mainly in photographs, models and film appearances from Hong Kong's cinema boom years.