Watch the Ford Police Interceptor Evolve Over the Decades

Ford started offering police duty packages in its sedans 1950. To celebrate 67 years of patrolling mean streets and waiting in speed traps – and help introduce the Fusion-based Police Responder Hybrid, the first hybrid police car rated for pursuit duty – the people who gave us the Police Interceptor have put together an informative little animated clip tracking two-thirds of a century's changes.

Although the basic formula for a police car is long-established (sedan with a few well-chosen high-performance parts and interior features), it is still fun to watch the details of the concept's progression – from "24-hour duty" seats and cigar lighters to snarling big-block engines and evolutionary suspension tuning to today's stability control and rearview camera. Longtime police car fans will also have the opportunity to spot a number of familiar-looking paint patterns.

The Police Responder Hybrid is part of Ford's plan to roll out 13 different gas-electric vehicles over the next few years, including hybrid versions of the Mustang and F-150. The fuel-saving squad car will start pulling over motorists this spring.