Police cars are a common sight across the country. They are driven by the distinguished men and women that keep us safe day to day. No matter how much we all appreciate the hard work that these officers do, every car enthusiast feels a twinge of panic when they see a police car driving down the road. Our love of cars leads us to do many things that would result in a ticket, whether that's driving too fast or modifying our cars too drastically. It isn't our fault - we know more about how the car works, therefore it's safe for us to drive above the speed limit! (disclaimer: it's not)

When you start to look into the technology that goes into these cars, you'll see that police cars are some of the coolest and most interesting rides on the road. Reinforced shocks, powerful engines, and advanced computers make for some pretty sweet cars. There's even a new technology called StarChase that fires a small GPS tracker from a compressed air cannon that attaches to cars being pursued so that police can safely back off.

With all of this available technology, modding culture slips into the world of police cars. While this mostly manifests in the form of visual modifications, such as big metal bumpers and raised suspension, there are all sorts that will be covered in this article. As with all modifications, there are bound to be some mistakes. You'll see the slip-ups, and you'll see some truly impressive police cars. Remember, these jokes are all in good fun!

25 Worse - Nice "Coop" Ya Got There

This retired police car took coupe to a whole new level and is now an actual chicken coop. It’s highly unlikely that any officer is using this car; however, if they were, their squad would have some additional members that happen to lay eggs.

They’ll write you a traffic ticket and serve you an omelet right after. While it might be cool to see an old car being kept out of a scrapyard and repurposed, it would look much better in a museum than crawling with chickens.

24 Beast - Fast And Furious

This Nissan GT-R has been modified to be one of the craziest police cruisers ever, and it looks like something straight out of Fast and Furious.

It appears to be built for high-speed pursuits: it has wide tires to keep it stable at high speeds, aero bits to make it even faster at high speeds, and a big bumper to ram cars that are trying to run from this monster. Nobody would try to run from this cop.

23 Worse - Bowl Of Noodles

While this police car’s days are likely spent in the showroom and not on the beat, it still doesn’t serve as an excuse for these weird rims. This modification has made the car worse, not better at all.

They look frail and weak, or perhaps golden yellow just like a bowl of noodles. Either way, this is not the intimidating and capable modification you’d expect to find on a police cruiser. Perhaps it’s for the best that this car remains off the road and in a showroom.

22 Beast - Classy Cops

This police car is even older than the first California Highway Patrol car, and it comes from California as well. It has all of the original lights restored, which is a beautiful touch and it very different from modern cruisers.

The chrome bumper is an interesting modification, and is obviously built for looks and not for functionality. While this is an obvious issue, we are able to forgive the owner of this car because it just looks so damn beautiful.

21 Worse - Howdy, Partner!

It should come as no surprise that this big Hummer is driven by a Sheriff that appears to be from Texas, where bigger is always better. Now, this is a powerful and capable vehicle, don’t get us wrong. However, it has been outfitted with large chrome rims that look ridiculous on something that is supposed to be professional.

This looks like something the officers take to the bar after a hard day’s work, not something that they use to proudly patrol the town and round up perps.

20 Beast - Ready For Anything

Talk about intimidating – this old Hummer has been modified to be one of the most powerful looking police cars we’ve ever seen. Big, chunky tires and a reinforced bumper make this Hummer look like it can plow through (and over) any obstacle to catch criminals, stop cars, or protect important personnel.

The black paint also intimidates criminals who would dare to go against this police department and is a ride that would be desirable to both cops and normal car enthusiasts alike.

19 Worse - Meals On Wheels

This police department took a playful approach to the idea that cops love to eat donuts. While most people peddle this job, the department took it in stride and decided to use this opportunity to do some funny public outreach.

However, this cruiser is going nowhere fast. These donut wheels don’t appear to have much traction, and will likely leave officers unable to drive to Dunkin’ Donuts. Appearance wise, these donuts look pretty tasty, so maybe this can be forgiven.

18 Beast - Wouldn't Want Them To Pull Me Over

Here, we have a pair of Dodge Challengers that have been modified to be pursuit vehicles, used for high-speed chases. They have nicer tires, reinforced steel doors, and sturdy rims. They are also undercover, which means that they could even goad rule breakers into a drag race and pull them over as you’ve probably seen on YouTube.

These modified vehicles would be the perfect addition to any police fleet because of their speed and stealthy ability to apprehend all criminals.

17 Worse - Take The Kids To Work Day

There are some benefits to using this Dodge Caravan in a police fleet, which are primarily stealth (due to the unmarked design) and practicality, as this vehicle can hold lots of people.

Unfortunately, this is practicality a big part of what brings it down. No one is intimidated by a minivan, especially this Dodge one. If this were to try and pull someone over for speeding, they’d probably just laugh and press their gas pedal a little bit harder.

16 Beast - The Big Daddy

The Ford Explorer is the SUV of choice for most police departments, next to the Chevy Tahoe. This one has many modifications that make it more intimidating and useful to officers, including bulletproof doors, a tweaked engine, and an advanced radar system.

You wouldn’t want to have this police car turn its lights on behind you because there would be absolutely nowhere to run. The metal bumper and flood light make this a formidable force and a solid addition to any fleet.

15 Worse - Fun-Size Cop Car!

This cute little Smart Car is a pint-size police car that looks like a piece of candy. Thankfully, this is not a pursuit or patrol vehicle, although many criminals probably wish that it was. Instead, it serves as a traffic cop car in New York City.

While its small size has many advantages in tight city streets, it doesn’t do much to intimidate criminals at all. If you were to walk up to your car receiving a ticket, you could just push this car over and drive away.

14 Beast - You Don't Wanna Run From This

This Dodge Charger would be an awesome addition to any patrol fleet. It’s a pursuit vehicle, which means that it is designed to be used in car chases and high-speed pursuits involving criminals. It has been modified to have a powerful V8 engine, which can easily propel it down the highway at rapid speeds.

You’d be hard-pressed to successfully evade this police car, and it would be unusual for a cop driving this to let someone they were chasing get away.

13 Worse - Dare To Choose A Different Car

This police department had the right idea when they went to draw attention to this program, but they went about it in the wrong direction. They put it on one of the worst cars in the automotive game, and it could be argued that the only “modification” that would make this better is for the police department to modify what vehicles they select for their fleet.

New rims that aren’t chrome, more intimidating bumpers, and a new paint job are what this PT Cruiser needs to be better.

12 Beast - Hot Pursuit

Here we have another beefed up cruiser that has been modified to be a pursuit vehicle. This means that it has a powerful new V8 motor to help it catch criminals at speed. It also has a slightly lowered suspension that makes it stable at high speeds and reinforced shocks for things that the car may hit.

This is certainly a cruiser that we’d like to get behind the wheel of, and one that no driver would want to see following them in their mirrors.

11 Worse - We Do-Nut Like This

Alright, the first one was cute, but this has got to stop. How many police cars are going to become immobile because of these donut wheels? These belong on a plate in front of me, not on the axles of a police car.

This modification may look pleasing to passersby until someone actually robs the nearest donut shop and the cops are stuck spinning their wheels. Everything about this car is great, but these wheels leave quite a bit to be desired.

10 Beast - Super Undercover

This is one stealthy police car, and it has us very impressed. This Skoda Superb is a very regular-looking estate car and not one that anyone would expect to harbor police lights and officers.

In fact, this is one of the best undercover cars we’ve seen because it is so unexpected. In the US, we give Impalas and Chargers a closer look because of their common use as police cars, but this Skoda would have had us completely fooled.

9 Worse - The Brits Do It Differently

This addition to a British police fleet may be one of the more interesting cars we’ve seen, but that doesn’t mean that it makes a good police vehicle. The Ariel Atom is an excellent car on the track, but in the real world, it likely will struggle.

It can’t be used to ram or pit any cars, due to the tiny nose and exposed wheels. It would also be kind of hard to take a criminal to the station in this, although maybe you could tie them to the body of the car.

8 Beast - Hey, Why Do They Get To Do That?

This nice Ford Crown Victoria has been modified a bit with some bolt-on components to the engine that give it some extra oomph. As you can see, it has also been modified to be pretty subtle.

The hidden lights on the side would indicate that this is probably an unmarked cruiser, and is pretty stealthy until it rams you with its massive metal bumper. Additionally, the impressive burnout that this car has managed to generate speaks to its powerful engine.

7 Worse - Weird Flex, But Okay

This is one weird police car, and definitely isn’t one that inspires fear in the hearts of bad guys. Instead, this is some Nissan sedan, which you’d probably use to drive to work.

The livery on the car isn’t particularly exciting either, just bland and blue. This is quite possibly one of the lamest police cars we’ve seen, and we’d bet that the officer inside would rather be seen driving the NYPD’s Smart Car. Try again folks, better luck next time.

6 Beast - Classic Michigan

Michigan’s police cars have a pretty unique look to them. These modifications make them easy to see, which both deters criminals by reminding them of the watchful police presence and reassures citizens by loudly claiming their presence.

The big red lights on top of the cruiser are unique to Michigan and will be easily seen by whoever they’re trying to pull over. The big brush guard, spotlights, and reinforced shocks make this cruiser something that is capable, intimidating, and desirable to cops.