“The antenna is a little bent, like the car. It’s old and bent,” said Buchanan, a member of the RCMP’s Integrated Road Safety Unit based in Parksville. The story continues below the image. The car tugs at Buchanan’s heartstrings since he started driving as a young officer on Vancouver Island. Now he and the old Crown Vic have joined forces once more. “It’s a 2009 Crown Victoria. It’s past retirement age, and so am I,” Buchanan said, smiling. The “Blue Beater” as the car was called, was disliked by anyone else as it is in rough shape and there is little in the way of cabin comfort. “There is a black pipe. That’s for air conditioning, because there’s almost no air conditioning, so I’d stick it in my vest in the summer,” Buchanan said. The veteran RCMP officer believes it’s the last of its kind on Vancouver Island. “The ‘grandmother of the fleet’ will one day get the mission she deserves and I’m driving Miss Daisy,” he said. But after returning to service to patrol the Island Highway between Chemainus and Parksville, this “granny” and her driver are surprising drivers left and right. As cars and trucks fly down the highway, some at dangerously high speeds. “We catch these people who are blatantly overstepping. In the hundreds, 170, 180 [kilometres an hour]Buchanan said. Tow truck driver Grant Clayton said he admires the cunning thinking. “They’re trying to keep a lid on what’s going on, on the highway. It keeps people on their toes, and if they’re not ready, they shouldn’t be on the road,” said the Central Towing employee, who has been a tow truck driver for nine years. The gray ghost car often surprises people that it could belong to the police. “And they say ‘where did you come from’ and I’ll say ‘I was right behind you, you passed me.’ It’s so old,” Buchanan said. As the hard-working duo prove, looks aren’t always what they seem, and if you’re out there driving dangerously, “granny” will catch up with you.
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