The values of former police cars are often measured in iPhones, but we have a feeling that bidders from around the world will be yelling into phones in an effort to place the winning bid on this particular police car. It is a 1974 Porsche 911 Targa, and it'll be coming up for auction at Bonhams' Zoute sale in Belgium.

The 1974 Targa pictured above happens to be a former Dutch police car. The country was one of the few western and eastern European states that used them in a highway patrol role. The lucky Dutch police unit was called Algemene Verkeers Dienst (AVD), and this special traffic unit had its own uniforms: white instead of the usual blue, in addition to orange helmets.

Before the Targa model became available, the AVD used Porsche 356 cabrios, but the 911 Targas remained in use all the way through 1993 when the unit switched to boring Volvos. The AVD preferred the Targa model to the 911 coupe as it permitted a greater range of visibility, as well as allowing officer passengers to stand in the car to give traffic directions in emergencies, or while moving slowly.

The car features a lot of police equipment, though there is only one beacon and it's mounted on the Targa roll bar. Some Targa police cars had two of these, one on each side, with beacons by Bosch. Bonhams

Naturally, the orange Rijkspolitie livery wasn't the only change to the Rijkspolitie 911 Targas -- in place of the back seat there was usually a wooden box with various emergency equipment, two rearview mirrors -- one for each occupant -- a radio, an illuminated messenger sign for the rear window, at least one blue beacon on the Targa pillar, a front-mounted bank of siren bells and a rear-mounted loudspeaker. The equipment box itself contained some interesting items: a Ricoh camera, a first-aid kit, a spare set of light bulbs, a wheel wrench, a pair of handcuffs, a tape measure, instructional paperwork, an alcohol tester and two CEAG lights. The box also carried a towing cable, warning triangles and a fire extinguisher.

This particular example joined the force in November 1974, sourced through the Pon's Automobielhandel BV dealership in Amersfoort. While in the use of the AVD, the car carried the call sign "Alex 12.85." The car was delivered in Grand Prix white and was specced with 20mm front/18mm rear anti-roll bars, rectangular fog lamps, a blue/black leather interior and a rear fog lamp. After its days of chasing really fast bicyclists were over, all the police equipment was removed from the car and it was returned to civilian spec before being sold off. The auction description, sadly, does not indicate just how long Alex 12.85 remained in service and what the kilometrage was at the time that it was returned to civilian spec.

In addition to a bank of front-mounted siren bells, the Targa features a rear-mounted loudspeaker for yelling things in Dutch (which is almost as scary as German). Bonhams

This Targa received a restoration in 2015 that included an engine rebuild; it regained its Rijkspolitie colors and equipment, most of it sourced from original sets of equipment. Bonhams indicates that the car has covered only 200 kilometers since the restoration and the engine rebuild were completed, and describes it as being in "commensurately very good condition."

Just how rare of a collectible is this? We saw another example in Rijkspolitie colors back in 2012 at the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance -- a car that Porsche had used to try to get police departments in the States interested in the Porsche 911. None of them were in fact interested, not even the various highway patrol agencies, though that's not particularly surprising given budgets and other considerations. That car, it should be noted, featured the German word Polizei rather than the Dutch Rijkspolitie, as it was meant for U.S. auto shows. That ultimately makes that example a little difficult to explain to those familiar with both Polizei and Rijkspolitie colors, but the car that Bonhams will be offering is liveried correctly, as used in real life.

Bonhams estimates that this Rijkspolitie Targa will bring between $110,000 and $160,000 at their sale in Knokke-Heist in Belgium, but we wouldn't bet on it staying there. There are plenty of Porsche collectors looking for something out of the ordinary, and there is no indication of Targa values getting softer.

Visit the auction website to view the full list of lots from Bonhams' upcoming Zoute sale, scheduled for Oct. 9.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io