Two retired Police officers are attempting to solve the mystery of the classic car a UK businessman is claiming was once destined to become part of the Bermuda Police Force.

Derek Fletcher and James McMasters, who served on the force in the early 1960s doubt if the mystery car, a black Singer Gazelle featured in yesterday?s newspaper, would have been special ordered by the Governor.

Bob Young, a Scottish businessman told he bought the car from a classic car lover in King?s Lynn, Norfolk, England five years ago.

The car was made by Singer Cars, which was part of the Rootes Group, which was bought by US car giants Chrysler in the 1970s, and axed the Singer name.

On his way to a car show on the Scottish island of Arran, Mr. Young said a man who said he worked for the Bermuda Government in the 1960s told him the Governor had ordered 115 special Gazelles for the Police. He checked the car and found it was numbered 115.

Mr. Fletcher and Mr. McMasters told yesterday Police used Sunbeam Talbot cars at that time which were ordered through a local agent such as Pearman Watlington or Bermuda Motors. Mr. Fletcher said the Governor did not usually order cars, and approvals to order four to eight cars a year went through after the estimates had been reviewed by the House of Assembly.

As the Former Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr. McMasters, also an Inspector with the St. George?s Unit in 1964, and Mr. Fletcher doubted the force would have ever ordered 115 cars at once.

The Sunbeam Talbot, similar to the shiny black Singer Gazelle and also manufactured by the Rootes group, is a low slung saloon style car. The Sunbeam Talbots were manual and operated from a steering column. Mr. McMasters said officers on patrol rotated between the force?s 12-14 cars.

?They were good durable cars, we were able to keep them for a long time,? he said. ?They lasted on average seven to eight years. In those days police officers really went out on patrol.?

When their time was up Mr. McMasters said the cars were scrapped at the Public Works quarry. English licence plates use letters with numbers, whereas Bermuda plates consisted solely of numbers. The licence plate on Mr. Young?s Gazelle is BPW 968B.