In British slang, a jam sandwich is a police traffic or fast response car (as opposed to an ordinary panda car or patrol car).
The term came into common use in the 1970s, when such cars changed from the traditional blue and white colour scheme to white with a broad fluorescent orange stripe along the side. This colour scheme is reminiscent of jam sandwiched between two slices of white bread, hence the name. The slang was popularised on such TV shows as The Sweeney and Minder, as well as spreading through the use of CB radio. It is still in common use, although most forces now use different colour schemes with fluorescent stripes and Battenburg markings.
Famous quotes containing the words jam and/or sandwich:
“Terror is as much a part of the concept of truth as runniness is of the concept of jam. We wouldn’t like jam if it didn’t, by its very nature, ooze. We wouldn’t like truth if it wasn’t sticky, if, from time to time, it didn’t ooze blood.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“As the Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptation we resist.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)