The Porsche That Led a Queen's Motorcade

Long before a Porsche Taycan joined Dubai Police, a green-and-white 924 had a rather different assignment: escorting Queen Elizabeth II.

Porsche says Abu Dhabi Police acquired the wedge-shaped coupe — pop-up headlights, a blue beacon on the roof, the force's script painted along its doors — to escort the Queen on her first visit to the UAE in 1979, seven years after the country was founded. By Porsche's account it was the first sports car to join the UAE Federal Police fleet. On November 9, Porsche Centre Abu Dhabi and Al Ain announced the restoration is finished, and the car has been formally handed back to the police.

The detail that makes the project worth a closer look is on the bodywork. The restoration team recreated the original painted police signage instead of substituting modern decals — the difference between a car returned to what it was and a replica wearing its costume.

A royal job, before the spectacle

The Queen's 1979 visit is independently documented by the British government, which described her 2010 return as her second state visit to the UAE. She travelled through the Gulf aboard the royal yacht Britannia, and in the Emirates she was personally guided by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the country's founding ruler. The motorcade the 924 ran in was a state occasion for a nation seven years old — and the car bought for it was the entry-level Porsche, not a flagship.

The car's connection to that trip also predates the new restoration campaign. In July 2019, Khaleej Times reported that Abu Dhabi Police had put a Porsche 924 used in the royal motorcade on display at Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi, alongside a first-generation Range Rover; other outlets covered the same display. The 924 was already being shown as part of the force's history then. This restoration gives that familiar exhibit a new chapter.

"The Porsche 924 represents an important chapter in the history of Abu Dhabi Police and the development of our vehicle fleet," said Lieutenant Colonel Ali Al Hammadi, head of the force's Police Legacy Department. "Restoring the car provides an opportunity to maintain a tangible connection to this period and share its story with future generations."

Keeping the identity

Earlier this year, the car was moved to the Porsche Centre's Abu Dhabi service facility for a full restoration, with the stated aim of returning it as close as possible to its original condition. The official photographs show the work in stages: the shell masked and prepped by hand, fresh paint going on in the booth, then the finished green-and-white paintwork polished under inspection lights, the period police equipment back in place.

The restored markings sit alongside that equipment, preserving a recognizable working identity rather than turning the 924 into an anonymous polished classic. Underneath the livery, the model is a different branch of Porsche history from the rear-engined 911: its engine sits at the front, while the gearbox and differential are at the rear — the arrangement known as a transaxle, which the 924 introduced for Porsche when it launched in 1976. It was built in Neckarsulm and stayed in the line-up until 1988; the 928, 944 and 968 followed the same formula. Porsche is marking 50 years of its transaxle models in 2026, which gives this particular 924 a second reason to take the spotlight.

There is also a contrast worth sitting with. The Gulf's police fleets are famous now for spectacle — the 911, the electric Taycan, cars bought partly to be photographed. The 924 was bought to work: a young country's force needed a car that could run in a queen's motorcade, and this was it. "It is fitting that this 924 has been so meticulously restored given it played an important and highly visible role in one of the most important milestones in the early years of the United Arab Emirates," said Dr. Manfred Bräunl, CEO of Porsche Middle East and Africa.

The next stop

The restored car was formally returned to Abu Dhabi Police at a ceremony at Al Maqta Museum — one of Abu Dhabi's earliest police facilities, and the car's home after the festival circuit. Its first public appearance in restored condition comes at Icons of Porsche, at The Square Nad Al Sheba in Dubai, on November 21–22. After the festival, it takes up residence at the museum.

For all the attention a police sports car can draw, the most telling decision here is the least flashy one. Recreating the painted signage keeps the memory of a particular assignment on the metal. Forty-seven years after the royal visit, the 924 still has a story to tell before anyone asks how fast it goes. More stories behind the objects live on the Provenance front.