The Orange Asbo in the fast lane.
DC Peter Grant's car is referred to as "the Asbo" on many occasions. This is a name first given to the Ford Focus ST by television presenter Jeremy Clarkson on BBC television's Top Gear. It derives from ASBO which is an acronym for an Anti-social Behaviour Order. These were a form of punishment used by British courts to combat minor anti-social offences.
The Focus ST is a high performance hatchback, and was sold in a particularly vivid orange colour (as mentioned by DC Grant).[1] Clarkson felt that the car shared some qualities with those individuals at whom the ASBO was aimed, and thus the nickname.
Peter Grant/the Folly also has a blue Asbo.[2]
Which car and of which colour Peter is driving in any one book is somewhat confusing. In timeline order:
- Rivers of London. No Asbo, using a ten-year-old electric blue Ford Escort.
- Moon Over Soho. A battered silver ex-Met Asbo.
- Detective Stories #3. Orange.
- Whispers Under Ground. The bright orange Asbo.
- Broken Homes.The orange Asbo was destroyed at the Essex farm. Replaced with a dark blue Asbo with 2010 plates.
- Body Work. An orange Asbo with license plate 'ASB 01'.
- Foxglove Summer. No colour mentioned, but the Asbo is referred to as 'new' and 'Mark 2'.
- Night Witch (graphic novel). A blue Asbo with license plate 'ASBO 02'.
- Black Mould. A blue Asbo with license plate 'ASB 02'.
- The Furthest Station. Drove both the blue and the orange Asbo. The orange has a better engine.
- The Hanging Tree. Both blue and orange Asbo mentioned. The orange Asbo was destroyed by the Faceless Man.