Need bulletproof reliability? Try an armoured car
Toronto’s INKAS makes vehicles from extra mild to wild
I arrived at INKAS in Toronto to look at armoured cars. I expected flat windows with gun slits and bed liner used as paint, but here in front of me was a perfectly normallooking Mercedes S-Class.
“Open the door,” my host invited. I pulled the handle and the weight of the door shocked me. It swung out smoothly on its hinges, but it must have weighed at least 250 pounds — it felt like opening a safe.
INKAS has been building armoured vehicles since 1996 and it is good at making them look like regular vehicles. Of course, their Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) look like tanks from Judge Dredd hewn from granite, but those are supposed to be imposing. If you’re entering a riot zone, you want to make a statement that you are not to be messed with. However, if you are a high-level government official or executive, you want your armoured car to be as subtle as possible.
INKAS manufactures vehicles across the whole spectrum and will armour everything from a Toyota Camry to a stretched Mercedes G63 AMG for you. They also make APCs for militaries and governments around the world. Building a car that can blend in with traffic and survive high-powered weapons fire comes with a unique set of challenges and INKAS’ vice-president of sales, Philip Daskal, was on hand to walk us through what it takes to make one of these cars.
First of all, it takes plenty of cash. Daskal says “a good rule of thumb is twice the original purchase price of the vehicle.” Of course, the price varies on the type of car, what level of protection you want and whether or not you opt for a “road spikes dispensing system.” Some of the company’s APCs can cost up to $450,000.
The price seems reasonable when you consider the amount of labour that goes into building these vehicles. First, the cars are stripped of all interior components and wiring (a huge job in a new Mercedes) and reduced to a bare shell. Next, thick armour plating is strategically placed around the cockpit so that the entire cabin is protected in every direction.
Once the armour is in, a custom interior is fitted to match the original interior as closely as possible. Every conceivable surface is wrapped in leather and hand stitched. This “luxury” segment is filled with powerful officials and celebrities who demand a refined interior.
Additionally, the tires are fitted with run-flat systems, suspension parts are upgraded and bulletproof shielding is added to the battery and radiator.
The hardest part of armouring a vehicle is balancing weight with protection. Protection is extremely important, but “you don’t want it to drive like a tank,” Daskal says.
A lot of research goes into determining what materials to use and how to achieve the lightest weight possible without compromising safety. On average, Daskal says, an armoured conversion will add about 25 per cent of the vehicle’s original weight.
So who buys INKAS armoured vehicles? According to Daskal, roughly 65 per cent of sales are to governments (government banks, special forces, high-ranking officials) and the remaining 35 per cent are bought by celebrities and wealthy businessmen. On the day I visited, there was an armoured and stretched Mercedes G63 that was to be sold to a Nigerian governor.
A strange thought is that in a perfect world, there would be no demand for armoured cars. But this is just not the reality and many people need to protect themselves from kidnappings, assassinations and riots. And for those people, the security and assurance offered by these vehicles is worth any price.