You may wonder what makes armored vehicle used by VIP personnel’s so special other than the obvious ‘it protects the occupants inside the vehicle from any potential attack’. The answer to this rhetorical question would be that in history there have been many successful and unsuccessful attempts by various individuals and groups to obliterate those with the position of power. The most famous example where the AMV is widely used is the case of the president of the United States. That's right his car is completely bulletproof, shatterproof, and bombproof. Not bad for a man in suit whose catchphrase is Yes We Can! So according to our highly regarded and trusted source ‘Wikipedia’ it states that “A civilian armored car is a security vehicle which made by replacing the windows of a standard vehicle (typically a limousine or SUV) with bulletproofand inserting layers of armor plate into the body panels. Unlike a military armored car, which has armor plate mounted on the outside of the vehicle, a civilian armored car typically looks no different from a standard vehicle”.
This means that even in an attack the vehicle isn’t invincible against any object, what would usually happen is for example, if the windows were shot the front element of the windows would be damaged in accordance to the intensity. However, it is often shown the rear of the window is completely neutral and has no apparent damage what so ever. In other words, the occupants inside the vehicle are protected from any attack. But the reason why the bulletproof car became very popular is because of the infamous assassination of JFK in 1963 in Texas. You see before this time, the presidential vehicles were not bulletproof in fact not even shade proof. However, after this historic event, the world and especially the American public became much more aware of safeguarding their national leaders for the goodwill of the country.
Anyway enough of that. Now let’s talk about the actual car itself. Being the most powerful person/leader/personnel in the world, the man in suit gets to ride in a very nice toy indeed. It’s often referred to Cadillac One. This is a custom model made exclusively for president state car and is heavily inspired from Cadillac DTS and many other model cars. This ain’t a cheap $99,999 car either, as the estimated cost is situated around $300,000; that’s a hefty price tag. But here what the problem is- being a presidential vehicle, most of the information is confidential for security reasons and as you know knowing what engine or chassis the car uses will cause a huge uproar in the black market. With regards to films, any films that had the president in it would at some stage display the car, however the most notable examples include- Air force One, Vantage Point, Deep Impact and several others.
Anyway so the car is said to weight a whopping 20000 lbs. It has a night vision system in a secret location and special loops can replace the door handles as well as tires made exclusively by Goodyear. The car is also protected from not only weaponry attack, but also from biomechanical attacks. This may sound absurd and hilarious, but the trunk or boot of the car contains blood bank of the president’s blood type and has their own oxygen supply. The car is a little larger than your everyday sedan car, a mini limousine, and can easily take up 7 people. Now if you’re wondering about the fuel efficiency about this vehicle, I suggest you don’t because it runs on diesel fuel as opposed to petrol and is rated at 29L/100KM (it is absolutely ridiculously inefficient).
Tell me, does a man really need this much protection from outsiders and any forms of criminals? Personally even though I understand some of the reasons behind all this safety precautions, let’s face it, it really does seem a little overboard- I’m just saying!
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