Armored car (VIP)

Base vehicles

right|thumb|[[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]]'s [[Bentley State Limousine]] Most civilian armored cars are created by fitting aftermarket upgrades to standard production cars. Several car manufacturers produce armored car models from the factory, such as the Audi Security Vehicles (A6 and A8 models), Lincoln Town Car BPS, Hyundai Equus, BMW Security series (3 Series, 5 Series, 7 Series and X5 models), the Mercedes Benz Guard vehicles (E, ML, GL, G & S Class).

Some civilian armored cars may be one-off unique vehicles with no standard equivalent, such as the Presidential state car of the United States, which is styled like a Cadillac but reportedly is built on the same medium-duty truck platform as the GMC TopKick.

Certification

There are a variety of armoring standards which relate to non-military armored vehicles, the most common are:

• Ballistics Rating (BR): This is a European standard which certifies the materials used both transparent (BR - DIN EN 1063) and opaque (FB - DIN EN 1522/23), general guidelines on vehicle construction and covers 3 levels from 2 to 7 . This is usually grouped under a single definition of B, e.g. B6
• Vereinigung der Prüfstellen für angriffshemmende Materialien und Konstruktionen (VPAM) - VPAM have a number of standards that relate to non-military armored vehicles, they are:
  • APR 2006 - These are the general test guidelines for armored products.
  • PM 2007 - This covers the materials used.
  • BRV 1999 and 2009 - This certification indicates that the whole vehicle has been tested instead of just the materials used.
  • ERV 2010 - Blast protection certification.
• Vehicle Security Advisory Group (VASG) - A British Standard for armored car construction and testing.
• National Institute for Justice (NIJ) - The American National Institute of Justice certification, covers body armor as well as vehicles and covers 5 levels.

References

References

1. (24 January 2020). "Untouchable: 1928 Cadillac armored car likely owned by Al Capone for sale". Motor Authority.
2. "Rental Presidential limousine".
3. "Armored Toyota Land Cruiser - Upgrades".
4. Siler, West. (January 14, 2009). "Obama's New Cadillac Limo Officially Unveiled". Jalopnik.
5. Capparella, Joey. (January 20, 2021). "'The Beast,' the Presidential Cadillac Limo, Gets a New Occupant Today". Car and Driver.
6. "Armouring Standards - Freedom EU: Armoured Car Sales & Armoured Car Hire".
7. "Summary Ballistic Standards".
8. "Die Vereinigung der Prüfstellen für angriffshemmende Materialien und Konstruktionen".