A VIP armored car is a civilian vehicle with a reinforced structure that is designed to protect its occupants from assaults, bullets and blasts. Armored cars are typically manufactured with bulletproof glass and layers of armor plating, often with a variety of other defensive mechanisms and features to aid the individuals inside. Unlike military armored vehicles, a civilian armored car is designed to be inconspicuous and similar to its factory version.
Armored cars are used internationally and often used to protect high-profile individuals such as heads of state, political figures, businesspersons, VIPs, and sometimes celebrities. They may also be used by governmental law enforcement agencies as well as private military contractors. Chicago mobster Al Capone reportedly owned an armored 1928 Cadillac 341A.[1][2]
Most civilian armored cars are created by fitting aftermarket upgrades to standard production cars.[3] 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.[4][5]
There are a variety of armoring standards[6][7] which relate to non-military armored vehicles, the most common are:
