If the ineffable mayor of Madrid had had to pay for his latest armored whim out of his own pocket, he would now be pulling his hair out. Conquest Vehicles has presented these days the ultimate in armored cars. It's called the Knight XV and it costs “only” $300.000, less than half that of the Gallarmobile.
The usual thing in the armored car industry is to take a luxury sedan and “tune it up” with the latest in explosive-resistant materials, a multitude of electronic security elements and, especially if the client is a Spanish politician, fill it with entertainment gadgets digital.
The Canadian company Conquest Vehicles prefers to do the opposite: take an armored car of military origin (in this case the famous Gurkha) and turn its spartan interior into a real rolling palace.
The result is called the Knight XV, a colossus next to which any SUV of those that stand out so much in urban traffic looks like a simple utility vehicle.
With 6,10 meters long, 2,50 meters wide and 2,54 meters high, it is clear that it includes the right of way at any crossroads among its standard equipment. To move this 4,5-ton mass, an "eco-flex" engine suitable for gasoline or ethanol in large quantities is used. Not in vain is it a ten-cylinder with 6.8 liters of displacement, 400 HP of power and almost 700 Mn. of maximum torque.
With such external measures, interior habitability is guaranteed. The uncomfortable saddles designed for soldiers give way to half a dozen armchairs worthy of any medieval king.
“On the outside it’s a tank, on the inside a Maybach,” says William Maizlin, president of Conquest Vehicles, and not without reason: inside, nothing is lacking: leather upholstery, thick carpeting, humidifier, interior LED lighting, oxygen bottles, night vision, and a long etcetera tailored to the client's wallet.
The typical work tools of any regional president concerned about his physical integrity (morality stays for voting times) are even available: several TV screens and even a Playstation.
Such luxury, however, does not reach the workplace of the obliging driver, who has to settle for a landscape of cheap plastic around the wheel.
The security section leaves nothing to chance: steel sheets the thickness of an Ikea catalog, bulletproof glass up to 6 centimeters thick, door hinges more typical of a jeweler's safe, 20-inch wheels military origin with tires capable of rolling without air...
With a base price of $295.000, Conquest Vehicles has already sold 15 of the planned 100 units. The names of the clients are secret, but their nationalities are the usual ones: the Middle East, Russia, England and some from the United States. No Spanish president yet appears on the list, but who knows, official cars age very quickly.
Via: spiegel.de