If you're heading out to pick up some milk for tomorrow's breakfast, and there's even a slight chance you might get ambushed by armed guerillas, then maybe the beat-up Dodge Caravan in your driveway is not the car for the job.
However, Toronto-based Conquest Vehicles may have your solution.
It's the Knight XV. It is a fully armoured, ultra-luxurious sport utility vehicle that is becoming the choice for clients around the world who are looking for a functional car that can get the kids to soccer practice — and stop an AK-47 round, point blank.
Granted, with a base price just under $500,000, it's not exactly built for the average car owner.
"Our clients are high net worth, and they are looking to make a grand entrance," said Conquest Vehicles founder and president Bill Maizlin. "There is a massive wow factor with the vehicle."
Launched in 2008, his company has sold seven vehicles already, and has orders for 20 more.
While no cars have been sold in Canada, Maizlin said clients in Russia and the Middle East have purchased vehicles. Next month, the company will be shipping its first Knight XV to China, which Maizlin said has a large untapped market for high-end luxury vehicles.
The company is also in talks with a security firm to provide vehicles for VIP protection of attendees of the upcoming G20 meetings in Toronto.
While most owners choose to remain anonymous, Maizlin said many people who have bought the vehicle are business executives who have security concerns. One owner that has been publicized is NBA star Dwight Howard, who bought a Knight XV last year.
"He fits in the Knight," said Maizlin of the Orlando Magic forward, who stands over two metres tall.
The Knight XV, recently featured on the Discovery Channel TV show World's Most Expensive Rides, certainly garners attention for its jaw-dropping size.
Maizlin's road warrior dwarfs the American-built Hummer, the behemoth of the road for the past two decades.
In a photograph of the Hummer — recently discontinued by General Motors — and the Knight XV together, the vehicle made famous by a certain cigar-chomping governor of California looks like a kid brother trying to keep up with his older sibling.
The Knight XV is more than six metres long (a full metre longer than the Hummer), nearly 2.5 metres wide, and stands 2.5 metres high. It is a dominating presence on the road, but it meets all government standards for driving on city streets.
"When you drive the vehicle, it doesn't feel like you are driving a truck," said Maizlin. "We have clients whose wives drive the kids to school in their Knight."
Based on the U.S. light-armoured Gurkha military vehicle, and built on a Ford F-550 truck chassis with a Ford V10 engine, the Knight XV maintains a rugged combat appearance.
Its sharp lines give it a modern-looking exterior — and make it seem entirely plausible that the vehicle might stand up and start chatting about how best to defeat the Decepticons in the next Transformers movie.
Actually, the Knight XV might well have what it takes to hold off an attack from giant alien robots.
Weighing nearly 5.5 metric tons with a full complement of ballistic-tested steel armour, the Knight XV can withstand a barrage of gunfire from weaponry as heavy as armour-piercing bullets.
A new high-level security upgrade introduced last fall includes a built-in oxygen survival kit with masks in case of chemical attack, an under-vehicle blast protection system, and under-vehicle magnetic attachment detection system, to protect against mines and other nefarious devices.
While the vehicle seems like it is better designed for a trip down the streets of Kandahar, its rugged exterior is accompanied by a luxurious interior, with hand-stitched leather.
"Options" include a custom-built 26-inch plasma screen with 12 speakers and an X-Box video-game console, a cigar humidor and a wet bar. The vehicle also comes equipped with night-vision cameras to make driving a little safer.
Jeff Jankelovits, president of Manhattan Armor, the only automotive dealer in the United States dedicated to the sale of armoured vehicles, said the market for luxury cars and trucks that provide bolstered protection is growing.
"People spend a lot of time in their vehicles getting from one place to another," said Jankelovits from his office in New York City. "And they are most vulnerable during the drive."
His cars have been purchased by a wide variety of clients who are concerned for their safety, including diplomats, royalty, heads of state and other wealthy executives.
Jankelovits said his fastest-growing market is for oil executives with offices in western Africa, whose high profile and flashy vehicles make them a prime target for kidnapping.
His biggest sales, however, are to Latin America, where kidnapping and ransom is a money-making venture for criminals in several countries. Jankelovits shipped a vehicle to South America just last week to a well-to-do commercial farmer who is afraid of carjacking.
But, the main difference between Manhattan Armor and Conquest Vehicles is that Jankelovits does not build his armoured vehicles from scratch. Instead, he "up-armours" high-end cars and trucks — such as the Porsche Cayenne and the Cadillac Escalade — by adding bulletproof glass and high-tensile steel plates to the vehicle's existing body panels.
Numerous law-enforcement agencies across Canada have recently acquired their own armoured, bulletproof vehicles for tactical operations.
The Ottawa Police Service in March unveiled their BearCat — sort of like a Hummer on steroids. And RCMP in British Columbia announced they had acquired two six-wheeled, all-terrain vehicles from the Canadian Forces.
Armoured vehicles are also in use in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria and several other municipalities.
Police forces say these vehicles — none of which are equipped with any artillery — provide an extra layer of protection for officers when responding to dangerous situations, such as gun calls or high-risk search warrants.
Tim Chapman, a businessman in Toronto, has driven the Knight XV several times, and he is considering purchasing one.
"I was really surprised," said Chapman. "I have an Escalade, but it seems quite similar."
Chapman, a self-professed "car guy" who already has a stable of high-end cars, including a BMW M6, a Corvette, and a Ferrari, said it was the look of the vehicle that attracted him to the Knight XV.
"There's nothing like it," he said. "The size and the design, you can't stop looking at it."
Chapman said a crowd gathered around the SUV when he was driving it, with people pulling out their cellphones to take photographs, something he said he has never experienced with any of his other cars.
While Chapman said he doesn't have any protection issues, he is a car collector and he is looking for that unique experience.
Maizlin said the Knight XV will have a limited run of 100 vehicles, after which he said Conquest Vehicles will look to expand its production.
"Nobody in the world can offer the security and luxury that we can," he said. "The market is only going to get bigger."
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