MERC ARMOURED CAR'S BACK IN SA------------------------------------------------
Hollywood action movies often show the good guy taking cover behind a car when the baddie unloads with an automatic rifle. “This is bullsh*t,” says Ulrich Nierbauer of Mercedes-Benz’s Guard division in Stuttgart, Germany. “If you park four standard E-Classes side-by-side, a bullet will travel through the doors of all four cars and stop in the final door of the final E-Class,” he says. So simply sliding down in your seat away from the window glass is futile when the bullets start flying... But don’t worry our dearest government officials, there is a solution…
After a brief hiatus, Mercedes-Benz South Africa is once again importing its Guard armoured passenger cars to South Africa, in E500 and S600L guises, and available from two specially prepared dealerships. The E-Class is available locally with VR4-level protection, which means it can withstand fire from handguns up to a .44 Magnum, and “physical violence”, such as what typically happens during a hijacking or robbery. Compared with a normal E500, the Guard version gets an extra 390 kg worth of armour plating and protective glass.
Furthermore, particular attention is paid to “gap-protection”, areas where a bullet may more easily find a way into the cabin, for example the door and window seals. Here three layers of steel are positioned to overlap behind the opening to resist a bullet from any angle. Finally, Run-Flat tyres keep the E-Guard mobile even if there’s zero tyre pressure.
But the crowning jewel of Mercedes’ 80-year armoured car experience – save for the S600 Pullman, not available here – is the VR6/VR7 protection level offered on the S600L. This is the ideal car for people who are convinced they’re important/hated enough to be on a hit-list of some kind, somewhere. Depending on which optional extras are selected, this model packs an extra 1,8 tons of protective gear, which results in a total weight of almost four tonnes! The side windows alone weigh 80 kg each, so much that if you want retractable windows, an optional hydraulic lift system has to be specified. Ironically, a very large percentage of clients opting for these vehicles want to open the windows… By the way, 90 per cent of Guard orders come from governments.
Much of the extra weight is taken up by special armoured steel and other materials. But don’t for a moment think the construction of a Guard Mercedes-Benz vehicle is only about fitting thicker steel and glass. “The windows and metal are only about 30 per cent of the job,” continues Nierbauer. “The rest is to re-engineer the car.” In fact, the Guard division is involved in the design process of any new Mercedes-Benz model destined to be part of the armoured car programme – currently consisting of E-, S- and G-Class (left-hand drive only) models.
Besides the armoured steel passenger cell (roof and floor included on S-Class), Guard models are thoroughly re-engineered to cope with the extra weight. The air-suspension, for example, is redesigned, a larger diameter rear stabiliser is fitted, as is a thicker propeller shaft, bigger differential box and, importantly, a double-front brake system to cope with extra loads. Also, many of the lightweight alloy parts in the suspension of the standard cars are replaced with steel. And then there are the electronics, which need to be completely reworked, too. “It takes us four years to develop a new ESP system for a Guard car,” says Nierbauer.
Then there’s a Run-Flat tyre system (Michelin Pax), with a hard inner rubber tube fixed to the rim, which keeps the four-tonne S600L mobile even when its tyres have been shot to pieces. Mercedes says it can do around 30 km at speeds of up to 80 km/h. The fuel tank is positioned inside the protected passenger cell. The tank itself is covered by a special material that seals holes by itself. On the subject of exploding fuel tanks Herr Nierbauer again took a stab at Hollywood, saying there is never enough oxygen in a fuel tank to result in an explosion when a bullet penetrates the tank.
And finally, there’s a long list of options, too, including fire-fighting, clean-air supply and panic-alarm systems, amongst other items. Sadly, Mercedes-Benz didn’t supply us with AK47s to test their claims first-hand, but to illustrate the effectiveness of Guard protection, perhaps the following information will suffice…
Eduard Shevardnadze was the president of Georgia from 1995 to 2003. Before that he served the Soviet Union’s Communist Party under Mikhail Gorbachev, as minister of Foreign Affairs. He was ex-KGB, and had a lot of enemies… You don’t get a nickname like “White Fox” because people like you… During his tenure as Georgian President there were three attempts on his life. One night in February 1998 his motorcade (seven vehicles) was attacked, reportedly by up to 20 skilled professionals intent on sending the White Fox to the afterlife. His own car was hit by between 450 and 500 bullets, and sustained three grenade attacks, including an RPG hit to the engine bay. Shevardnadze survived the attack, cocooned in his armoured Mercedes-Benz S-Class’s passenger cell.
