How to spot a bulletproof car.

"Spanfeller is a twat" (theaspiringengineer)
02/10/2018 at 12:00 • Filed to: None

Its hard to get data on it, but about 3000 cars yearly get homologated as bulletproof cars in Mexico, I can’t find the figure, but something like 0.1% of cars here have bulletproofing equipment.

Generally you’re looking for a dull coloured SUV, typically Jeeps, Suburbans and Range Rovers are bulletproofed because of their high resistance to the stresses that the bulletproofing causes on these cars.

In the picture below, there’s a Range Rover sport; you might not be able to tell but that windscreen edges are unusually thick, this is because the edges of bulletproof glass cannot withstand impacts from bullets, so a frame is made out of ballistic steel that is hidden behind said blackened out cover. The picture was taken on a cloudy day, so one cannot really tell the color distortion that the poly carbonate causes, but viewing through polarized sunglasses lets you see the distortion better.

If you’re really curious though, go look at the glass itself, most manufacturers use AGP and IsoClima glass, but this particular range rover uses CSG glass.

Nice friend lets me take picture of car.

Generally, cars with frame less windows cannot be bulletproofed, but I spotted this mini (armored by Centigon alike the Range Rover) in a parking lot,meaning that some people are taking the risk of having ballistic leakages in the car. Maybe the mini simply had the type of mod all my cars have: Partial bulletproofing. But I can’t tell from the image.

NON IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

I had already posted in detail about !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Due to the drug wars, any purchase of bulletproofing material is heavily sanctioned, and each bulletproof car has its VIN, owner ID, and registration plates forwarded to the Local, State, and Federal IRS services and Police services. Having a bulletproof car without this homologation (a plaque normally attached to the driver’s side B pillar behind the doors) is strictly illegal, if you’re stopped with a bulletproof car without it you will go to jail. Police turn a blind eye to many offenders, but a drug dealer ain’t in the list.

Not that it happens often here in Mexico City, where we brainwash ourselves into believing narcos can’t get homes here due to the strong presence of the intelligence services, the Federal Police, and the local Attorney General. So the police is not concerned with bulletproof vehicles being manned by druglords.

But they are becoming more ubiquitous by the day. Alongside the stores for Gucci, Louis Vuitton,BMW, Tesla and Prada in Mexico City’s Presidente Mazaryk Avenue sit two bulletproofing agencies. Both charge around 35,000 dollars for the lowest level of bulletproofing, referred to as VR4 or level 3 depending who you ask. These cars are made to withstand bullets by using Kevlar in most body panels, ballistic steel as frames for the Kevlar and in the structural pillars, and 21mm thick “transparent armor” made out of sheets of polycarbonate and glass stacked together. Some manufacturers then frame this 21mm thick armour in ballistic steel.

How do I know this? well, all of our cars have what they call “partial bulletproofing” It is a 12-15mm thick glass that makes it resistant to most blunt weapons used by muggers during the all-too common cristalazos. But, because it is still a polycarbonate glass and it could potentially withstand maybe one bullet impact from far away, our cars must be homologated by the SSP and SHCP.

Additionally, most partially resistant cars have the black edges by the windows because it dissuades muggers. We don’t need the edging because there’s no ballistic steel frame behind it, but they make the glass with it anyway. It is very common seeing this glass in smaller cars like company vehicles (that perhaps don’t want to spend too much money on security).

DISCUSSION (30)

Nibby > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 12:05

Kinja'd!!!

Spanfeller is a twat > Nibby
02/10/2018 at 12:07

You never disappoint me with your gifts to this blog.

DipodomysDeserti > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 12:16

Carls Jr, and Dominos. Maybe Mexico should build a wall to keep all that shitty American food out.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 12:16

All your cars have partial bulletproofing. That’s cool and kinda scary.

Spanfeller is a twat > DipodomysDeserti
02/10/2018 at 12:17

Cielito proudly defending that side of the road from that foreign invasion!

Spanfeller is a twat > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
02/10/2018 at 12:19

You get used to the thickness.

But i’ve had muggers literally knock on my glass and leave because they realize they wont get to break the window with a hammer, rock, or a crowbar.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 12:28

My Aunt and Uncle who live in Mexico City, to this day, in the early 90's had a bulletproof Bronco. It was awesome. They always had, and I believe still do have, both cars bulletproof as she regularly works for/with the UN.

Another fun fact, I believe it was Man on Fire where we saw a character having to drive around waving a white shirt out the car window to signal he had the ransom money to pay kidnappers. Yeah, my other uncle there had to do that. Twice.

Spanfeller is a twat > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)
02/10/2018 at 12:32

Nice! the UN/Embassies use very special bulletproofing on their cars!

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 12:38

Well, they weren’t officially embassy cars as she only did/does contract work for them, at least as far as I knew they weren’t, it was more out of general precaution. Never know who wants to try and kill someone they think might be a government/UN official, I guess.

But I have seen those official cars and yeah, they are something to behold.

DipodomysDeserti > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 12:41

Just looked that place up. Sounds like a cool place. We have a Cielito park here in Phoenix.

Spanfeller is a twat > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)
02/10/2018 at 12:49

Oh, I did not see that edit to the comment...

We’ve never been targeted for kidnapping, but it is certainly something common here. Furthest they’ve gone with us was untargeted extortion.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 12:50

So how does the process go and how much of the factory car is modified for just the light protection.

Spanfeller is a twat > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
02/10/2018 at 13:04

For partial bulletproofing it’s only the windows, but it still adds about 70-80kgs on the car, so the coils are adjusted to keep the factory ride height. Along with the homologation plaque that will sit riveted on my car for the rest of it’s existence.

My Kia will havr AGP glass installed, right now they’re doing the RnD on the car (because its the first Kia they do this too)

Spanfeller is a twat > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
02/10/2018 at 13:05

This is generally a tale tale sign:

Kinja'd!!!

That plaque is the certification on my jeep

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 13:08

Oh yeah, it actually was not our/my uncle’s family members that were kidnapped. Both times were family members of friends and he ended up being the one to go. Once I know for sure he did drive a car and wave something out the window, not sure exactly what went down the second time. Both times, to my knowledge, everything worked out as well as could be expected. Both were a number of decades ago.

Untargeted extortion sounds like someone just calling people saying very general tings like, “I know what you did. I have photos. Gimme money!”

Spanfeller is a twat > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)
02/10/2018 at 13:11

Yeah, its that exactly.

Its a rising issue, specially because not a lot of people are tech savvy enough to catch a scammer.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 13:15

Well that sucks. I’d like to say hopefully there’s a crack-down on it, but who knows. Maybe people will just become more aware and be able to recognize it.

My bird IS the word > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 13:15

This makes me either really sad, or really happy that I live where I do.

Spanfeller is a twat > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)
02/10/2018 at 13:19

There are a number of programs, the police here in Mexico City actually have a cyber crime wing just about this.
They made fun of them for having fake tinder profiles made to catch scammers.

I can’t say much about my friends in provincia but, yeah...

Surprisingly the Mexican government is really good at making policy and moving with the times... they just suck at applying the policies they enact.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 13:20

How does it typically go with a sunroof?

Spanfeller is a twat > My bird IS the word
02/10/2018 at 13:21

Meh, its a thing of living here. Mexico City has a big issue with petty crime, but we don’t have a “If we stay here we die” plot. This is mostly a bubble, and I don’t think its necessary even if the rest of my family does.

If you make a cost/benefit analysis you can see how people end up living here when they have the choice to leave... I think that if Andres Manuel wins the elections I am leaving because that’s where the scales tip over.

I’ll set up camp in Berlin.

Spanfeller is a twat > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
02/10/2018 at 13:23

It depends, I’ll have my glass roof removed and replaced with a lighter panel with a window like finish but more resistant. I can still open it.

many chose to remove the fuse and just leave the system inoperable but with protective glass on the sunroof. Its very heavy and I told them I’d rather have it sealed.

AfromanGTO > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 13:37

Interesting thing I noticed while living on Miami Beach. There are a lot of vehicles that were amour/ bullet proofed. I remember a H2 Hummer with tags from Mexico being bullet proofed, a few Range Rovers, and a Lexus.

Spanfeller is a twat > AfromanGTO
02/10/2018 at 13:41

Yes, I can understand what you mean. But bulletproof cars are much less common in the US.

Generally you’ll see a lot of Mexican cars with bulletproofing along border towns, where the rich Mexicans would move to Texas but still had to manage their business in the (now very bloody Mexican side), rumor has it that the federal judge for northern Tamaulipas actually lives in the US and works in Mexico, which I find absolutely unacceptable.

My bird IS the word > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 14:28

If you can ignore the government, Germany seems like a really cool place to live.

Spanfeller is a twat > My bird IS the word
02/10/2018 at 14:35

I have an EU citizenship so yeah, I can ignore them all day long!

AfromanGTO > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 19:45

The thing is in Miami Beach there isn’t really a need for it. Nobody really does anything like that. Plus there are way too many police and tourist out.

I can understand why they would live in the US side primarily for safety. I just think it is odd that the govt would allow them to still be a judge if they don’t live in the area let alone the country.

Spanfeller is a twat > AfromanGTO
02/10/2018 at 19:56

well, maybe they can’t afford buying another car in Miami?

I wouldn’t know... I once saw a Passat with Quebec plates in Cancun and it does make me wonder, who would drive that far?

AfromanGTO > Spanfeller is a twat
02/10/2018 at 22:06

Most likely they had the cars shipped in both cases. They all had foreign tags.

Spanfeller is a twat > AfromanGTO
02/10/2018 at 23:00

Wait... we don’t have Lexus in Mexico...

So the owner had to import it, bulletproof it, and then ship it to florida

What an interesting story that Lexus must have....