In Venezuela, it's sort of common to see armored cars, a lot of them Land Cruisers and Toyota SUVs. Although they're usually armored to withstand a 357 magnum tops. Used mostly to avoid being mugged, carjacked and kidnappings.
My 90 series cruiser (Prado) is armored, my mom worked in the management area of an armoring plant which belongs to an uncle of mine.
Armoring a car to these levels -Called level 3- adds about 250-260kgs of weight on a full size truck, like mine. Armoring a smaller car would result in less weight as what's really heavy is the bulletproof glass, which are a bunch of polycarbonate laminates pressed together with a steel frame that is almost an inch thick. Everything else uses kevlar (full body, hood, gas tank protection, etc). Tires use special run flats.
You'd think the weight is relatively low but it wreaks havoc on the car's drivetrain and suspension. Mine is equipped with a 2" HHD (Yes, 2x heavy duty) OME suspension and the car still feels extremely heavy on turns. Brakes also dont last very much as slowing the truck down can be a daunting task sometimes. Once you get used to it its not that bad. Ive taken the truck wheeling on nothing too technical and it can be done just like with any other truck, although it suffers a bit more on the long run.
Surfy: The cost of armoring a car (In venezuela) is around usd 20k. Granted its extremely expensive but when you have that kind of money in Caracas chances of being kidnapped are extremely high.Sadly, I dont lol. I bought mine as a deal (It was a STEAL, even for a non-armored Prado) and I kinda regret it, being in a bulletproof car kinda gets you paranoid, and maintenance can get pretty expensive. Although you do get a siren for when things go south,turns out its extremely fun to use when not on those scary situations. I've scared the s**t out of a couple of friends i've found on the road lol
That is actually a great question, what they do they do with the OEM body parts that are left over after a retrofit.
