Mercedes’ Bulletproof Sedan

Long known as the ride for dignitaries and others who enjoy luxury, Mercedes looks to tread new ground, introducing a bulletproof and explosion-proof sedan.

Called the S-Guard, Mercedes’ wheeled fortress features a body impregnated with an undisclosed “special, reinforced” steel. To ensure the car is impervious in the event of a firefight engineers have layered steel plates one over the other to eliminate vulnerable areas, including the vehicle’s undercarriage. Accompanying its armored shell the S-Guard is packed with aramid fibers to arrest splintering projectiles and comes with thick, polycarbonate-coated glass.

Though its rugged construction underpins the S-Guard ideal, the auto still retains all of Mercedes’ timeless sophistication. Sporting an onboard air ionizer and fragrancer alongside a touch screen telephone and fully reclining seats, an S-Guard passenger will feel as though they are in the lap of luxury rather than a mobile stronghold.

The S-Guard’s security features do come at a cost though. With its increased weight the auto shows a dip in performance; not exactly what you’d like to encounter if bullets, grenades and rockets are riddling your vicinity. To compensate for its lost speed and acceleration Mercedes added a 7G-TRONIC automatic transmission, giving the heavy sedan the ability to jump from a standstill to 100km/h (60mph) in just 4.5 seconds. Though the S-Guard’s top speed is only 210km/h (130mph), I’m sure that’ll be more than enough to fly from a dangerous scene and find a safer locale.

For the time being Mercedes hasn’t disclosed the price of its most secure vehicle. However its base model, the S600, starts around $166,000. With all its additional security features I suspect the S-Guard will run just north of $250k.

Image Courtesy of Mercedes