A Brief History of Armoring
The bad guys had them first. Bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde and Chicago mob boss Al Capone pioneered the ownership of armored cars. Early examples were crude but effective. Builders welded heavy steel plates to the car's outer panels and fitted extra layers of glass to the windows. Driving the resulting behemoth around corners was almost as life-threatening as a hail of bullets. But not quite. Any ballistic strike on the unlamented windscreens sprayed occupants with shards of glass.
Despite America's well-established history of presidential assassinations, the government was slow to protect its vehicles. Harry S. Truman was the first U.S. president to use an armored car for some official engagements, but when President John F. Kennedy was murdered in Dallas in November 1963 the Secret Service finally got the message. Form then on, all presidential vehicles were armored. Ironically, the first official supplier was Hess & Eisenhardt, a manufacturer that had previously specialized in hearses and ambulances.
In the early 1970's, a growing and well-founded fear of kidnapping and terrorism in developing countries stimulated a vigorous new market for “civilian” armored cars. Fabricators experimented with new materials: ballistic steel, polycarbonate-backed glass, fiberglass, and Kevlar. The finished product was still obvious and unwieldy, but proved its worth in hundreds of thwarted attacks.
In the early '90s, three technical developments revolutionized the armored car industry: new, lightweight synthetic laminates; vastly improved ballistic glass; and molded door and window overlaps (to stop bullets and explosive pressure from entering the interior). Armored cars were suddenly cheaper, faster, safer, and stealthier.
Thanks to constantly improving technology and ever-increasing awareness of violent assault, the international armored car market has grown by an estimated 30 percent per year for the last 10 years. Sensing the commercial potential, Ford, Cadillac, Mercedes, BMW, and other major automotive manufactures have teamed up with established armorers to armor their upscale models. Post- 9/11, the future of the armored car looks as assured as the safety of the customers sheltered inside their high-tech carcoons.