It wasn’t long ago when everyone thought of armored vehicles as these big heavy tanks that were only used by military and government officials. Today the perception of armored vehicles has changed a lot and they are more and more common around the world, with some reports of over 100,000 armored vehicles on the road worldwide.
The idea of an armored vehicle predates the invention of the internal combustion engine
(1). Even the history famous Leonardo da Vinci had drawings of various transportation units that used armor plating in 1485 (see image).
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
It wasn’t until World War I that many countries started equipping their vehicles with armor plating to fight against the onslaught of new ammunition and high powered rifles.
Here you can see a Belgian armored car used during World War I that was also equipped with weapons and used occasionally during attacks.
Image: Scientific American Supplement, May 1, 1915
Also the Germans were known to have used enormous armored military tractors to haul military supplies and other heavy artillery.
Image: Scientific American, May 29, 1915
In the 1930’s you could have also seen the famous Bonnie and Clyde’s car strolling the Midwest and streets of major towns.
Even Presidents of the United States of America started having additional protection while traveling. Seen here is President Ronald Reagan’s armored Cadillac which later gave inspiration to the armored Beast that current US Presidents travel in. (See an article about that here)
Since 2000 the technology behind armored cars have come a long ways. The cars have not only become smarter with new electronics but the armor has become stronger and lighter fulfilling its purpose – to protect the passengers inside.
International Armoring Corporation is the worldwide leader in the design and manufacturing of armored passenger vehicles in our current era. From the video you can see the process that goes into making current armored vehicles. With current armored vehicles the armor is designs to fit each specific vehicle and model not the other way around so the technology and research that has gone into making them bulletproof has certainly hastened over the last decade.
