Armoured cars big hit

08 December 2014 - 09:01 By Shaun Smillie
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Image: ©Jaguar Land Rover

When the man with an AK-47 opened fire on the Range Rover it should have ended badly. Instead the bullets lodged in the windscreen and the motorist drove to safety.

The failed hijacking last December was yet another success story for armoured vehicle manufacturer Armormax.

Armormax managing Grant Anderson said there had been nine incidents in South Africa in the last two-and-a-half years in which his product had saved lives.

The gunmen can be more at risk than their victims. In Mexico a hijacker was blinded by flying shards of bulletproof glass when he shot at a vehicle.

But Anderson is worried: "In South Africa we are seeing criminals using high-calibre weapons a lot more ," he said.

"But if you fix the security at your home and in your vehicle you have eliminated 95% of your risk."

Armouring a Range Rover can set you back R500,000 to R1.2-million.

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