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The Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) recently became the first local carmaker to approve aftermarket armoured modifications.
In a ground-breaking initiative, FMCSA teamed up with SVI Engineering to offer customers various armouring options across its Ranger range which can be financed on the dealership floor and better yet, won’t affect the vehicle’s warranty. The partnership hit the ground running, with SVI proudly announcing this week that no less than 10 armoured Rangers has already been sold in the two weeks since its official launch.
While a large chunk of the armoured vehicle business caters for the obvious markets like valuables-in-transit movers and security services looking after the wellbeing of important individuals, the demand for additional protection on the road has grown significantly among ordinary civilians. Especially taken into consideration the 18 000 annual hijackings recorded in South Africa which mostly involves ordinary civilians.
“When a private buyer opts to go the armoured route, it is mostly an emotional decision. Chances are that they are reacting to something that has happened to them,” says Jaco de Kock, CEO of SVI Engineering. “That is why we offer discreet armouring which does not attract any more attention than the vehicle next to it while providing the costumer with the confidence that they are better protected against any level of threat they might have experienced before.”
But modifying a Ranger from standard guise into one that can potentially save your life from a bullet is no easy feat. In fact, it’s one hell of a process which you will probably never fully appreciate until you’ve seen the actual science behind it and labour that goes into it.
Even though the Ranger is built in Silverton just down the road from SVI’s headquarters on the Eastern outskirts of Pretoria, the way Ford’s assembly is structured makes it virtually impossible for the armouring process to be integrated with the bakkies’ original assembly. The Rangers earmarked for bulletproofing are completely assembled in Silverton just like any other unit that leave the plant only to be stripped down again at SVI’s factory. And this a quite a sight for sore eyes as skilled technicians carefully strip down most of the cabin, labelling, wrapping and storing every piece for reassembling after the armoured modifications have been done.
“Logistically, it is just not feasible to integrate the armouring modification process into the assembly line,” says Neale Hill, Managing Director of FMCSA. “The way the assembly line is set up allows for parts specifically set up for each unit that rolls by. The line is made up of units for the local market as well as for export, all of which is done in a specific order. To pull a Ranger off the line at any given time to perform certain modifications and then attempt to feed it back on the line would present us with a logistical nightmare,” adds Hill.
Once the Ranger arrives at the SVI facility, the job card assigned to it determines the modification’s cost and the time it will take until completion. And the significant time difference between various options is a clear indication of the labour intenseness as well of the additional cost of the materials for the more expensive options.
The highest level of protection allowed for civilian protection without a special permit, referred to as the B6 specification, is available in two options: discreet or non-discreet. Both options offer the same level of protection, but differ greatly in terms of price and labour time. The B6 non-discreet option on a Ranger double cab costs R335 202 and takes two weeks to complete, while the discreet offering costs almost double that at R688 225 and takes all of 12 weeks to complete.
Because the non-discreet options are generally fitted on Rangers that would generally require additional protection, for example valuables-in-transit movers or mine vehicles, there is no point in trying to hide the fact that they are armoured. And the one thing area that makes these options more cost effective is the use of glass that are less curved than that the production model has fitted. Their windscreens comprise of two separate flat windows separated by a central divider. The B6 specification uses 38 mm armoured glass and special armoured steel plates that is able to withstand ammunition fired by the R1 assault rifle and AK47.
“The armoured glass is a major contributing factor to the overall cost of the modification. It is important from South America and comprises of various layers bonded through a meticulous process during which organic and non-organic matter are being stuck together. It is quite a process and very costly,” says De Kock.
A simple demonstration on SVI’s shooting range was enough to showcase the toughness of the glass. Three shots fired from a 9 mm pistol into an armoured back window recovered from one of SVI’s modified vehicles shattered the top layer of glass, but couldn’t manage to crack the inside layer. Shot fired from an AK47 at close range hardly made a dent in a special armoured steel plate used in the B6, illustrating up close and personal how armoured modification can withhold a potentially fatal round of ammunition.
In B4 protection guise, only available in discreet option, a lower level of protection is offered suited for every day anti-hijacking. Protection includes the use of 18 to 21 mm armoured glass in conjunction with Kevlar sheets in the body. This conversion costs R454 371 for the double cab, takes around eight weeks to complete and ultimately offers the least visual clues to the fact that it differs in any way from a stock-standard production Ranger.
But even though these bulletproof Rangers might look similar to any other Ranger on the road in discreet guise, there are various things that differentiates them. And not all of them are as comfortable as the vehicle would be in standard guise.
For starters, even in B4 discreet form, an armoured double cab Ranger weighs 280kg more than in normal production guise. This isn’t enough to require a suspension upgrade, but it will ultimately have an influence on the vehicle’s payload, handling, acceleration and fuel consumption.
The B6 specification includes a suspension upgrade as it weighs 680 kg more than a standard model, but will no doubt be thirstier and heavier and the brakes, making its long-term maintenance costlier even with Ford’s backing in terms of the warranty and service plan.
Driving these armoured Rangers is actually surprisingly good as we discovered during our visit to the SVI facilities last month. Yes, they do feel heavy across the various body shapes, but they still felt firmly planted to the road without the handling being compromised too much.
There are however still other compromises to consider when you are in the market for an armoured Ranger as a private customer. For starters, even in discreet guise, the cabin is less comfortable than it would be in standard form. Where the side windows don’t open at all in the non-discreet option, they do open in discreet guise but only around halfway, robbing occupants of the freedom of ever taking them down entirely even in a completely safe environment. And with armoured glass in play, the option of a sliding rear window also goes … out of the window.
Another thing that owners of civilian armoured vehicles need to adapt to is the weigh of the doors. Because of the additional weigh, the doors become so heavy that can present a risk of injury to occupants getting in or out of the car, ironically in a vehicle tailormade for preventing bodily harm. When passengers are trying to get in or out the vehicle on an incline or decline, the doors could either be very difficult to fully open or alternatively swing open, posing a risk to especially younger children.
“When a customer walks into a dealership to buy an armoured Ranger, it differs from buying just another standard Ranger. There is a great deal of know-how required from the salesperson to ensure that the customer knows what he is buying into,” says Dale Reid, Product Marketing Manager at FMCSA.
“When we put out stamp of approval on something, it is our responsibility to ensure that our customers walk into exactly what they are buying, fully understanding what the product is all about.”
It goes without saying that the armoured Ranger might not be perfect. But while the bloated purchase price and additional operating cost at the expense of a bit of comfort can be measured in monetary terms, the cost of the lives it might save is priceless.
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