Hummer is the kind of vehicle that has a special aura of street credibility around it, but somehow the H2 version still looks like a giant toy car to me. Which is exactly what it is, of course. Driving a SUV is a bit like smoking.. you want to give the impression that you are living a more dangerous life than you really are. Granted there is a small russian mob presence in Helsinki, but I bet the owner of this car isn’t really a mafia member or using the car for off-road driving for that matter. I’m not so sure if these things are all that safe either. There is a strange disparity between the fact that you are usually safer in a bigger vehicle in a crash, but still, according to some statistics, you are more likely to die if you are on the SUV side hitting a standard car. That’s probably because people driving SUVs don’t wear safety belts as often as the drivers of smaller cars.
If you really want protection and slavic street credibility, you need an armored car:
Maximum protection
Boris Yeltsin’s armored car for sale
(OK, maybe not the protection, but how about the street cred)
The description of the item says that ZIL-41052 is one of the safest cars in the world. US specialists could not unveil the secret of the Soviet super-vehicle prior to the perestroika period. When the USSR collapsed, they acquired the old ZIL vehicle and dismantled it. The secret turned out to be very simple. The traditional armoring technology implies the strengthening of the basic construction with armored details. Soviet engineers chose a different technology: they welded the armored capsule and then built the car on it. Such a construction is absolutely impossible in the serial production, but Soviet officials were not sorry to spend money on their own security.
Medium protection
Armored Hummer H2
Additional features included at no extra charge in the standard package: (Note: All are optional but included)
6) Battery: Original replaced with an Optima(r) bullet-resistant battery.
7) Door Supports: Hardened plastic door risers installed on all doors to support closed doors at rest. Overextension straps will be installed to protect the hinges and support the weight of the armor.
Fuel tank: Fragmentation Blanket (“Armored” fuel tank).
9) Electronic control Module: (ECM) protection.
10) Exhaust System: Wire mesh tailpipe protection.
11) Fuel System: Locking Fuel cap.
12) Bumpers: Reinforced Dual Ram (Front and Rear)
13) Wheels: Hutchinson Run flat tire device
14) Operable Window: Driver Side
Minimal protection
Armored Lada
An armored Mercedes will probably always remain among the accessories of someone who has climbed to the top of the heap in Russia. But, for the common run of bankers, officials, and, dare we say it, wise guys, the cost of protection has come down.
Bronto, a subsidiary of the Togliatti-based AvtoVAZ automaker, makes a people’s battle wagon: the armored Lada.
Posted by api in Ambient environment, Wonders of technology