TORONTO SUN ARTICLE ABOUT INKAS [ 28.05.2007 ]

Indestructible innovation

Bulletproof cars: The business of protecting people from something bad has gotten very good

By THANE BURNETT

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The business development executive for the Canadian armoured vehicle manufacturer Inkas is part of a niche and very private customization market that rebuilds vehicles into street-legal and war-ready Batmobiles.

While there's no official index charting the demand for bulletproof sedans for frightened company heads, or how many run-flat tires have ever been ordered to help rap artists flee annoying shootouts, officials at Inkas say the business of protecting civilians from something bad has recently gotten very good.

More and more of the vehicles that they magically make bulletproof- -- with steel and ceramics -- now stay in the U.S. or Canada. Last year, like the year before that, demand to retrofit cars, trucks and SUVs into rolling fortresses increased by a third.

"Our numbers are growing weekly," says Pecalevski.

Chris Pecalevski's clients don't need him to pimp their rides. They simply demand, "protect my hide."

" 9/11 has had a lot to do with that. There are a lot of people who are fearful."

HOT SPOTS

Most of the high-end security rides produced at Inkas' 5,600-square-metre plant in north Toronto still head to hotter spots than any American or Canadian city could produce. The vehicles are shipped to Iraq, Afghanistan, South America and Russia -- places where you're more likely to have to try to outrun a bullet.

But there are still nervous North American entertainers and Fortune 500 heads who don't feel so secure on the streets we all drive on.

Pecalevski says they build to suit the threat level. In North America, the vehicles they overhaul can most often take on a .357 handgun. For their clients in Mexico, the vehicles better keep running after being confronted with an AK-47 assault rifle. And don't show up on many Middle Eastern boulevards without armour-piercing-bulletproof doors on the family sedan.

A client once asked for a modest Ford Capri to be made Superman-strong. They felt the Clark Kent normalcy would blend in better on the streets of Iraq -- stealth being the first line of defence. Then there's the ability to withstand a grenade blast -- an option that can quickly become more important than leather trim.

Overseas, anyone -- from diplomats to politicians to contract workers rebuilding a country -- can look for added safety features in their rides. In North America, clients are most often celebrities -- names are rarely uttered in public, unless ego gets in the way. Then there are the boards of directors who can't afford to see each share drop $4 because of the death of their CEO.

quot;Modifications which run $50,000 to $150,000," says Pecalevski.

Pecalevski doesn't believe we'll ever see the demand for protection in Canada that other countries live and die with -- his own vehicle isn't shielded. But he does point out the SUV next to you at that stop light might be one of his creations -- and you still wouldn't know it's number one with a bullet.

HIGH SECURITY

In Inkas' factory, hundreds of raw money safes are stacked, nearly reaching the ceiling. In a nearby room, in a high-security workshop, a technician programs ATM machines.

But the most secure place of all is likely inside the gleaming Mercedes-Benz S600 -- the company's flagship design -- sitting quietly at one end.

The luxury Mercedes is a rhino in black-sheep's clothing.

Behind the wheel -- more than 600 horsepower at your pedal -- you and this car could survive a close-range armour-piercing bullet. Every inch -- including dual batteries and computer protection and 56-mm-thick glass -- is like being inside a bank vault mounted on a V12 engine.

In this shop, it patiently waits, ready to soon ship out of the country, next to five SUVs.

Three will remain in North America. They include a grey Lexus, which is almost complete. It belongs to a private business.

Next to that is a Chevy Tahoe that will soon be completely armoured. It will go into service overseas. The owner has asked for an added, unusual extra. Something that beats sticker shock. They want each door to be equipped with a staggering electrical charge.

"We're still determining how that might be done," says a slightly perplexed Pecalevski.

"In the end, we build these vehicles to give people time to get away. The quicker, the better."

As if a reminder, above the customizers -- with their grinders, welding gear and their James Bond tricks -- is a large poster that reads "Haul Ass."

SECRETIVE WORLD

In the secretive world of super-secure cars, many experts say it's difficult to judge whether there's been any noticeable, market-wide increase in the number of North Americans customizing to save their lives.

Mercedes-Benz last year reportedly took their armoured performance series car off the option list in North America and Ford failed to attract the nervous elite to an armoured Lincoln Town Car it unveiled in 2004.

Bill Whyte, who heads Armet Armoured Vehicles Canada Inc., recently sold one of his military-approved Gurkha armoured vehicles to an American entertainer. The behemoth makes a Hummer look as formidable as gramps' scooter.

The current trend, Whyte says, is not as much the expected CEOs, but rather leans toward divorce lawyers and doctors involved in plastic surgery and abortions.

Darren Flynn oversees the North American market for Centigon, that boasts it's the world's oldest and largest vehicle armoury firm. They built the original presidential limos.

Traditionally, 90% of their retrofitted cars and SUVs head overseas, with most of the rest used by government officials -- including cloak and dagger "ABC" types.

They've seen "somewhat" of an increase in demand, from North Americans who feel uneasy in a world where there's no true safe street corner anymore.

"An armoured vehicle is a last line of defence ... you're not supposed to stand and fight," says Flynn, from his Ohio office.

Where it's rebels and terrorists in other parts of the globe, here in North America it's more often disgruntled employees or activists, he explains.

Of what's down the road for these do-or-die customizers, few are willing to speculate.

"That's for the market to decide," Flynn points out.

Within days, the cool black Mercedes from Inkas will hit the road in some unknown country. And the only future that driver will really care about will be his own.