Merc1
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Have the little people in your fiefdom started tossing M51 grenades at you? Are the swarms of big armor-piercing bullets coming toward you becoming a constant nuisance as you tour the kingdom?
Mercedes has the answer and we went to Stuttgart to have our exclusive drive thereof. It is called the 2010 Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman Guard and it is a monumental thing to behold, much less to pilot around the hilly urban area near Mercedes headquarters.
Though Rainer Gärtner, the senior manager of the Mercedes Guard division, never used the word when speaking with us, the S600 Pullman Guard is certifiably "ginormous" in a way not even approachable by the extended-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Designated the VV 221 model, this S-Class weighs 11,685 pounds and measures a tick just under 21 feet (252 inches) overall with a 14.2-foot (170.4-inch) wheelbase. Due to the massive stresses already placed on the 27.6-inch (total diameter) Michelin PAX run-flat tires with rock-hard 121Q-rated sidewalls, the Pullman Guard is limited to a top speed of just 100 mph and no acceleration numbers are given.
At the wheel or in the spacious rear cabin, the 2010 Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman Guard defines utterly unrivaled substance and total protection from the vicious world lurking just on the other side of the 2.4-inch-thick windows.
Armored Personnel Carrier
"When all has been tried," says Gärtner, "there is no substitute for steel on armored cars." Besides the obvious size and mass of the car itself, each of the four doors on this latest Pullman Guard weighs 350 pounds (the rear doors actually have an electrohydraulic aid to fully close the doors so they weigh even a bit more). Apparently owner and crew are meant to have a ground staff on hand to open and shut. Total armor work on our big tester amounts to 3,970 pounds, or the weight of a 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis.
The chief benefit in buying a Pullman Guard from Mercedes — $1.4 million base price — is that the car is built from the ground up as a Guard car and not simply retrofitted with security measures that leave compromising chinks in the armor. For example, every possible seam in the bodywork of this monster S600 is filled by cleverly interlocking layers from the two adjoining panels. Moreover, the drivability and integrity of the original chassis is intact, while the Pullman Guard can be serviced at any Mercedes-Benz dealership and has a full factory warranty.
This Pullman Guard in a trim level called Highest Security meets several unbelievable testing criteria. It meets all VR6 and VR7 security thresholds set by NATO, versus High Security, which meets VR4 levels corresponding to a .44-magnum handgun. This certifies that the car can withstand a five-grenade sandwich maneuver, wherein three M51 hand grenades sited under the car and two placed on the roof are all set off simultaneously. As an option for world leaders living in really dicey locales, there is a 660-pound floor structure that will withstand the M61 hand grenades preferred by the U.S. Army, among others.
The polycarbonate side windows are 2.4 inches thick and feel like brick when you rap them with a knuckle. The windscreen and rear window can be less thick, since projectiles fired from ground level will meet these windows at an angle and therefore must travel through just as much material in the end. (This is a damned sight better than in olden times, when the driver's compartment was considered expendable and therefore not armored.)
Edmunds
M
Mercedes has the answer and we went to Stuttgart to have our exclusive drive thereof. It is called the 2010 Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman Guard and it is a monumental thing to behold, much less to pilot around the hilly urban area near Mercedes headquarters.
Though Rainer Gärtner, the senior manager of the Mercedes Guard division, never used the word when speaking with us, the S600 Pullman Guard is certifiably "ginormous" in a way not even approachable by the extended-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Designated the VV 221 model, this S-Class weighs 11,685 pounds and measures a tick just under 21 feet (252 inches) overall with a 14.2-foot (170.4-inch) wheelbase. Due to the massive stresses already placed on the 27.6-inch (total diameter) Michelin PAX run-flat tires with rock-hard 121Q-rated sidewalls, the Pullman Guard is limited to a top speed of just 100 mph and no acceleration numbers are given.
At the wheel or in the spacious rear cabin, the 2010 Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman Guard defines utterly unrivaled substance and total protection from the vicious world lurking just on the other side of the 2.4-inch-thick windows.
Armored Personnel Carrier
"When all has been tried," says Gärtner, "there is no substitute for steel on armored cars." Besides the obvious size and mass of the car itself, each of the four doors on this latest Pullman Guard weighs 350 pounds (the rear doors actually have an electrohydraulic aid to fully close the doors so they weigh even a bit more). Apparently owner and crew are meant to have a ground staff on hand to open and shut. Total armor work on our big tester amounts to 3,970 pounds, or the weight of a 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis.
The chief benefit in buying a Pullman Guard from Mercedes — $1.4 million base price — is that the car is built from the ground up as a Guard car and not simply retrofitted with security measures that leave compromising chinks in the armor. For example, every possible seam in the bodywork of this monster S600 is filled by cleverly interlocking layers from the two adjoining panels. Moreover, the drivability and integrity of the original chassis is intact, while the Pullman Guard can be serviced at any Mercedes-Benz dealership and has a full factory warranty.
This Pullman Guard in a trim level called Highest Security meets several unbelievable testing criteria. It meets all VR6 and VR7 security thresholds set by NATO, versus High Security, which meets VR4 levels corresponding to a .44-magnum handgun. This certifies that the car can withstand a five-grenade sandwich maneuver, wherein three M51 hand grenades sited under the car and two placed on the roof are all set off simultaneously. As an option for world leaders living in really dicey locales, there is a 660-pound floor structure that will withstand the M61 hand grenades preferred by the U.S. Army, among others.
The polycarbonate side windows are 2.4 inches thick and feel like brick when you rap them with a knuckle. The windscreen and rear window can be less thick, since projectiles fired from ground level will meet these windows at an angle and therefore must travel through just as much material in the end. (This is a damned sight better than in olden times, when the driver's compartment was considered expendable and therefore not armored.)
Edmunds
M
