This is an armoured Range Rover
You may be familiar with Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations team. Their day to day consists of making either frighteningly fast or ultra-luxurious Range Rovers, and their state-of-the-art technical centre in Warwickshire looks like Q’s workshop.
For those whose real life resembles a James Bond movie though there’s this – the armoured Range Rover Sentinel – and it’s even more insane than ever.
Whereas the previous version of this car used a 3.0-litre V6, this new Sentinel deploys a monster 5.0-litre supercharged V8 with 375bhp on tap.
Though Land Rover won’t specify a kerb weight, it does admit that nearly a tonne of armour plating and glass has been added to the car. And then there’s the chassis, suspension and brake upgrades that come with it.
When you consider that a standard V8 Autobiography sits at almost 2.5 tonnes, that’s some bulk that the Sentinel has to shift. A 0-100kph time of 9.8 seconds doesn’t seem too sluggish in the context does it?
So, we know what you’re here for, let’s get to the good stuff. This is a car for the world’s elite – the kind of people in positions where making enemies is inevitable. The armour then includes bulletproof glass, a dedicated protection cell, roof and under-floor blast protection that’ll stop an IED and even an emergency escape system in the boot.
Elsewhere there’s sirens and a public address system to deal with any riotous crowds that you may encounter as well as run-flat tyres that are good for more than 48 kilometres at 80kph even with a puncture.
Land Rover clearly thinks its clients for this car won’t be shopping around at Geneva, so it’ll make its debut at the Home Office Security and Policing show from 5-7 March.
