Bulletproof cars are generally large, bulky, often luxurious, sometimes truck-based vehicles that can support the thousands of pounds of extra weight required from the glass and armor. Most of the time, it’s an armored Chevy Tahoe or a Mercedes S-Class. In what might be the weirdest possible choice, this company made a bulletproof Subaru Crosstrek.
And no, before you Subaru folks chime in about unreliability, it isn’t bulletproofed mechanically. It’s actually an armored Subaru Crosstrek done by Armormax, a car that has just 152 horsepower and 145 pounds-feet of torque and can barely move out of its own way without any extra weight. It also isn’t exactly heavy-duty, being based on the standard Subaru Impreza compact car. On paper, it seems like the worst car to up-armor.
In practice, it also makes zero sense. It’s small, so there isn’t much room for all of the extra bulk needed to armor it. It’s unclear the exact armor treatment that the car receives but the company says that it can “stop a .44 Magnum or AR-15.” How many times and where is unclear, but there is optional bomb protection for the undercarriage. The company’s pitch for the car is for an armored car that won’t break the bank, starting at $50,000.
If the photos are to be believed, it’s still on the standard tires and suspension. Armoring a car to stop a bullet or a bomb generally takes a lot of weight, and the Crosstrek’s gutless power and dinky architecture make this a genuinely odd choice. Even an upper-trim Outback would make a lot more sense thanks to its turbo engine. Or a slightly larger SUV with a V6 from another automaker. Hell, anything would make boatloads more sense than a Crosstrek. No offense, Crosstrek owners.
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