soulxtc
August 28th, 2006, 08:18 AM
When a Hummer won't do
In the past, politicians and rock stars fed the urban armoured car business.
But with security fears on the rise, so is demand
Aug. 25, 2006. 07:00 AM
TONY WONG
BUSINESS REPORTER
It can stop a bullet from an AK-47, shrug off a roadside bomb, and it makes a Hummer look like a chick car.
The $200,000 (U.S.) Gurkha is coming to a road near you — thanks to a King City-based company that is finding itself in demand because of the global war on terror.
"They are pretty awesome machines," says William Whyte, owner of Armet Armored Vehicles Inc., the company that builds the Gurkha. "We've been stopped on roads with people taking pictures and wanting to know what they are."
The Gurkha can go more than 150 kilometres per hour — plenty fast for a military vehicle — and is the highest level of protection you can get next to sitting in a tank, Whyte says. It certainly looks fierce enough.
The squat 8,620 kilogram vehicle looks every bit the ticked-off hedgehog, bristling with testosterone and armour plating.
Whyte says the first 40 have been built this year for delivery to the Canadian and the American military in the Middle East. The first civilian delivery is for a "well-known personality" in California that will take place next month, Whyte says. The customer, who is a friend of California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, intends to use it as daily transport, Whyte says. "It's a very California mentality to have the biggest and the best."
It's also in the spirit of one-upmanship. Schwarzenegger was the first civilian to take ownership of a Hummer military vehicle — which most famously kick-started sales of the armoured car.
Whyte is likely hoping for a similar halo effect, especially since the Gurkha is also slated to star in a Discovery Channel Europe documentary to be released later this year.
The privately owned company, the largest armoured car manufacturer in Canada, will not give out sales figures, but says over the last three years it has opened three more offices including the Middle East, England and Malta to deal with demand.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1156456211222&call_pageid=968332188492
http://www.thestar.com/images/thestar/img/060825_gurkha_300.jpg
In the past, politicians and rock stars fed the urban armoured car business.
But with security fears on the rise, so is demand
Aug. 25, 2006. 07:00 AM
TONY WONG
BUSINESS REPORTER
It can stop a bullet from an AK-47, shrug off a roadside bomb, and it makes a Hummer look like a chick car.
The $200,000 (U.S.) Gurkha is coming to a road near you — thanks to a King City-based company that is finding itself in demand because of the global war on terror.
"They are pretty awesome machines," says William Whyte, owner of Armet Armored Vehicles Inc., the company that builds the Gurkha. "We've been stopped on roads with people taking pictures and wanting to know what they are."
The Gurkha can go more than 150 kilometres per hour — plenty fast for a military vehicle — and is the highest level of protection you can get next to sitting in a tank, Whyte says. It certainly looks fierce enough.
The squat 8,620 kilogram vehicle looks every bit the ticked-off hedgehog, bristling with testosterone and armour plating.
Whyte says the first 40 have been built this year for delivery to the Canadian and the American military in the Middle East. The first civilian delivery is for a "well-known personality" in California that will take place next month, Whyte says. The customer, who is a friend of California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, intends to use it as daily transport, Whyte says. "It's a very California mentality to have the biggest and the best."
It's also in the spirit of one-upmanship. Schwarzenegger was the first civilian to take ownership of a Hummer military vehicle — which most famously kick-started sales of the armoured car.
Whyte is likely hoping for a similar halo effect, especially since the Gurkha is also slated to star in a Discovery Channel Europe documentary to be released later this year.
The privately owned company, the largest armoured car manufacturer in Canada, will not give out sales figures, but says over the last three years it has opened three more offices including the Middle East, England and Malta to deal with demand.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1156456211222&call_pageid=968332188492
http://www.thestar.com/images/thestar/img/060825_gurkha_300.jpg