What's it like to drive a $700,000 armoured car? - Conquest Knight XV

What's it like to drive a $700,000 armoured car?  - Conquest Knight XV
A black tank-like truck cruises through downtown Toronto, prompting stunned pedestrians to whip out their phones to provide proof of what they've witnessed.

What they've seen is the Conquest Knight XV. It is a rare beast. There are only 17 in the world, sold to the likes of Middle Eastern royalty and a basketball star.

The vehicle starts at $629,000, but most go for several hundred thousand dollars more. It weighs twice as a much as a Hummer and it can stop a bullet from an AK-47.

And it's made by hand in Toronto.

It takes about six months to build a Knight XV, and Conquest Vehicles actually machine their own parts out of stainless steel and aluminum.

The opulent armoured Knight XV, which stands for "extreme vehicle," is a magnet for attention everywhere it rolls. The Canadian Press saw proof on a recent ride through downtown Toronto.

Massive gas guzzling machine

The Knight XV is gargantuan, weighing in at 6,400 kilograms. Each ballistic steel door weighs 160 kilograms, or about the size of two small men.

This truck doesn't guzzle gas. It inhales it — consuming about 34 litres per 100 kilometres, according to the company.

But the last thing on the minds of Knight XV's owners is the cost of fuel. The most blinged-out version costs about the same as the average price of a Toronto home.

"The interior is fully customizable," said Tim Chapman, the president of Conquest Vehicles, on a tour of the warehouse in north Toronto in late June.

There are four trucks in the warehouse at the moment, including a nearly completed redesigned model that is about a half-metre longer and 20 centimetres wider than the original.

The only one owned in Canada is the company demo truck as most are overseas.

"There is no market in Canada for armoured vehicles," Maizlin said on the phone. "And thank God, because Canada is a very safe country, but there are other hot zones in the world where there is a big need for security."
The security measures in the truck are profound. "The tires can get shot and still run for 80 miles,"

Source: cbc.ca