Ford Goes Ballistic with New Lincoln Car

[ringmastery]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&ncid=1896&e=17&u=/nm/20040402/us_nm/life_armor_dc

DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co. calls it the right vehicle for the wrong place. This month, as it moves to capitalize on surging demand for armored protection since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington, Ford will begin offering a "Ballistic Protection Series" version of its Lincoln Town Car.

From the outside it looks deceptively like other Town Cars, the ubiquitous vehicle of choice in the U.S. livery business. But with a price tag starting at $144,995, it's about $100,000 more expensive and features a reinforced body that can withstand rounds from high-powered or high-velocity assault rifles and submachine guns.

It's "an elegant answer to a hostile world," according to a brochure from Ford's luxury Lincoln division. "A barrier against bigger, faster bullets," adds the brochure.

Richard Bondy, a former Secret Service agent who works for Ford, described the rolling fortress to reporters as "a car that has a substantially higher ballistic level" than any other automaker has offered commercially in the United States.

Initially, Ford says it only plans to sell about 300 a year. But Bondy said worldwide sales of armored cars have grown about 20 percent annually over the past few years, to about 20,000 vehicles. And he and others at Ford clearly see potential beyond 300 sales a year.

[baldguy]

1. Republican Party Staff Car?

[name not needed]

2. lucrative business

plus they can give daimlerchrysler a run for their money. they offer armored mecredes benzes.

[Maine-i-acs]

3. Domestic Terrorist's choice?

Along with the new military rifle replacing the M-16, that's some good firepower and armor.

How many of these will be sold and umnonitored? I would love to know where those 300 cars go.