Previously the first line of defence for anyone at risk may have been discretion, but the T98 ignores that philosophy with its unashamedly military looks. The T98 may seem like an extreme proposition but market experts estimate that total worldwide sales of armoured cars have grown 20 per cent in each of the past several years, reaching a record high of around 20,000 vehicles just before the recession hit. Currently the leaders in the Middle Eastern and African armoured car market include Mercedes-Benz and BMW but even they cannot compete with this road-legal tank.
The Kombat T98 is the world’s fastest heavily armoured, luxury all-road vehicle. Furthermore it has customisable features offering the very highest degree of protection, meaning it achieves a rating of B7 on the international ballistics scale, with up to G1 level protection, which includes protection from 12.7mm heavy machine gun fire, available upon request. In fact the 56mm glass windows will bear the impact of a shotgun firing armour-piercing rounds, and if you want to go the whole nine yards you can specify glass up to 100mm in thickness. This beast will even stand up to high explosive mines. To be quite frank, such levels of protection have only ever been available in light tanks but the T98 is the very first car to offer civilians such capabilities.
Each T98 is made to order. The T98’s project director revealed to Bespoke that vehicles have already been delivered to the UAE, USA, Estonia, Malaysia and many African republics. He also explained how the car is based on GM components, including an 8.1 litre Vortec V8 that can propel the SUV all the way to 200km/h while still complying to US emission standards. One of the biggest attractions of this personal tank is that the maintenance and diagnostics can be performed at any GM service centre, meaning this monster really could be your daily drive.
Price 350,000 USD (full options)
www.t98.ru
