US motorists' chance to go armour-plated

Some might say American cars are increasingly coming to resemble military vehicles – four-wheel-drive behemoths of reinforced steel designed to crush anything and anyone in their way. Now the Ford Motor Company is going one step further. It is developing America's first fully armoured car for commercial use. The Lincoln Town Car BPS will go into production later this year and hopes to find 70 per cent of its market in the United States.

This may not be a country much prone to high-profile kidnappings, random mine accidents or paramilitary firefights – unlike such established markets for armoured cars as Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines – but in the wake of September 2001, not to mention the sniper shootings that terrorised the Washington area last autumn, there is no lack of fear or paranoia to tap into.

With war drums beating again in Iraq, the timing could not be better. The Lincoln BPS – which stands for Ballistic Protection Series – will, according to its manufacturers, look like an ordinary luxury car and drive much like an ordinary luxury car.

Granted, it will be quite a bit heavier and will probably give motorists even lousier fuel mileage. And it won't exactly be cheap, either – Lincoln is talking of something in the region of $140,000 (£85,000), or three times the unarmoured version.

"Prospective customers include executives, political dignitaries, government agencies, private citizens and leasing agencies," says the publicity blurb. With its ceramic composite materials, its shrapnel-proof chassis and "run-flat inserts" that will keep the car rolling even after the tyres have blown out, the car is designed to resist small explosions, handgun fire and even high-powered rifles.

Some question whether there is truly a market for this in the US. Industry experts say the worldwide market for armoured commercial vehicles is growing by 20 per cent per year, though the US accounts for just 5 per cent of the total. (BMW and Mercedes already have their own armoured town cars for sale, while other companies add armour-plating to existing vehicles.) Lincoln knows that military-style vehicles at least are all the rage in the US. Four-wheel drives -- known Stateside as Sports Utility Vehicles, or SUVs -- grow more militaristic with every new model. Some of the bigger ones are fitted with special metal bars beneath the chassis to stop smaller cars from sliding underneath.

Thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger, the military Humvee has become the 7ft-wide Hummer in a light, modified (but not bullet-proof) civilian version. Arnie took one look at a convoy of Humvees in Washington state 10 years ago, while he was shooting Kindergarten Cop and said: "I've got to have that car." Lincoln will be crossing its fingers for another celebrity to provide a similarly enthusiastic endorsement for the BPS.