The Fastest Armored Car In The World Is … A Tesla Model S

The crazy cats over at Armor Max got all up into the Tesla Model S and completely overhauled it to make it fully bulletproof. One of the guys over at What’s Inside? was given exclusive access to get in and explore the car before it was shipped off to the wealthy customer in the Middle East.

The video shows off what it’s like inside a bulletproofed Tesla Model S. What’s impressive is that the vehicle looks just like a stock Tesla Model S unless you look really closely. Obviously, that’s the point, as you don’t want the guys trying to shoot bullets into the car to know that it’s bulletproofed. Then again, if they really know who they’re trying to put a hit on, wouldn’t they know that? Anyway, that’s not the point.

The point is, this car was bulletproofed extremely well, in the sense that it retains the stock look and feel. The first thing that stands out as abnormal is the doors. The interior door panels are popped out a little more than 1/2 inch (1.25 centimeters) in order to fit all of the bulletproofing material into the lower door frame.

Up top, the window has also been given a bit more bulk, getting upgraded from the 3mm standard window to a 30mm thick bulletproof window. What’s neat is that it doesn’t have a crazy effect on the optics through the window — or if it does, it isn’t obvious in the video. A drawback of protecting oneself from flying metal projectiles is that it means the windows don’t go down. Not only would that be counterproductive, it would require that the doors be even thicker to accommodate a 30mm window panel. So, no dice on that.

The reviewer notes that the car is especially quiet inside. It is logical that the car would be quieter with 550 pounds of bulletproofing material keeping much more noise out, but it’s kind of a fun realization at the same time. Even with all of that extra weight, Armor Max shared that the Model S P100D Ludicrous is the fastest car it has ever armored, and that’s saying something when you consider some of the high-performance cars the company has worked on.

One final fun fact is how the team had to beef up the rear lift gate assist to allow it to function normally. The addition of the bulletproof glass to the rear window added a significant amount of weight and the team had to upgrade the assist mechanism to keep the lift gate balanced and functioning like it was stock.

Check out the video below for an inside look at a very unique Tesla Model S.