Toyota Land Cruiser Prado armors up for South Africa

SAR-based armored vehicle manufacturer Armormax has unveiled its latest creation. It’s based on the latest-gen Toyota Land Cruiser Prado and offers B4-grade ballistic protection. You can order the conversion starting from 754,000 Rand, or U.S. $42,000 – almost half as much as the SUV itself costs.

The armoring grade means that the Prado now withstands large-caliber handgun fire up to .44 Magnum caliber. Better alternatives exist, but this should be enough to survive in a street gang shootout – not too uncommon of an event in South Africa.
Armormax accomplishes the task by inserting composite armor inside body panels and the roof, replacing the glass dome with 21mm (0.8”) thick ballistic panes, and putting run-flat tires around the wheels.

Weight is the main upside of this relatively light approach to armoring. The SUV gains only 187 kilos (412 pounds) in the process, remaining agile on the highway and off road.

In its SAR version (see video), the Land Cruiser Prado comes equipped with a 2.8-liter diesel engine and an eight-speed automatic transmission. Armormax points out that it was particularly hard to find an example for the conversion – the SUV is on a backorder in the country that stretches until 2026.