Posted by:
cludgie
(
)
Date: July 28, 2011 09:56AM
Following up on RfM poster Levi's observation about Monson riding in an armored car in the Days of 47 parade in SLC: At first I couldn't believe it, and I began trying to find out the kind of armored vehicle he was in when Levi also correctly called out the type, a factory-armored Audi A8 L Security. Of course, ExMormonRon points out that it may not be the actual property of the church. But it would be rare that anyone should own it, particularly in SLC. So I've begun obsessing over it.
See, this is weird, and I'll tell you why. I've got quite a bit of experience in learning about and being assigned to drive an armored car. Most armored cars are "up-armored," meaning that at great expense, one of three US-based companies tear down a vehicle (almost exclusively a Toyota Land Cruiser or a Chevy Suburban) to nothing, then build it back up with armored plating, then have to recover it in its original skin. It's a difficult and expensive task, since they have to install re-designed interiors in order to fit in the thick bullet-proof glass and provide armor around the windows, door jambs, and pillars. Unfortunately, though the car takes on more than a ton of new stuff, they do not compensate with brakes or suspension, and these things wear themselves out in less than half the time it normally takes to wear a car down, particularly if driving in a place like Afghanistan. The brakes are always spongy, and pretty soon the springs sag, etc. Factory-built armored cars are rare and expensive.
The Audi A8 L Security that Monson is in even has the rare optional and horribly expensive option of side windows that open, a real luxury in an armored car (even then the manufacturers warn to use the roll-down option sparingly, since normal operation burns out the motor in no time, and there are few places in the US where a motor can be replaced).
Top Speed states: "A lot of people might not feel the need to own a luxury car that effectively has the skeleton of a high-grade military car, but for those few that depend on these cars to help protect them from outside threats, then we present to you Audi’s new high-powered, armored-to-the-hilt, luxury car, the 2011 A8 L Security. At first glance, the A8 L Security looks exactly like the standard A8, but nothing about this car can be described as ’standard’. It’s got enough safety and security features to make anyone think it’s a fortress on wheels." Audi calls it a "rolling luxury tank."
The price of the 2011 A8 Security is still a bit hazy, but in 2007 it cost $650,000; by now it must cost most of $1 million. It begs an important question: Why does the Mormon church think that it needs one of the few factory-built armored cars in the world, when even few US ambassadors have them? (They are reserved for ambassadors in places where the danger is truly great. Factory-armored vehicles are only made by BMW, then Mercedes and Audi, last I knew. Most armored vehicles for everyone else are "up-armored" Toyota Land Cruisers and Chevy Suburbans.)
Is Monson such a hated man in the world that he requires this kind of insulation? Just what kind of rarefied atmosphere does he live in?
Tithing dollars at work, folks.