Armoured AWD Dodge Charger Hellcat offered to US police

OH AMERICA, you bunch of glorious, freedom-loving nutters. The land of the bald eagle has gone and upped the ante in the official ‘cool police vehicle’ stakes, with cops around the nation now able to order bulletproof all-wheel-drive 527kW Dodge Charger Hellcats that make the Italian police force’s Lamborghini Huracan look tame.

Check out Armormax's video of the police-spec Hellcat here

Built by armoured car specialists Armormax in Utah, the bulletproof Charger is one wicked bit of kit. Along with its stonking supercharged 6.2-litre V8 under the bonnet, the police version can be optioned to send its power to all four wheels, rather than the Hellcat’s standard rear-wheel drive set-up.

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Armormax says the Charger can be specified up to a ‘B7’ level of protection, which is armoured-car-speak for a vehicle capable of withstanding armour-piercing rounds from high-powered rifles and anything below.

The passenger compartment is lined with light synthetic-fibre laminates and air hardened, heat treated ballistic alloys, while the layered windows are made up of glass, acrylic and polycarbonate laminates in order to stop high-velocity bullets.

Weight is the obvious drawback to the reinforcements, and though Armormax doesn’t state how much extra mass has been added, with all-paw traction and a 527kW V8 it’s unlikely the cops rolling in this beast will lose sight of any baddies.

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There have been mechanical changes to cope with the extra heft including uprated suspension and tough, run-flat tyres. Armormax has also fitted protection for the battery, radiator, fuel tank and ECU. A number of extra accessories are offered, including bomb blankets, for those discerning (and paranoid) sheriffs with money to burn.

Meanwhile in Australia, whichever politician has survived the latest Canberra knife fight will be rolling around in the Prime Minister’s armoured BMW 7 Series, which has doors so serious they are technically classified as weapons.