I have an interesting test from a Finnish financial paper (from May 2005) and here's my translation:
In Russia there is demand for bullet- and bomb-proof vehicles. The Kombat T98 made by Autocad from St. Petersburg attracts the patriotic business executives. It can take bigger thumps than the Hummer.
The cars of business managers can sometimes get into serious trouble in Russia. In March, the CEO of the Russian power monopoly UES, Anatoli Tshubais, was attacked with automatic rifles and bombs. Tshubais who was sitting inside his armored BMW survived the attack.
Some time ago the motorcade of President Putin was moving on in Moscow with a high speed. At a speed of 120 km/h one of the Mercedes-Benz cars had to make a deep turn for some reason and as a result the car started to skid and finally spinned. The control systems of the car didn't work because the optional armor-plating had added too much weight.
"Tshubais was just lucky and if the car would have been a Kombat T98 instead, it wouldn't have spinned" says the car designer Dmitri Parfjonov. He is the technology director at the Autocad corporation which is the manufacturer of the armored luxury car. Already in the Soviet Union he was known as a pioneer: 20 years ago many Russian carfanatics were dreaming about Parfjonov's sportscar called “Laura”. Parfjonov made the chassis by himself and the engine was a modernised Lada-engine.
The last few years Autocad has specialised in modifying Russian serial production cars like the Lada Niva. About 200 armored vehicles leave the factory every year.
The newest star of the company, The Kombat T98, could be called "the executive tank". The vehicles are handmade in the Kirov plant that used to make the famous T-34 tank during the WW2.
The first prototype was finished 4 years ago and now there are about a dozen of Kombats on the roads in Russia. In 2005 the company delivers one Kombat per month to its customers.
Due to high tariffs and excise duties in Russia Parfjonov is planning to start assemblying cars also abroad ether in the U.K. or in the UAE. Parfjonov has demonstrated the Kombat in the UAE. The possible customers were excited about “the armored ship of the desert” that could do 180 kph.
Dmitri Parfjonov is slightly irritated that Kombat is always compared with the Hummer. Although there are some components shared with the Hummer and the engine is a GM 8.0 Vortec V8, the design work is completely made by Autocad. “Hummer is just a Jeep while Kombat is an armored luxury vehicle with all the goodies”, says Parfjonov.
The Kombat has been designed to be an armored vehicle from the start, it isn’t based on any ordinary truck or on separate chassis like off-road vehicles. The bodywork is made of steel alloy and it has a double-layer floor. The doors have three steel layers. The windows are over 5 cm thick and if necessary, a small explosive closes the windows in a split second. The vehicle has two fueling points, one on each side. The fueling points are protected by armors that can only be opened from inside. Economically thinking people can choose their Kombat with 6,6 liter diesel V8. The interior can be made air proof in case of gas attack. The vehicle also has shooting holes. The occupational health and safety of the security men have also been paid attention. The gunpowder fumes can be pumped outside from spoiling the breathing air inside.
Depending on the model the vehicle weights 3200-4200 kg. The Kombat is over 5 meters long and it can be ordered as 5-, 7- or 12-passengers model.
There are three armor levels, Pro, Hi Pro and Hi Pro S. Pro-models can take fire of small arms while the passengers of the most expensive model don’t have to be disturbed by even heavy machine gun fire. Autocad tests, shoots and explodes their cars in a testing area near St. Petersburg.
The base model “Pro” costs about 100,000 euros in Russia. For the luxury model you have to pay three times more. The waiting time is 6 months and the prepay is 50-70 % of the price of the vehicle. The options list includes items like tv-screens, night-vision and navigation systems, leather upholstery and a minibar.
Dmitri Parfjonov tells that Autocad hasn’t have the need to advertise the Kombat. Especially after the assasination attempt of Anatoli Tshubais the company has received many phone calls.
Parfjonov still complains that only one out of thousand interested is a potential customer. He says he wouldn’t mind if somebody from Kreml would give him a call and grins at the end.