It was special, armored glass. Not the standard glass in a regular Mercedes-Benz. That glass is pretty strong. But regular glass is not strong enough to stop the 7.62-millimeter rounds from an AK-47.
The video shows company president, CEO, and potential madman Trent Kimball get in the car, calmly place his hands on the wheel, and remain seated while a fellow 20 feet away raises up a machine gun to shoot directly at him.
It’s a nice thought that he should be so confident in his company’s product that he’s willing to put his life on the line, but really? Is the subsequent rise in web traffic and sales worth risking a violent end?
It is for Texas Armoring Corporation.
But Seriously Though
TAC makes armored vehicles primarily for “heads of state, politicians, religious leaders, business executives, diplomats, celebrities, athletes, and royal families.”
In other words, people with a lot of money who also fear for their lives. Risking one’s own life to get at some of that money is a pretty effective strategy. High risk, but also high reward.
The video’s makers know that people are going to call hoax, so they made a valiant effort to use multiple cameras, slow-motion microphones, and even an extended, single-take of the shooting.
Perhaps Less Dangerous Tests Would Be Better
That level of detail has convinced nearly 10 million people on YouTube to watch the video thus far.
The company has also released a slow-motion version of the video, along with another video showing that they did not use a mannequin behind the wheel, just a terrified man.
Obviously, TAC went out of their way to place all sorts of warnings at the beginning of the video to definitely not try this at home. We can only imagine that they did not tell their insurance company that they were going to do this beforehand.
However, for non-gunfire automotive safety, Mercedes-Benz is one of the best. Come check out the new version of the GL, now called the GLS, at Mercedes-Benz Raleigh today.