Specialty Armored Vehicles by Exec Armor

Our specialty-vehicle category covers any armored build that isn’t a standard passenger SUV, sedan or pickup. Common specialty builds include mobile command posts (Mercedes Sprinter or Chevy Suburban with conference table, satellite communications, server racks, secure-comms suite), armored ambulances (Sprinter chassis with full ALS or BLS fit-out plus ballistic protection for medical and patient compartments), prisoner-transport vans (Ford Transit or Sprinter with cell-isolation cages and dual-key access control), executive comms vehicles (any platform with secure-voice and secure-data ground links), and convoy-escort vehicles (typically Chevy Silverado or Ford F-Series with bed-mounted equipment racks, light bars, sirens, PA and high-powered radio).

We also build one-off custom platforms for unique missions. Examples in recent years: an armored bus for a corporate-shuttle operation in a high-risk African market, an armored school bus for an international school in Latin America, an armored food-truck-style vehicle for a celebrity client, an armored fire-and-rescue vehicle for a remote energy operation, and a fleet of armored ambulances for a Middle East humanitarian organisation.

If your mission doesn’t fit any standard category, schedule a workshop with our engineering team. We’ve almost certainly built something similar before, and even if we haven’t, our team enjoys the engineering challenge of a first-of-its-kind build.

Yes, with caveats. If the vehicle has been modified within OEM specifications — typical examples: an aftermarket roof rack, upgraded shock absorbers, light bars, antennas — those modifications are usually compatible with our armoring process. We remove the modifications for the armoring build and reinstall them after, sometimes with engineering modifications to accommodate the new vehicle mass.

If the vehicle has been heavily modified — examples: chassis stretching, frame welding, engine swaps, suspension lifts beyond 3 inches, body-cell modifications — we evaluate it on a case-by-case basis. The constraint is structural integrity: armoring depends on the OEM body cell and frame being engineered to the design specification, because the armor weight and ballistic-load transfer through the original structural elements. Heavy modifications can compromise this, in which case we either decline the armoring, request the modifications be reversed, or engineer a custom solution that compensates for the modifications.

Bring the vehicle for a paid intake inspection (approximately CAD $2,500 to $4,500 depending on the platform). We strip selected interior elements, inspect the body cell, frame and suspension mounts, and provide a written report on armoring feasibility. The inspection fee is credited to the build cost if you proceed.

Specialty builds run 16 to 24 weeks from contract — roughly 4 to 8 weeks longer than a standard SUV or sedan build of the same protection level. The extra time covers: design workshop with your operational team (typically two to four weeks of back-and-forth), engineering design (two to four weeks), specialty-equipment sourcing (often the bottleneck — items like secure-comms suites or medical fit-out kits can have long lead times), and integration testing in addition to standard QA. The most-complex specialty builds we’ve done — full mobile command posts with classified comms suites — have taken 30+ weeks.

Cost premium runs 25 to 80 percent over a standard armored build of the same chassis and protection level, depending on the complexity of the mission fit-out. A basic mobile command post on a Sprinter chassis runs about 40 percent over an equivalent armored Sprinter passenger build. A full ALS armored ambulance runs 55 to 70 percent over base. The most-complex secure-comms builds have run as high as 80 percent over base.

For institutional clients (diplomatic missions, NGOs, government agencies), we often offer fixed-price specialty contracts after the engineering design is complete — meaning you lock in the price before manufacturing begins, with our team absorbing any unexpected engineering overruns. Discuss this with our specialists during your initial workshop.