An article in the online site, Asylum, written by Dan Soloman, appeared today, November 19, 2009, and began with the line, ‘Family Armor’ Premiers Tonight With Mormons and Bulletproof Cars. The article introduces a new reality television show that features a Mormon family that refits cars with armor to make them bulletproof.
The show is about the Texas Armoring Corporation, a company in San Antonio. The CEO and President of the company is Trent Kimball. His brother-in-law, Jason Forston is the co-manager of the shop.
Currently, Forston and Kimball explained, they are working to armor a 2009 Rolls Royce Phantom. What other kinds of cars do they armor?
Forston said they work on almost any kind of car. He said they work on everything, right on down to a Mini Cooper. They cannot armor something as tiny as a Smart Car, though, because the engine couldn’t support the weight. They include Armored Mercedes, Lexus, Ford, Toyota, Suburban and Trucks.They’ve done very commonplace cars, like a Toyota Camry. They said you would expect that athletes and movie stars would bring in Ferraris and the like, but often they want to drive something that they will blend in with. Armored Cars and armored vehicles such as suv’s and lexus are a growing business.
Forston said that people assume their clients are gangsters and drug dealers. He said that’s not true. Every vehicle they prepare that is to be exported requires the client’s full name and information to be sent to the government. He said they mostly work for celebrities, diplomats, and kings and queens. He said they do work for a lot of regular people, like doctors, and lawyers, as well.
Kimball drives an Escalade, which isn’t armored. That many change if the new television show makes him a star.
The Article in Asylum goes on to say that they asked Forston who are some of the clients they’ve worked for. He was quoted as saying, “I’d love to tell you, but I can’t. But I’ll tell you what — if you look at the list of the Forbes 100 wealthiest people in the world, you’ll see some of their names.”
Can a family running a car armoring business sustain a reality television show? I guess we’ll see. Forston said we do live in a dangerous world, but unless unless you are a likely target, you can probably get by with just tinting your windows.