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Toronto — INKAS Armored Vehicle Manufacturing recently announced its fully armored Mercedes-Benz G63 executive limousine, with the first model slated for release next month.
“We’re proud to introduce this first-of-its-kind bulletproof limousine based on the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG platform,” says INKAS Armored Vehicle Manufacturing VP of Sales Philip Daskal. “The vehicle was fully designed, stretched and armored in-house at our facility in Toronto, Canada. Due to the recent increase in Mercedes-Benz G-class orders for armoring and stretching, we have scheduled the deployment of a new dedicated assembly line for this model.”
INKAS Bulletproof Mercedes-Benz G63 Executive Limousine
With the extra safety of armoring and the 60" stretch adding comfort, the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG Limo is a boardroom on wheels with the power and protection to match. It features a leather-and-wood customized interior, and is equipped with captain-style heated and cooled leather seats with massage systems, an executive customized safe, a bar, an innovative light system, and multimedia and audio systems. The partition between the driver and the passenger compartment also contains built-in television screens.
The vehicle's passenger compartment is armored sufficiently to protect the occupant from handgun fire and high-powered rifle fire alike, in accordance with NIJ Standard 0108.01 Level 3 and/or CEN 1063 Level B6. The floor is also armored to protect against shrapnel from explosives like roadside bombs, and can withstand the force of two military hand grenades delivering a blast equivalent to nearly 3.5 pounds of TNT. All doors and windows apertures are overlapped with bullet catchers installed between all open crevices. In order to ensure that the vehicle’s factory characteristics are left mostly intact after armoring, INKAS has upgraded suspension and braking components to ensure maximal ride quality and control.
In terms of window protection, INKAS employed a new generation of bulletproof glass, which is more transparent compared to other ballistic glass available on the market while maintaining the necessary ballistic properties. INKAS’ custom-engineered solution allows the windows to maintain operability and be rolled down for limited use on toll ways, checkpoints, and during document transfers.
INKAS Armored Vehicle Manufacturing is currently working on another new generation of armored Mercedes-Benz G-class limousines.
Visit inkasarmored.com for more information.
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Charlotte, N.C. —When nearly 12,000 members of the international African-American sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), took to Charlotte, N.C., from July 12 to 18 for the organization’s 66th Annual Boule, Certified Limousine Service was ready to cater to the sisterhood’s every need during the international conference, serving as AKA’s exclusive transportation provider.
Certified Limousine’s President and CEO Tamekius Breland says that the partnership was “a long time in the making,” with AKA selecting its chauffeured ground transportation company in October 2013 after exhaustively researching its options.
“The sorority was looking for African-American companies to work with in Charlotte,” Breland says. “About a month or so after they reached out to us, we started negotiating a contract.”
While Certified Limousine did enlist the help of a few other local limousine services so as to not disrupt daily business, it designated “upwards of 40 cars” for AKA’s private use - which included outfitting both the outgoing and newly appointed sorority presidents with their own vehicles. It was Certified Limousine’s willingness to extend the services AKA was looking for, offer personal touches and meet specific requests that set them apart from the rest.
“The president of the sorority really wanted someone to be able to connect with her as well as the other members that were coming in,” Breland says, adding that Certified Limousine’s ability to track its vehicles so the sisters could immediately locate a car without waiting certainly helped, as did being able to allocate a few employees to AKA’s needs exclusively during the members’ stay in Charlotte. “We actually had people dedicated to their event, and they could call in and speak directly to them.”
With thousands of sisters—and a few celebrity guests, like singers Brandy and Babyface, and comedian Jonathan Slocumb—occupying 27 hotels and the boule’s myriad events taking place at locations all around town, such as the Charlotte Convention Center, the
Carole Hoefener Community Services Center, and a number of museums, the Certified Limousine fleet was constantly on the move.
“It was pretty much all over the place,” Breland says. “We went from those hotels to the convention center to the university, which is Johnson C. Smith—they did a tree-planting over there. They went to one of the cultural centers, they did something for the kids.”
Going the extra mile, right on down to supplying each car with napkins in the sorority’s trademark pink-and-green color scheme, is the kind of personalized service for which Certified Limousines prides itself—which paid off when the sorority expressed interest in utilizing its services again in the future.
“They actually asked us to come back to do their 2016 and 2018 transportation. And possibly, possibly being their transportation provider for all of their events going forward. So it really worked out,” Breland says. “We made an impression on them. That felt great.”
Visit
certifiedlimousines.com for more information about Certified Limousine Services.
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Tampa — The West Florida Livery Association (WFLA) held its most recent monthly meeting on July 15 at the Chart House in Tampa.
Dave Shaw, president of the association, invited the Executive Director of Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission, Kyle Cockream, to speak about what the county is doing to better regulate transportation network companies (TNCs) like Lyft and Uber. Cockream spoke for roughly an hour about how the county has been cracking down on illegal livery operations.
“They’ve already started writing tickets,” Shaw said. “In the Tampa Bay area, Hillsborough County is regulated but the counties surrounding aren’t, so Uber and Lyft could operate in those counties.”
According to Shaw, Tampa maintains strict transportation guidelines and licensing policies, though not all local regulatory bodies are as diligent in enforcing their own rules to curb the mounting threat TNCs pose, which has left many operators upset. Shaw had asked Cockream to speak at the WFLA meeting to assure members that the transportation commission is “working to help better the industry.”
“It was a real good speech by him,” Shaw said. “He gave us kind of a game plan of what [the transportation commission] was planning on doing to get [the TNCs] in compliance.”
While Cockream’s speech comprised the bulk of the meeting, there was some time left to handle association business. The WFLA’s board voted to be a participating association for the Chauffeur Driven Trade Show and Conference in Atlantic City this November 2-5.
The WFLA’s next meeting is scheduled for September 16.
Visit wflatampa.com for more information.
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