Armoured Superbs.

[Graham Butcher]

Did you know that there are some UK made armoured Superb's that are bullet resistant and bombproof Skoda Superb's for use by the police and private VIP carrying companies where VIP's need to be transported in less conspicuous and attention grabbing cars? The sort of cars that you would associate with these people would be Jag, BMW's, Mercedes Benz, Maybach's, Rolls Royce and Bentleys etc, but who would be looking such people in a Skoda Superb?

 

Driving Skoda's bulletproof, blast-resistant Superb Estate (video)

10 things you need to know about Skoda’s armoured Superb | Top Gear

Meet the £120k Skoda Superb Estate | CAR Magazine

[Ootohere]

They have come up for sale at auction before and they have been seized from organised crime outfits.

In Scotland and i would imagine elsewhere in the UK there are gangster that have their own ones built in their local friendly body / chop shops.

 

Handy when you are Car Traders with Garages / MOT Centres etc, and there are plenty of people that worked at the places that built the Armoured vehicles in Scotland. 

 

Penman that built and converted armoured vehicles in Scotland was in Administration but was saved as were jobs.

 

 

 

Edited 24 September, 2023 by toot

[Graham Butcher]

Oh,I was reading about them last night and they were supposed to have been sold back for dismantling and destruction when they weren't required anymore? 

Edited 24 September, 2023 by Graham Butcher

[ApertureS]

Used massively by the Irish Garda as response cars.

 

Seen a few of them in England too.

Head room is reduced and it’s a bit tighter in the cabin, but on the whole they are decent for an armoured vehicle.

[coppertop]

45 minutes ago, ApertureS said:

Used massively by the Irish Garda as response cars.

 

Seen a few of them in England too.

Head room is reduced and it’s a bit tighter in the cabin, but on the whole they are decent for an armoured vehicle.

Think it is actually the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) that have the largest fleet of ballistically protected Skoda Superb. Anyone wanting bigger brakes, recently Alcon developed a 4 pot calliper and new disc to cope with the increased weight, if the REVO upgrade isn’t enough!

[Danoid]

6 hours ago, ApertureS said:

Used massively by the Irish Garda as response cars.

 

Seen a few of them in England too.

Head room is reduced and it’s a bit tighter in the cabin, but on the whole they are decent for an armoured vehicle.

I saw a few articles on BBC recently and noticed on a few pictures the Superb has massive bezels as such and then found out it’s the armoured ones.

 

It looked pretty common for Ireland police cars, glad I don’t live there 🤣 

 

Looks like Skoda didn’t bother to make them armoured for the facelift version either, guess the mk4 will be available though 

[Graham Butcher]

2 minutes ago, Danoid said:

I saw a few articles on BBC recently and noticed on a few pictures the Superb has massive bezels as such and then found out it’s the armoured ones.

 

It looked pretty common for Ireland police cars, glad I don’t live there 🤣 

 

Looks like Skoda didn’t bother to make them armoured for the facelift version either, guess the mk4 will be available though 

Superbs seem to be pretty common here in the UK as well with the police, but I'm not at all sure if any of them are of the armoured variety.

[coppertop]

Plenty of Skoda Superbs in use by UK police, traffic, dog cars etc, but not armoured, it's just too expensive at £150K for general policing duties and basically no need. 

 

Ministry of Defence have quite a few 280 estates in SE guise used as covert command cars for EOD (bomb disposal) teams throughout the UK, again unarmoured. Quite rapid, plenty of space for kit and inconspicuous (covert blue light fit).  Chronologically - Omega Estate 3.2 - ST220 Estate - BMW 5 series - and more recently the Superb.

[Danoid]

30 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

Superbs seem to be pretty common here in the UK as well with the police, but I'm not at all sure if any of them are of the armoured variety.

I suspect they might be the go-to car by all traffic police soon as BMW have  stopped making cars for the police, so the police swapped to Volvo then recently Volvo said they will stop selling the V90, so back to Skoda Superbs I suspect.

 

I hope so because when people see my car they slow down, check me out then boot it again 🤣

[Graham Butcher]

9 minutes ago, Danoid said:

I suspect they might be the go-to car by all traffic police soon as BMW have  stopped making cars for the police, so the police swapped to Volvo then recently Volvo said they will stop selling the V90, so back to Skoda Superbs I suspect.

 

I hope so because when people see my car they slow down, check me out then boot it again 🤣

Yes we have a load of those Volvos on my local force. I like the idea of them going back to Superb as my car also makes them check it out, especially as its debadged. 

Edited 25 September, 2023 by Graham Butcher

[SurreyJohn]

Skoda storyboard has done some articles in the past about versions modified for police etc

 

https://www.skoda-storyboard.com/en/skoda-world/skoda-cars-in-police-livery/

[Berisford]

2 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

Yes we have a load of those Volvos on my local force. I like the idea of them going back to Superb as my car also makes them check it out, especially as its debadged. 

Yes, I've a debadged 280 estate in white and I've noticed, especially on motorways, vehicles coming up at a pace and then suddenly tuck in behind me at a distance - takes me back to the late 80's when I had a 2.8 Granada in base dark blue with steel wheels, same thing used to happen.

[Warrior193]

Back in the 60s, in NZ, my Dad was manager of a Wellington taxi firm - he drove an ex-taxi as a private vehicle - black saloon with a RT aerial on the roof.

Whole family were on our way to visit grand parents one Sunday afternoon, dad pulled into the car park around the back of a Wairarapa pub out in the sticks, wanting a quick beer - pub seemed to doing a roaring (after hours) trade, car park was pretty full - you never saw window blinds and doors close so quickly!

Really odd, all those cars and nobody around 😄    

[aaflyer]

Very common here in NI for armoured Superbs - liveried and non-liveried. The very thick ballistic glass is easy to spot, especially head on, as it creates a “petrol-on-water” effect on the windscreen due to the layers of laminate. They also tend to sit very low due to the armour. 

[edwards]

I have a plain white 280 estate. On two occasions now I have flashed someone to let them know they've had no lights on etc, and they have pulled over. I was probably wearing a white shirt too so made me look more 'police-y'.

 

 

[youngtimer]

On-topic but different brand.........

Bought a black 1995 Mercedes C220D manual back in 2006, never got used to the foot-operated parking brake. 😒

Collected it from the local indie after it's first service to be told the sump shield was steel and it took two guys to lift it !  Nor did i realise it had bullet proof glass !

Tracked it back to the supplying dealer who said it was a diplomats vehicle modified to (hopefully ) withstand a car bomb.  Back in the days of the N.I. troubles.

It was then i realised why the fuel consumption was down !

 

 

[ApertureS]

1 hour ago, youngtimer said:

On-topic but different brand.........

Bought a black 1995 Mercedes C220D manual back in 2006, never got used to the foot-operated parking brake. 😒

Collected it from the local indie after it's first service to be told the sump shield was steel and it took two guys to lift it !  Nor did i realise it had bullet proof glass !

Tracked it back to the supplying dealer who said it was a diplomats vehicle modified to (hopefully ) withstand a car bomb.  Back in the days of the N.I. troubles.

It was then i realised why the fuel consumption was down !

 

 

Did the weight of the doors or the odd look of the windscreen not give it away

 

[youngtimer]

8 minutes ago, ApertureS said:

Did the weight of the doors or the odd look of the windscreen not give it away

 

i was so much younger then 🙂

[StevesTruck]

2 hours ago, ApertureS said:

Did the weight of the doors or the odd look of the windscreen not give it away

 

 

I drove an ex-police sprinter once, those windscreens are like the reverse of an anadin. Guaranteed headache with every drive 

[Graham Butcher]

3 minutes ago, StevesTruck said:

 

I drove an ex-police sprinter once, those windscreens are like the reverse of an anadin. Guaranteed headache with every drive 

In what do you mean, was the glass so thick that it kind of distorted everything through it?

[ApertureS]

15 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

In what do you mean, was the glass so thick that it kind of distorted everything through it?

The glass is so many layers on top of one another that looking through it at anything that isnt straight on causes a slight distortion yes. 

Edited 26 November, 2023 by ApertureS

[Graham Butcher]

Wow, that would drive me mental. Could you imagine doing a full shift driving in that, I hate anything that causes visual distortion, makes you doubt your eyes.

[J.R.]

Exacerbated by the rake of the windscreen, if you looked up at say a motorway gantry sign it would be clearer than the road and traffic ahead of you.

 

Even single laminated glass distorts very slightly.

 

Regarding being mistaken for the Flics, My car is Skoda Pacific Blue which is the exact same colour and shade as the Gendarmery vehicles, in all my time in France I have never seen another private vehicle in anything close to that colour and I think it is not a colour option for any VAG vehicles in France, it very frustrating to be following someone driving spiritedly only for them to then slow down to 80km/h, I overtake them then they get grumpy, tailgate me and then overtake, one even gave me the bras d'honneurn having a RHD car our eyes are close together when they pass me.

[Graham Butcher]

I almost brought a Superb Estate in Pacific Blue, but it had a few small dings around it, the tailgate catch needed replacing the sunglass holder was smashed and it was the basic no frills model, and I'm a sucker for my toys, so I placed on my reserve list in case I couldn't find another L&K as they are pretty rare. However, I find one and in the same colour as my old one, Petrol Blue which in some lights is similar to Pacific Blue, but the sun hits it, has a distinct green hue to it.

[Esseesse200]

Yep I’ve spotted they were modded when I was in the go station on the strand rd in Derry.

I was filling my 272 estate up and saw the brakes on an unmarked one, was looking at it. The officer asked if I was ok and I just said I was wondering what brakes they were. Had about quick chat about it and he basically said pretty much what’s documented above. Armoured metal (not obvious) but the windows and brakes most certainly are