Mercedes-Benz S600L Pullman, Our President's Official Car
With his new designation of becoming the First Citizen of India, our new President, Pranab Mukerjee also gets the Mercedes-Benz S600L Pullman, which is the official state car of India. The superb limousine was built in approximately one year and the cost was somewhere close to $1.2 million, as it is highly armored and modified, especially for the President of India. The convoy of the President also includes the black Mercedes-Benz W140 armored limo which now acts like the spare vehicle in case a need arises. The Prime Minister on the other hand uses the B7-level armored 2009 BMW 7 series High Security Saloons.
The PM convoy always has one of such vehicles acting as the decoy. These are all escorted by Special Protection Group in black BMW X-5 and Tata Safaris. These two convoys always include up to 20-25 cars when within the capital city, New Delhi. When they move out, the convoy includes nearly 170-200 cars. Coming back to our official state car…the heavily armored limo is designed such that it offers resistance against rifle shots and fragments of hand grenades and explosives. The cabin has a divide between the passenger space and the driver’s cabin and based on the requirements of the head of the state, the cabin has been designed in a manner that the passengers sit facing each other.
The vehicle includes a powerful air conditioning system and an infotainment system like none other. The centre piece of the system has a 19inch flat screen display. The heart of the luxurious Pullman is a bi-turbo, 12-cylinder, 5513cc engine which churns out a whooping 517bhp with an impressive torque of 830Nm. The wheelbase of the super luxurious car is 4315mm and the overall length of the vehicle is 6356mm. The chassis and the suspension have been carefully crafted such that the vehicle can withstand the extra load that has been added as the protection system.
The steel protective cell and alloyed special steel help provide a strong base to the structure for the installations of the protective elements used in the car. Pullman Guard has been termed as one of the best vehicles that are integrated with Highest Protection systems. This line of cars marked the 80th anniversary of the Mercedes Brand and in turn, they became the first car makers to develop Pullman limousines with special protection characters.
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