You don’t have to be elected to the Presidency of the United States in order to drive around in an armored vehicle. Nor do you have to be a celebrity, a besmirched investment trader, a Supreme Court Judge or even an American Idol judge, for that matter. You only have to be a person who is either loved or loathed - pretty intensely, by the way - and who has a lot of extra cash lying around to foot the bill for the modifications. Or maybe you just have to be a person with an exceptionally developed sense of self (i.e. one who is a conceited [fill in the blank]).

Armored vehicles don’t have to look like an army tank or Humvee (or even the “Beast”) unless you want them to (there’s that hubris thing again), and you can use most existing late model cars and SUVs, provided they’ve got a V8 engine. But before you consider buying or modifying a car to make it into armor plated, you’ll need to do a little homework. Be forewarned, though, by the time you’re done researching, you may be drafted into the war on terrorism, with all of the knowledge you’ll have gained.

Here are some considerations to chew on. Do you simply want bulletproof glass and opaque armor to shield the car’s occupants? Do you need a car that can withstand an armor piercing round? Or a mortar shell? Do you need explosive protection? Do you need a smoke screen installed? Are you worried at all about chemical warfare? These are all important, critical, issues that you’ll have to think about. And, consider this, if you have to think about them at all, maybe you should be thinking about a new career.