"Family Armor," a reality TV show about a business that takes people's cars and armors them up until they're bulletproof, sounds way more gangster than "Pimp My Ride," and tonight's premiere on TLC even eschews Xzibit in favor of a family of Mormons. Asylum caught up with Trent Kimball, President and CEO of the San Antonio-based Texas Armoring Corporation, which is the focus of the show, as well as his brother-in-law and co-manager of the shop, Jason Forston, to talk about how they do what they do.
Both Forston and Kimball were pretty stoked to tell us about the '09 Rolls Royce Phantom that they're right now transforming from "just awesome" to "awesome and bulletproof," but we also wanted to find out what they could do for us: Could they bulletproof our ride?
"We can work on just about any type of car," Forston explained. "We've got the Rolls in right now, but we've worked on everything. We did a Toyota Camry. Sometimes people want to keep a really low profile. You'd think that the celebrities and athletes we have come in would want us to work on their souped-up Ferrari, but a lot of the times they want to be safe in something that's going to attract no attention." That extends from the Camry all the way down to the Mini Cooper -- though it does exclude your itty-bitty Smart Car. "It needs to have enough engine to handle the weight," he told Asylum.
He cautioned, however, that if it's your Camry, you probably don't need their services, unless you're worth a lot of money -- and came by the dough legitimately. "Everyone assumes that most of our clients are gangsters and drug dealers, but that's not the case. For one thing, every vehicle we prepare for export requires the client's full name and information to be submitted to the government. Mostly we work for celebrities, athletes, musicians -- our overseas work involves more politicians, diplomats, kings and queens. We do see a lot more doctors, lawyers, more regular people. We live in a dangerous world," but if you're not a likely target for kidnapping, you can probably make do with just tinting your windows.
As Kimball, who drives an un-armored Escalade (for now, at least, though that may change if the show turns him into a star), puts it, "Armoring your car isn't something you necessarily want to do unless you need to. You should do it out of necessity."
So who are some of the clients they've worked for? Forston was circumspect, but he did drop a hint: "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."
Check out this preview and let us know if this is a reality show with staying power, or just another reality show.
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Thursday 19 November
By Cera L.
OK, this is awesome, and I'm not even their target demographic...YES!! This has staying power. FTW.
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Thursday 19 November
By s collins
It was fantastic. This ought to be on regularly.
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Friday 20 November
By Tyler
watched it, fantastic. especially the scenes with jessica, what a terrible situation!
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