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Can DARTZ Armour My Own Car? Prêt-à-Porter Blindée Explained

By DARTZ Editorial · 19 September 2026 · Updated 4 October 2026

Yes. Besides building its own Prombron’ BONDs, DARTZ offers to armour clients' existing cars through a service it calls Prêt-à-Porter Blindée. DARTZ says it has provided regular car armouring for decades, since it began armouring cars in 1988, and that its GBOL technology is now available for every car, giving protection without sacrificing weight or performance. The level is agreed per car in a private consultation.

Not every client wants a new car. Some want the car they have, made safe. DARTZ does that too.

Where DARTZ began

Before there was a Prombron’, there was armouring. DARTZ says that in 1988 its founder, an engineer-mechanic who had served in the army, began armouring cars with friends who had real combat experience. That same year it took part in developing an armoured vehicle on the RAF 2203 Latvija van with the French firm Coopération Labbé, which DARTZ describes as the first civilian cash-in-transit armoured cars in the Soviet Union. Read about DARTZ’s early years.

An early DARTZ armoured cash-in-transit van on the RAF 2203 Latvija, around 1988

Alongside its bespoke BONDs, DARTZ says it has provided regular car armouring for decades. It calls the service Prêt-à-Porter Blindée, ready-to-wear armour, and says its GBOL technology is now available for every car, offering protection without sacrificing weight or performance.

Schematic cross-sections of armoured glazing and a body panel

How it works

As with a DARTZ of its own, armouring starts with a consultation. The level of protection is agreed against the threat the client actually faces, and the car’s running gear is considered alongside it. DARTZ’s own principle is that an armoured car should keep its performance, so the owner can drive away from danger rather than sit in it. Read what DARTZ says about GBOL.

Craftsmen welding a steel armour shell inside the DARTZ workshop

What to ask any armourer

Whoever armours your car, ask four things.

Which standard and class? EN 1063 and EN 1522, VPAM or STANAG, and which level. What they mean.
What was tested? The materials, or the whole vehicle.
Where is the report? Ask to see the laboratory’s test report.
What will it weigh? And what that does to the brakes, suspension and payload.

More than cars

DARTZ applies the same idea beyond the car: bullet-protected clothing from its Department of Opulence, drone protection from its Drone Protection Standard, and bespoke safes from Tetelbaum.

About DARTZ

DARTZ is a Riga carrosserie that builds bespoke, opulent vehicles, armoured or non-armoured, in strictly limited numbers. It calls them BONDs: Bespoke Opulent Noble Drives.

Its heritage runs back to the Russo-Baltic Wagon Factory (RBVZ), founded in Riga in 1869, whose automobile department built its first car in 1909. Leonard F. Yankelovich revived that heritage as DARTZ in 1988. The group, DARTZ Grupa OÜ, is registered in Tallinn, Estonia.

Its Prombron’ models, from the Iron Diamond and Black Dragon to the Black Shark, Black Alligator and Black Stallion, have been covered by Top Gear, Forbes, Robb Report and Fox News, among many others.

Questions we are asked

Can DARTZ armour a car I already own?

Yes. DARTZ offers armouring for other cars through a service it calls Prêt-à-Porter Blindée.

What technology does DARTZ use?

Its own GBOL technology, which DARTZ says is available for every car and gives protection without sacrificing weight or performance.

How long has DARTZ armoured cars?

Since 1988. DARTZ says its founder and friends with real combat experience began armouring cars that year, and that it has offered regular car armouring ever since.

What should I ask before armouring a car?

Which standard and class the armour meets, whether the class applies to the whole vehicle, what the test report shows, and how the added weight affects the car.

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