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01-12-2005, 12:34 AM

#31

kellie

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Quote:

Originally Posted by meilers

Before you joke too much about this, many cars in parts of South America are equipped with actual flamethrowers that shoot from under the passenger doors and out the rear of the car, as well as 20,000-volt shock systems mounted to the car body panels, fog and oil slick systems and 150-decibel alert horns. Kidnapping and carjacking are serious problems down there, and these type of car add-ons (as well as traditional car armoring) are quite legal.

They also have home security systems which can fire shotgun blasts up from the floor outside your door, or make spikes pop through the doormat -- pushbutton vigilante justice is here...

IIRC that was South Africa and was illegal.

01-12-2005, 09:08 PM

#32

meilers

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Everything I mentioned is quoted verbatim from a special I saw recently on the Discovery channel; they mentioned South America (especially Brazil) specifically. I'll see if I can get the name of the show for you.

01-12-2005, 09:11 PM

#33

Kevin M

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Kidnappings and carjackings are indeed highly common in South America. I'm not surprised that people have these options available.

01-12-2005, 11:54 PM

#34

kellie

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Quote:

Originally Posted by meilers

Well hmm. And I always thought it was an urban legend. That's what I get for thinking.

01-13-2005, 09:52 AM

#35

constellation

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I found a picture of one of the cars with that system.

Attached Thumbnails

01-13-2005, 09:57 AM

#36

DreddRS25

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Originally Posted by scoobsport98

GUYS GUYS GUYS!

C'mon, give him a break, he's from Texas!

Oh and you must be that Fat Drunk from SNL who's burried by "the van down by the river"

01-13-2005, 09:58 AM

#37

DreddRS25

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Quote:

Originally Posted by constellation

I found a picture of one of the cars with that system.

Hey now I can't compete with that car

01-13-2005, 10:32 AM

#38

soggynoodles

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Quote:

Originally Posted by kellie

IIRC that was South Africa and was illegal.

They do have those kinds of cars in South America. Some of my family members in Peru have cars that will burn your skin to a crisp. Kidnappings and Murder is common there. If you have $$$ then you’re a target.

It's gotten better. It's still sometimes scarry.

01-13-2005, 10:36 AM

#39

meilers

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Here's the source story. According to the article, the superintendent of police bought an install of the system, so it can't be illegal :-)

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9812...e.thrower.car/

I'm still looking for that special I saw (it was all about "extreme personal security") but for some reason Discovery.com's search engine keeps barfing. I'll check the TV listings directly and get back to you.

EDIT: CRAP, the *** cable TV listings only go forward; there is no archive. Lame!

Last edited by meilers; 01-13-2005 at 10:39 AM.

01-13-2005, 02:25 PM

#40

nonVTECracer

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Quote:

Here's the source story. According to the article, the superintendent of police bought an install of the system, so it can't be illegal :-)

All because a cop owns something, you think its legal? Where have you been??

01-14-2005, 12:11 AM

#41

planetasia925

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Oh yea i saw something about that in South Africa. They also said they put landmines in their own yard to prevent break-ins.

01-14-2005, 12:23 AM

#42

kellie

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Ah hah, I knew it was South Africa!!

01-14-2005, 01:46 AM

#43

Kevin M

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I'm sure there are similar situations in both regions. Not that it's incomprehensible for an average american to confuse the two regions.

01-14-2005, 08:15 AM

#44

meilers

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The South Africa link is quite old, I just put it up to show that people were actually producing such a thing. The show I saw specifically mentioned South America, specifically Columbia and Brazil -- areas where drug cartels and rebel armies make traveling outside of town a risky proposition, at best.

BTW, the 20,000-volt car taser is common in a lot of countries; you can have one installed in Canada, for example. All it takes is an extra battery in the trunk and a little work to insulate the outside frame from your true electrical system (so you don't burn out the car's own electronics with the Taser).