Doomsday-prepper types love to talk about the concept of a bugout vehicle. In an end-of-the-world scenario, these folks want to have a tough, rugged vehicle they can depend on. Bugout vehicles are expected to handle all sorts of rough terrain and extreme duty. Bombed-out cities, desert wastelands, and thick forests are all distinct possibilities, as far as these folks are concerned.
These vehicles are usually military surplus Humvees, deuce-and-a-halfs, older pickup trucks, and other similar machines. Preppers want something reliable and easy to fix.
But there’s probably a few of us who would prefer to maintain some level of luxury and comfort in the event of a societal collapse. For those who demand such, enter the E38 BMW 750iL Protection Package.
The 750iL Protection Package started with a long-wheelbase E38 V12 and added some spy-movie features, right at the factory. The car’s body was bolstered with armor, and the glass was replaced with bulletproof glazing. Protection Package 7 Series had no sunroofs, and the rear windows were incapable of being rolled down. Some, reportedly, had weapon boxes in the headliner.
The 2001 750iL Protection Package you see here was sold on Bring a Trailer in January 2018. According to the listing, just 44 were sold here in the U.S. They don’t come up for sale very often. For $12,000, this thing was a bargain, and looked well-preserved, with less than 100,000 miles on the odometer. A recent service made this an attractive choice, but any car that sits on a Battery Tender in your bunker waiting for Judgement Day will likely need a little help to get going again, regardless of how far away that day may or may not be. Be prepared for that.
Of course, a BMW V12 that’s nearly two decades old is probably the antithesis of the bugout-vehicle concept. No matter what happens, though, you can ride into the apocalypse in style.—Cam VanDerHorst
[Photos via Bring a Trailer.]
