Armet Armored Vehicles is a defunct vehicle manufacturer founded and formerly headquartered in

King City, Ontario King City is an Unincorporated area#Canada, unincorporated Canadian community in the township of King, Ontario, King, Ontario, located north of Toronto. It is the largest community in King township, with 2,730 dwellings and a population of 8,396 ...

with US operations in

Danville, Virginia Danville is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The city is located in the Southside (Virginia), Southside Virginia region and on the fall line of the Dan River ( ...

. Armet was founded by Canadian owner and CEO William Whyte after purchasing then California based Armet Industries (c. 1976) in 1982. Whyte stated he was born in

Surrey, England Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

from 1964 to 1967, immigrated to Canada where he would become a police officer in Toronto (Metro Toronto Police 1967-1973), York Region Police (1979?-1980s). He was on a contract with

Hong Kong Police The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. Pursuant to the one c ...

for six months in 1973. Whyte was indicted by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

for fraud and sentenced to more than five years in prison. In 2011, the company's

GURKHA The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with the endonym Gorkhali ( Nepali: गोर्खाली ), are soldiers native to the Indian subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of North India. The Gurkha units consist of Nepali and ...

vehicle design was sold to Terradyne Armored Vehicles. Post-release, William Whyte has proclaimed his innocence online, stating that the charges against him were not proven.

References

Car manufacturers of the United States {{US-manufacturing-company-stub