We’ve written about small sports car-maker Rezvani before, makers of the Beast, a car owned by Chris Brown and some small number of other, lesser humans, I guess. Now Rezvani is making an SUV, and, in addition to their teaser images, we have some spy photos of the actual car.
The SUV is called the Rezvani Tank, and shares the Beast’s hyperbolic, over-compensatory ultra-macho naming scheme. Rezvani doubles down on the chest-beating by calling the car a “Military-Inspired Tactical Urban Weapon” in their teaser press release.
Here’s more from that press release:
Orange County, CA., – In less than a week, Rezvani Motors will debut its most capable vehicle to date: the Tank. Alongside the Beast and Beast Alpha, the lineup will be joined by a military-inspired, purpose-built, extreme utility vehicle loaded with capable features both inside and out. Its look, penned by award-winning designer Samir Sadikhov, is the first of its kind in nearly 25 years.
Thanks to a body-on-frame design, a world-class suspension system, and massive off-road tires, the Rezvani Tank will come with serious off-road chops. Under the hood owners will find a powerful 6.4-liter V8 producing 500 horsepower. Optional features like a thermal/night vision camera and ballistic armor protection will also be available at launch, among others.
“We wanted to offer a fresh design for a purpose-built, rugged, off-road capable vehicle that was muscular, well proportioned, and brand new,” says CEO Ferris Rezvani. “The design was inspired by extreme off-road concepts typcially never seen on the road, but is completely street legal and ready for production.”
I’m guessing that 6.4-liter V8 is a HEMI crate engine, and those headlights in that teaser shot look sort of like Camaro lights, partially blacked-out by the bezel they’re mounted behind. I could be wrong, but it’s interesting.
Rezvani has only released that teaser shot and some renders of the future-dystopia-looking SUV, but a reader we’ll keep secret snapped some shots of the car at a Fiat dealer in Southern California.
It definitely has a concept-car look about it, and seems to have decent ground clearance and breakover angles, so that’s good. Rezvani is taking $1,000 deposits if you think you need to conduct some urban warfare of your own, and if you do don’t forget there’s an option for ballistic armor and night/thermal vision cameras, which should come in very handy.
No mention is made of a crotch-level panel that can be opened so the driver can wave their dick around, but I imagine that’s an option, too.
Chances are the Tank won’t be cheap, and I’m pretty skeptical that anyone who buys one will actually take it off-road, since a low-volume car like this means replacement body panels are likely a costly indulgence.
This seems a lot more like something you’d roll around Beverly Hills or Miami in if your self-image was fragile enough to merit such a protective shell.
I’m sort of burnt out on the whole tactical urban weapon bullshit, but it’s at least a novel-looking thing and a unique alternative to a Hummer or something, I guess.
UPDATE: More, better pics!
I’m sort of torn on this; it’s ridiculous, but I like ridiculous. I’m just not sure if it’s ridiculous in the right way, at least for me.