We had some leaked pictures of the Rezvani Tank earlier, but now that the independent California carmaker has officially released pictures and details about the car, we can see a lot more. And the biggest thing I’m seeing is that this is a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited with a Hemi swap and a body that looks like it should be in the background of a movie about the Martian Civil War of 2176. I’m not saying that’s good or bad, but that’s what it is.
Rezvani’s predictably breathless press release describes the Tank like this:
Rezvani today is proud to unveil its most extreme model to date. A street-legal, Xtreme Utility Vehicle (XUV), the Rezvani TANK embodies many of the same characteristics found on the military vehicle with the same name. TANK is the most hardcore, most capable vehicle the California-based automaker has ever built.
Okay, first the words “Xtreme Utility Vehicle (XUV)” make me want to vomit up something from the ‘90s, like a Sega Saturn soaked in Mountain Dew. And as far as this thing embodying characteristics of an actual tank, I’m not sure I feel that’s either accurate or even desirable.
Under the hood is a powerful 6.4-liter Hemi V8 delivering 500 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque. The Rezvani TANK will feature a body-on-frame design, and an on-demand four-wheel-drive system standard on all trims.
Okay, so here we get to the meat of things. The Tank’s (I’m not all-capping it, sorry, we don’t even do that for Mini) body-on-frame design is the Jeep Wrangler JK’s body-on-frame design, with a new body stuck on top of that frame. And chassis. The 6.4-liter Hemi engine I’m guessing must be from a swap similar to something like this, a $30,000 Hemi swap for Wranglers.
That plus the donor Wrangler bring Rezvani’s cost to make these up to about $60,000, I’d guess, and that’s before the new body or new interior bits. Together, those probably are at least about, what, $50,000 more, which starts to make the $178,000 base price of the Tank make a little more sense.
In case you’re skeptical that the Tank is essentially a re-bodied, Hemi-swapped Jeep Wrangler, look at this:
Look at the inner frame of the car there; it’s the exact same as a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. The B-pillar, door openings, dash, etc all line up.
Is that too subtle? How about this?
There’s not a lot of other places to find a flat windshield, after all.
If they left Sarge in there, I can’t imagine they’re too secretive that this is basically a very fancy Jeep, and, really, they have nothing to be ashamed of, because it’s a good thing. Jeep underpinnings mean a hell of a lot of aftermarket options, service parts, and a large knowledge base. They’d have been crazy to try and make their own engines or platform for something like this.
By far the most ridiculous things about the Tank are probably its options:
Alongside the healthy array of standard features, Rezvani also offers options to make your TANK even more capable, including:
- FLIR Thermal Night Vision
- Ballistic Armor: Kevlar Armor, Bulletproof Glass, Military-Grade Run Flat Tires, Kevlar Protected Fuel Tank, Floorpan, Radiator
- Leather Package: Leather Seats, Suede Headliner
- Tow Package: Tow Hitch, Front-Mounted Winch
- Convenience Package: Automatic Opening/Closing Side Steps, Head-Up Display
Come on, night vision? Armor? Who the hell is going to buy one of these to do their own private covert ops? Is this targeted at people who want to make daring night raids into Pacific Palisades?
So, what do we really have here? A Jeep Wrangler with a Hemi swap and a striking-looking body you’ll either love or hate. Personally, I think it’s ridiculous, and not good-ridiculous but more strange, insecure, aggressive jackass-ridiculous.
It’s too expensive to take really off-roading, because what you’ll end up damaging will be the most hard-to-get and expensive parts of the car—the body. A regular Hemi-swapped Wrangler will do everything this can do for a hell of a lot cheaper.
If you’re in love with the look and are convinced you need to drive in the dark with no headlights, well, then, I’m sure you’re going to be thrilled with this thing.