Why is it that the Russians come up with the most absurd vehicles in the world. And, more importantly, why the hell do we want them so bad? Seriously, what are we going to do with a truck that’s basically two huge wheels and a small cabin? Excuse me, I have to go and gag the rational part of my brain as it’s really starting to get on my nerves.
OK, that’s done, now where were we? Right, we were talking about this brilliant piece of machinery that is probably the most fun thing to drive this side of a main battle tank. The fun begins just by looking at it: it’s exactly what a four-year-old boy would draw if you gave him a pencil, a coin and a piece of paper. It’s four wheels crammed as closely together as possible and a box for the driver and one passenger.
The colossal tires are the ones responsible for the fun. They’re self-inflated and, by the looks of it, we’d say they’re the sole means of absorbing the road’s irregularities. Not that this thing is going to spend much of its life on roads. Why would it, when it can go absolutely anywhere it wants? Did I hear somebody say “Mars”? Oh, you’re so clever.
The man behind the vehicle (not literally) is called Aleksei Garagashian (that sounds Armenian to us) whose concept was put into practice by a Saint-Petersburg company. We say “concept,” but there really isn’t that much to it. This car - called the Sherp - is basically nothing more than a metal tub with four wheels (or the other way around) that can pretty much be driven with your eyes closed, as there are very few obstacles it can’t clear.
It comes with a 1.5-liter Kubota (Japanese company making tractors and other equipment) turbodiesel engine, which means speed isn’t exactly its thing. With its 45 hp, the Sherp has a top speed of 45 km/h (29 mph) over land, and 6 km/h (4 mph) on water. Yes, it floats. No, it doesn’t make pancakes.
The second major contributor to its ability to deliver large quantities of fun is the way it turns. Using a simple skid-steer system, you can spin on the spot like Taz the Tasmanian Devil. Yes, it drives like a tank. The Sherp is an open platform, offering the customer the possibility of putting all sorts of equipment on the vehicle. With a base price of just $49,000, it’s also a steal. Showing up in this thing at an off-road competition is like bringing a minigun to a knife fight.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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