By Jim Brennan
According to Wikipedia, Gurkha are people from Nepal and northern India who take their name from the 8th century Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath. Gurkhas are best known for their history of bravery and strength in the Indian Army’s Gorkha regiments and the British Army’s Brigade of Gurkhas. They were thought to be naturally warlike and aggressive in battle, and to possess qualities of courage, loyalty, self sufficiency, physical strength, resilience, orderliness, the ability to work hard for long periods of time, fighting tenacity and military strategy. So with this in mind, does this newly minted SUV have what it takes to earn the name of Gurkha?
This vehicle is being produced by Armet Armored Vehicles of King City, Ontario Canada, and they have been making armored vehicles for 31 years. According to the Ebay listing:
With hundreds of the GURKHA vehicles serving militaries world wide, AAVI.com has decided to offer this vehicle to the civilian world as the replacement to the Hummer H1. #0006 is now for sale exclusively on Ebay. The GURKHA F5 will also be the “Hero vehicle” on the new movie Fast and Furious 5, with Vin Diesel and Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson in Summer 2012. With over 15 minutes of action footage in the movie, you can own the exact replica from this auction and own a collectors item forever.
Like its Ballisticaly Protected Big Brother GURKHA F5 is based on the FORD F-Series Super Duty platform and V10 6.7L Engine developing 362 HP. The F5 monocoque body is manufactured utilizing Hybrid Composite Polymer`s (HCP) derived from the very latest aerospace technology. Each GURKHA F5 is 100% made in the USA. The upgradeable interior designs have been brought in from a corporate jet with a list of options for those that want to drive “First Class”.
Want to know more about owning this vehicle? Go here to see the Listing. Asking price is $148,960.00!
Jeff Glucker
Oh dear God…something new for all of the yuppie urban warriors to cruise their gated communities in.
Doors look kind of skinny for uparmored. And a fiberglass body. Walk away before you embarrass yourself.
A lot of military vehicles use fiberglass. The Marine Corps' 7 tons use it, as do Humvees and the various MRAPs. There's no reason to waste weight to up-armor something you don't need to. Also, certain types of armor that the military uses use fiberglass/foam/carbon-fiber/Kevlar layers.
This must be the "Poseur" model.
They got it wrong, the V10 is not 6.7L but 6.8L. In reality it is a 5.4L with 2 more cylinders.
As a light armoured vehicle it is probably OK. It isn't supposed to be a Matador or whatever. As an aside I traveled with a company of Gurkha's a number of years ago. A very sharp, professional, polite group of soldiers. I wouldn't want to tick them off though…
So, we can all look forward to petite blonde soccer moms sipping Starbucks and yacking on their cell phones to come barreling thru intersections on their way to/from dropping off/picking up their precious darlings from school in THESE things…? I guess it might strike fear into the Moms driving small crossover vehicles, but I doubt the Escalade crowd will be intimidated…
They may have to scrape Prius debris out of their tire tread once they return home, however…
I suspect there's not enough cupholders or rear-seat entertainment systems for that market segment. Something to be rectified in the next refresh, I'm sure.
These won't catch on, even at the $150k league– the military suv vogue is over. Maybe if there was a cheap, lightweight military runabout we could grab, but they don't seem to make those anymore now that we only ever send troops to places where every single local hates their guts.
According to the listing. it's 30,000lbs Gross Vehicle Weight! Yet their website lists the armoured versions
at only around half that. Hmm. 40 gallon tank, diesel or gas, Ford parts…I'd at least test drive one.
As for the plastic, I know that BAE (I think) was working on a plastic APC that performed compareably
to homogenized cold-rolled steel, but a third the weight. So it may not be as flimsy as it at first sounds.
Looks kinda like the old "Rambo Lambo" from the front, don't it?
For all the nay sayers out there yapping there gums about the GURKHA…. Unless you've driven one and know its capabilities…. Shut the FUCK UP!!!!
Chris..I love your comment!!!
I'm very jalous of you if you drove that thing….
You can see the Gurkha here : http://www.terradyneinc.com