Tank's a Lot! Rezvani Motors Teases Armored SUV

CARS.COM — SUV shoppers may have a new choice available in the near future as Rezvani Motors, a California-based manufacturer of specialty automobiles, has begun taking refundable $1,000 deposits for a new SUV — reportedly called the Tank.

Related: The Hummer H1 Is Back — for China

Rezvani Motors gained notoriety for its Beast sports car, which features the chassis of an Ariel Atom, as well as a 500-horsepower, 2.4-liter supercharged racing engine built by Honda and a carbon-fiber body. What the Rezvani Beast doesn’t feature: doors, a roof or full climate control. Those weight savings translate into a vehicle that weighs a claimed 1,650 pounds. Livestock can easily weigh more than that — but dairy cows can’t do zero-to-60 mph in less than 3 seconds.

Few details are available for the Tank, but reports indicate that the highest level of the two available engines will make 500 hp. Rezvani also indicates that it will be a four-door, five-passenger, body-on-frame SUV with on-demand four-wheel drive. Thermal and night-vision viewing systems will be available, perhaps even standard. And if you’d really like to live up to the “Tank” name, “balaistic” (don’t look at us, that’s how they spelled it) armor is available.

Rezvani claims that deliveries will begin later this year … so, who’s going to buy one of these? Someone who thinks:

• a regular Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen is too passé
• a G550 4×4 Squared lacks armor
• a G63 AMG 6×6 is too big
• a Hummer H1 is too slow
• anything from Dartz … is just too much