Tuesday 10th May 2011

Dartz Nagel: The Yacht-Towing Armoured Coupe

Russian maker of bizarre armoured vehicles exceeds all expectations of oddness with its latest concept

---

This bizarre vehicle is the Dartz Prombron Nagel a 2000hp armoured four-door coupe designed in association with a company called Gray Design for, of all things, hauling yachts.

It's also been designed to celebrate an important centenary in Russia's rallying history (yes, really). Now, we didn't think that the Russians had much in the way of rallying history, but it turns out we were wrong.

So to celebrate our wrongness or, perhaps more accurately, to celebrate the centenary of Andrey Nagel and Vadim Mikhailloff's participation in the second-ever Monte Carlo rally in 1911-1912 with a Russo-Balt C24/55 (which earned them nine awards if not outright victory), the good people at Dartz have come up with this utterly insane creation.

And if you're wondering why a company called Dart and which makes armoured cars in Latvia is doing this, it is because it's the modern-day descendant of the old Russo-Balt company, and even operates from the original Russo-Balt factory in Latvia.

If anything the car itself is even more odd than the reason for its creation, because this is will be, says Dartz, a 155mph armoured car capable of towing a yacht of up to 15 metres in length and five tons in weight.

It will be based on the company's Prombron armoured SUV and will, says Dartz, allow yacht owners to be "first on the scene for any occasion, be it the seaside or the race track." The company's press release also emplores us to "enjoy the Dartz Prombron Nagel, the world's first armored Sportback for yacht owners. Give your yacht some company, your neighbor envy."

All of which would sound completely off the wall, were it not for the fact that this is a company that considered offering whale penis foreskin as an upholstery option, and which has created a three-door armoured car specifically for women...

 

 

[JoeFrost]

Er....

Yep, properly lost for words here.

[Garlick]

Looks like a badly peeled potato

[Turbobanana]

Answering questions no-one has asked.

Are BMW heading the same way?

[RJDM3]

Words fail me .............

[Trommel]

Why isn't the boat armoured?

[AlleyCat]

i'll have the boat please

its like what Kitt would have been if it was a boat

[Turbobanana]

Trommel said:

Why isn't the boat armoured?

It would sink...

[ZOLLAR]

Mmmmm quite like it actually

although in the bottom right picture it looks like a fat bloated reventon.

[Wardy76]

I kind of like that...Am I losing the plot? I also think the back end of it looks a bit like a Lamborghini.
(Should've gone to Specsavers...)

[dlockhart]

Im sure that i drew something like that when i was at school bored in science. not sure I wrote 2000 bhp though

[AA355]

I think its awsome. Ha ha why not !

[Diesel Fury]

I love the sheer mentalness of Dartz cars, but I wish they'd stop trying to give the impression that these things are built for a purpose. They're clearly making totally insane cars for sts and giggles, and it'd be so much better if they just admitted it, rather than trying to tell us that they're creating the ultimate armoured racing yacht towing machine.

[Mooster]

Either that is chuffin massive or it seems to have very small doors, considering its size??

[HereBeMonsters]

If you had a few billion quid, wouldn't you buy one just for fun?

I love it. Mental, pointless and guaranteed to not even work.

[Lord Flathead]

Looks like a poorly rendered graphic from a PC game about 20 years ago

[booner]

I'd love to try get in and out of those doors!

[j_s14a]

Is it made of Lego?

[soad]

How bizarre. Still, it's good to see it being made

[JumpinJack]

I'd be more impressed if it could tow a 100ft Sunseeker

[scubadude]

Is this a car for Batman once he's settled down and had a couple of kids?