Russia has a penchant for building insane all-terrain vehicles, but between the AWD mini-bikes and oddly proportion (yet incredibly nimble) 4×4 trucks, they’re not exactly your average FJ40s. And if you think the Mercedes-AMG 6×6 was ridiculous, the Russian company Avtoros just went and built an 8×8 — because, why the hell not?
The Avtoros Shaman not only drives all eight wheels, but it also has eight-wheel steering and something called “thruster mode” (what that does isn’t really explained, but it sounds cool). This mammoth off-roader may be considered an ATV, but at 21 x 8 x 9 feet, it won’t exactly fit on your local ATV trail. A 146 horsepower Iveco F1C 3.0 diesel helps get the Shaman up to a top speed of 43 mph on land, and if you run into a lake, the massive low-pressure tires will keep you afloat while a rear-mounted propeller will get you up to a top water speed of 4.3 mph.
Each Shaman is built to order and takes two months to complete. You can get it in either “Tourist” spec, which can seat up to nine people, or “Hunter” spec which can sleep four — where exactly you’d be a tourist, or what you’d be hunting, only raises more questions. Either way, a brand-new Shaman will run you about $200,000, which is a solid investment if either Jurassic World or The Purge become realities (both eerily plausible, at this point).
