Alert readers will recall the Aznom Palladium, an over-the-top custom vehicle based on a Ram 1500, offered by an Italian shop and priced into the stratosphere. Now, the builders are sending its power level into the stratosphere as well, stuffing an upgraded 6.4L Hemi V8 under its hood.
How much has it been upgraded? Appending a pit of turbochargers to the brawny mill was apparently a healthy start, boosting power to 850 horses and 774 lb-ft of torque. Handling all that grunt is an 8-speed automatic and all-wheel-drive, a combo which potentially lets this thing rip from zero to 100 km/h in about 4.0 seconds.
For anyone needing a refresher, the Palladium is a bonkers mixture of pickup truck, SUV, and sedan. Aznom starts the build with a Ram 1500 in top-flight trim, then immediately throws away most of its bodywork in favour of Italian-bred styling. All four doors appear to be lifted wholesale from the Ram, but everything between the cab and tail lights requires some time to digest.
Photo by Aznom Palladium
Photo by Aznom Palladium
Photo by Aznom Palladium
Photo by Aznom Palladium
Photo by Aznom Palladium
Photo by Aznom Palladium
The typical demarcation of truck cab and truck bed is gone, pushing the back seats rearward to open up a cavernous interior. What’s left of the box is replaced with a slanted rear window and solid body-colour panel, underneath which is a 22-cubic-foot trunk space. To say there’s nothing else on the road like it would be an understatement.
According to those in the know, it seem the company’s founder has a hankering for enormous vehicles from America — particularly presidential limousines which are ostensibly based on pickup trucks, even though they bear a passing resemblance to limos hewn from cars. The chief exec can likely afford to take wild leaps such as these since he is a fifth-generation Italian vintner at the helm of what’s reported to be Italy’s leading company for the distribution of wine and spirits.
The custom design house says it is only building 10 of these Palladium luxury limousines, and just a single copy will be powered by this 6.4L twin-turbo Hemi. Price tag? A cool US$1.5 million.
Keyword: Italian coachbuilders add power, price bump to Ram-based limo