Image: Paramount
Remember that episode of Top Gear, where a bright red 10-ton military vehicle lay waste to the streets of Johannesburg? Okay, maybe it wasn’t that dramatic but its predecessor is here and the company who made it is touting their newcomer as the “World’s Most Unstoppable Vehicle” – this is the Paramount Marauder Mark 2.
Image: Paramount
Over 10 years ago, before Netflix and the content over-consumption existed, there aired a Top Gear episode that many South Africans found a familiar backdrop in. Season 17, Episode 1. The scene of a massive Marauder dwarfing everything it encountered during afternoon traffic and then proceeding to wreak havoc in the locales of Johannesburg.
While the iconic presenter trio have not survived the past few years, Marauder has. And now the local armoured vehicle manufacturer has a new creation, built for brushing off incomprehensible dangers.
The embedded video below shows the Paramount Marauder Mark 2, and those with a keen eye will notice that not too much has actually changed from the original that captured our imaginations all those years ago. Other than the obvious; a more inconspicuous lick of paint, the newbie has undergone some changes which give it credibility as the “World’s Most Unstoppable Vehicle.”
The double-hull beneath the driver and co-driver can withstand 8 kg of explosives while the fortified side structure can brush off 7.62×51 mm NATO armour-piercing rounds with relative ease. To keep the 11 occupants safe, including those in command of the vehicle, the Marauder Mark 2 also includes anti-blast seats.
Built primarily to rebuff attacks and not for speed and agility, the behemoth boasts a six-cylinder turbodiesel engine underneath its bonnet. This powertrain can pull as much as 4,5 tons and can propel the model to a maximum speed of 110 km/h. Topping out may hurt the claimed range of 700 km though.
To make the Marauder Mark 2 more usable for foreign markets, they have been recreated on a universal hull. What this means is that an interchangeable dashboard module can swap the driving layout in less than two hours.
Paramount can configure the behemoth for a variety of roles over and above the standard armoured personnel carrier. Other specifications include ambulance, infantry support, anti-armour and a command vehicle.
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Keyword: WATCH: Marauder Mark 2 debuts as a marauding military transport