Karlmann King mega SUV
The absolutely mental
Karlmann King mega SUV debuted on the Beijing Auto Show,
looking mightily impressive in matte black with stealth-style angular surfaces
and bright white lights. The Karlmann King was designed by IAT Design for
Unique Club, which will build ten examples and sell them for 12 million yuan
each, and that exchanges to a steep US$ 1.85 million.
IAT Automobile Technology (web)
is a Beijing-based design and engineering company. Unique Club is a company
that normally modifies Ford and Chevrolet vans for the Chinese market, adding
more gold, tea pots, karaoke sets, and whatnot more. The Karlmann King is their
first self-developed ‘car’.
It is based on the Ford
F-450 Super Duty, a popular platform in China, and widely used for everything
from anti-riot vehicles to wedding-limousines to this thing. Power comes from
the 6.8 liter ‘Triton’ V10 engine, good for 362 hp and 620 nm. The Karlmann King
will need all that power because the new body is made entirely out of old
fashioned steel.
The interior is a work of
art, dressed up with shiploads of alcantara, gold threat, gold colored panels,
and dark decorated wood. The best however is in the
back, with a high end karaoke system consisting of a 3D flat screen, a
20-speaker surround sound system, and disco-lights.
There are only seats for
two, but these are seats for kings. Fortune magazine in the magazine bag,
naturally. The controls for the karaoke set are on the left side of the left
seat.
