This is the TAC-6, an extreme take on the Toyota Land Cruiser 79 Series from South African company Armormax Defence. It could be the most capable Land Cruiser 79 on earth and is perfectly suited to civil and military uses. Armormax was initially contacted by the French Special Forces looking for a vehicle that could handle hostile environments but didn’t require any special training to operate. The TAC-6 is what the firm came up with. It has been designed with “the ability to go anywhere and come back again, over and over, with anyone.” In all of the testing performed on the six-wheeler, Armormax says it has never experienced a single mechanical failure.
Each vehicle starts as
a regular Land Cruiser 79 Series with either the 4.2-liter V6 or 4.5-liter V8.
The chassis has been lengthened to support a third axle and a second transfer
case has been added to send power to the third axle. It then features custom
three-piece drive shafts using heavy-duty Dana components and retains
standard-length leaf springs but can be upgraded with a 4-inch lift kit. Another
key component of the TAC-6 is the transmission. Armormax had initially
developed the six-wheeled Land Cruiser with a manual ‘box but roughly one year
ago, postponed its launch and decided to switch to an automatic.
This isn’t just any
regular automatic transmission and is one developed and homologated by ZF in
South Africa and produced exclusively for the TAC-6. It has been designed to
deal with the toughest conditions imaginable and can handle up to 1,000 Nm of torque. The eight-speed ‘box even uses a bespoke cooling system
to help in hot weather and while driving under heavy load in thick sand. Buyers
can have the Land Cruiser’s cab armored to a B6 level, allowing it to withstand
rounds from an assault rifle. It can also be fitted with water tanks, a fire
suppression system, two spare wheels, and can transport up to 28 people. The
TAC-6 also sits on bead-lock wheels and has upgraded brakes, fitting given it
weighs much more than a standard 79 Series.
Armormax also offers it
with two fuel tanks that can hold 210 liters and 90 liters respectively, giving it over 2,000 km of range. The
double-cab model can also be upgraded to hold up to 560 liters of fuel while a 610-liter tank has been developed for the
single-cab version.
Unsurprisingly, this
beast isn’t cheap. A standard model starts at 1,558,000 South African Rand or
approximately US$ 81,500 while the addition of armor can add as much as 1,296,000
Rand (US$ 67,850).
