If you’re anything like us scribes at Motor1.com, you probably wake up every morning (or possibly afternoon) and think about at least one vehicle you’d like to buy. Honestly, a freaking eight-wheel military-spec armored personnel carrier never crossed our minds, but the same can’t be said for Ted Yadlowsky. He and a few of his friends apparently weren’t satisfied with HumVees on 22-inch wheels and lifted Ford pickups, because they bought this thing and made it street legal.
More insanity on wheels
It's called the GPV Colonel, and it was originally manufactured by a company called General Purpose Vehicles in Michigan. A quick internet search shows the manufacturer builds several such vehicles designed for military use, but exactly how Yadlowsky and his partners came upon this particular machine is something of a mystery. Another quick internet search shows Yadlowsky and GPV headquarters are only about 45 miles apart, so that could have something to do with it.
But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that this 8x8 transport has mirrors, turn signals, headlights, and oh yeah, it’s also capable of driving through a concrete wall up to a foot thick. A spiffy differential lock can send power to all eight wheels to power through pretty much any terrain, and it’s also amphibious. In fact, Yadlowsky says no prep is needed ahead of time – just drive into the water and turn on the pumps and the Colonel will take care of you.
It will also take care of road raging drivers in work vans, as demonstrated in the video. We aren’t told how much this thing weighs but considering its armor plating can stop heavy arms fire, we’re guessing it’s not a lightweight. Judging by the way in shoves – then climbs – over that white one-ton work van in the above clip, we know it’s not light.
The video description says this is the only “privately owned amphibious combat vehicle in the world.” We aren’t sure if that’s actually the case, but we are sure this monster would be epic fun to spend the day with.
Source: Barcroft Cars via YouTube
Gallery: GPV Colonel APC
