Cars should have four wheels, right? Wrong! Well, at least it is if these mad, six-wheeled monsters are anything to go by.
They might not come along very often, but when they do a six-wheeled car certainly makes a statement. Whether they’re 50 per cent better, though, is still up for debate.
British car modification firm Kahn Design has just revealed a six-wheeled Land Rover Defender convertible – which reminded us to delve into the archives and have a look for some other half-dozen wheeled specials.
Kahn Design Flying Hunstman Defender 6×6 Soft Top
The latest edition to the six-wheel market is this effort from Bradford-based tuners Kahn Design, which has fitted a soft top to its wild Flying Huntsman model.
Its engineers took a Land Rover Defender and fitted an extra axle at the rear as well as a wide body kit to give it an extra-menacing appearance.
The rear section has been extended and now features a retractable soft top, giving the rear-most passengers the joys of open-top motoring in a vehicle capable of scaling a mountain – but now with a bit of protection, should the weather take a turn for the worse.
Panther Six
The Panther Six, unveiled in 1977 at a cost of £39,950 – or £264,000 in today’s money, was an attempt to totally reinvent the luxury car. It featured twin front axles, an ultra-luxurious coupe body and a mammoth twin-turbocharged 8.2-litre Cadillac engine – it was excess to the extreme.
Oddly enough, the idea never took off, and only two examples were ever built. Sadly, no attempt has been made to verify Panther’s claim of a 200mph-plus top speed.
Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG 6×6
The G-Class is a world-renowned go-anywhere off-roader. Its basic, boxy shape has been largely unchanged since it was introduced in 1979 – except for that time Mercedes released a six-wheeled version.
Known as the 6×6, it was built by the German firm’s in-house tuning company AMG. With 536bhp from its 5.5-litre V8, the £370,000 machine had more than enough power to get you out of trouble whatever the terrain.
Technological highlights include five lockable differentials, Ohlins suspension delivering an increased ride height and a high-powered LED light strip above the windscreen.
Hennessey Velociraptor 6×6
Hennessey Performance’s Velociraptor 6×6 is the ultimate expression of bigger is better. Based on the Ford Raptor, which is a beefed-up version of Ford’s already-massive F-150 truck, the Velociraptor 6×6 is a ludicrously expensive, ludicrously quick load lugger.
Starting at $349,000 (£260,000), modifications to the 3.5-litre V6 engine takes its output beyond 600bhp, while the 0-60mph sprint can be despatched in less than five seconds.
Tyrrell P34
Formula 1 teams are always looking for that innovative engineering idea that will give them an advantage over their opponents, and in 1976 Tyrrell came up with one of the most unique examples of that.
Project 34 featured two small wheels on each side at the front of the car, and one normal-sized wheel on each side at the rear.
Tyrrell came up with the idea after new regulations were introduced that limited the size of the front wing. To keep the size of the wheel small enough that it didn’t impact air flow while maintaining an effective contact patch, Tyrrell’s engineers fitted two on each side up front.
It was very successful in its first year, leading other teams to begin development of their own six-wheeled designs. However, changes made for its second season made it less competitive, leading Tyrrell to ditch the idea. Formula 1 later put rules in place that cars must have four wheels.