One more interesting vehicle we won't see in USA any time soon: The TAC Motors Stark
The Stark is about the size of a short wheelbase Jeep Wrangler. Power is by a VW gas/ethanol engine,
or an FPT (Fiat Power Train) 2.3L turbodiesel engine (220 lb-ft). A 5 speed manual transmission is standard.
Suspension is independent in front, a Dana 44 in the rear.
I'm not so sure about the exo-cage look of the exterior, but you'd be protected in a rollover.
Here's a 3 minute video (hand-held, very shaky) of the Stark gas engine model, playing in a sand quarry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zklTPB9DBH4
The company web pages (in Portuguese) start here
http://www.tacmotors.com.br/
Autobloggreen has an article here
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03/17/meet-the-tac-stark-brazil-s-ethanol-burning-mini-ute/
And Autoblog's article, with a video clip, is here
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/02/28/video-more-on-tac-motors-stark-raving-awesome-brazilian-bombe/
The Stark is about the size of a short wheelbase Jeep Wrangler. Power is by a VW gas/ethanol engine,
or an FPT (Fiat Power Train) 2.3L turbodiesel engine (220 lb-ft). A 5 speed manual transmission is standard.
Suspension is independent in front, a Dana 44 in the rear.
I'm not so sure about the exo-cage look of the exterior, but you'd be protected in a rollover.
Here's a 3 minute video (hand-held, very shaky) of the Stark gas engine model, playing in a sand quarry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zklTPB9DBH4
The company web pages (in Portuguese) start here
http://www.tacmotors.com.br/
Autobloggreen has an article here
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03/17/meet-the-tac-stark-brazil-s-ethanol-burning-mini-ute/
And Autoblog's article, with a video clip, is here
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/02/28/video-more-on-tac-motors-stark-raving-awesome-brazilian-bombe/