Yahoo Autos I Don't Care What You Think, I'd Drive the Hell Out of This Ridiculous Car
It's a slow Friday afternoon here at the office, and like a lot of you probably do, we're trolling the internet for something interesting to read as we wind down the week. So when our guy Tywin Pham dug up a Facebook clip of this utterly outrageous freak machine, we were duly awestruck.
I mean, just look at this thing.
I'm salivating.
A little internet sleuthing reveals that this is The Giant Spider, a one-off custom commissioned by Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamad Al Nahyan. It is fantastic.
As our pal Justin Hyde wrote at Yahoo last year, this fantastic custom machine is built on a Ford F-550 frame. The passenger compartment is a nearly stock-looking Jeep Wrangler Unlimited body, while the nose-that glorious, shining, admittedly somewhat phallic nose-features the grille and headlights from an International LoneStar big rig. It's powered by a 394-hp V8 (though there's probably room for at least two more engines under that miles-long hood), and it seems to have a central air system to remotely air the tires up or down from inside the cab (note the air lines going to each wheel hub).
Why would you want to mess with tire pressure from inside the cab? Well, this gargantuan behemoth was built for the sand, where you want low tire pressures to create a tire contact patch that's as wide as possible. Here it is in action:
And here it is on the street:
Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamad Al Nahyan is perhaps the world's most prolific car collector. Known as "The Rainbow Sheikh," he's commissioned some completely bonkers custom vehicles-including a monster truck Mercedes Benz and a Dodge Power Wagon so big, it's got a bedroom inside.
As for the Giant Spider? I unabashedly love it. It's got the high-riding, balloon-tire proportions of a stately 1930s phaeton, just expanded to 200-percent size. Those Cord 812-style wheels just seal the deal.
Is it wretchedly excessive? Yes. Does it stay within the narrow confines of restraint and good taste? Hell no.
Would I romp this thing indiscriminately from sea to shining sea? You bet your ass.
To see some more of The Rainbow Sheik's fleet, and learn how he got that nickname, check out this vintage segment where Jeremy Clarkson tours the whole collection:
