We spend our lives worrying about fuel economy, parking spots, and whether our cars will squeeze into tight garages.
Then, someone hands you the keys to a 15-ton, steel-clad beast, points toward a stretch of brutal terrain, and tells you to press the accelerator.
Sitting behind the wheel of Paramount’s massive armoured vehicles at Gerotek isn't about practical commuting: it is a raw, thrilling reminder of why we fall in love with pure, unapologetic machinery in the first place.
A surreal driving experience
That was the slightly surreal experience at Gerotek, the vehicle testing facility outside Pretoria, where South African defence company Paramount was demonstrating some of its armoured vehicles.
Gerotek is designed to put vehicles through their paces in conditions ranging from steep gradients and rough terrain to handling and endurance testing. And it provided a useful reminder that driving can still be an experience rather than a means of getting somewhere.
Climbing into an armoured vehicle is not quite like getting into an SUV. Despite the advances in comfort to armoured vehicles, the driving position is still commanding, but it’s not exactly a Lexus.
Everything around you is built for purpose, and the view makes normal vehicles seem insignificant. Where you would normally slow down for a deep rut, steep incline or uneven section of ground, these vehicles are designed to treat such obstacles as part of the drive.
That is where the fun begins
It is difficult not to grin when something that looks as though it belongs on a battlefield crawls and even speeds over terrain that would have most people calling their roadside assistance number.
There’s something deeply satisfying about driving a 15-ton Marauder around a gravel track at speed. Speed is relative in something that big, though, but 70km/h bouncing over washaways that would stop a Toyota Land Cruiser in its tracks puts a smile on your face.
Knowing that there’s a Cummins diesel engine with 210kW and 970Nm connected to a five-speed ZF gearbox feels very different from a Ford Ranger Raptor.
Paramount chairman Dr Mathews Phosa argues that the technology behind these vehicles is about more than their military application. “South Africa can compete. Our engineers can compete. Our technology can compete,” he said.
The appeal of the impractical
But we have always been attracted to machines that can do things we will probably never ask them to do. The popularity of four-wheel-drive adventures, off-road holidays, performance cars, motorcycles and increasingly elaborate overlanding equipment means we don't always choose an experience because it is practical.
I mean, I have an older-generation Land Rover Defender that’s kitted for overlanding, and it’s almost as noisy and uncomfortable as the beasts we drove, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.
The irony is that the vehicle manufacturers are moving in almost the opposite direction. The cars we drive are becoming more efficient, more automated and increasingly capable of doing parts of driving for us.
Driver assistance systems monitor our surroundings, computers intervene when we make mistakes and electric powertrains make vehicles remarkably quiet.
There is still something satisfying about driving
Yet for some the appeal of the machine remains. There is a physical satisfaction in controlling something mechanical and, in this case, big and heavy.
You turn a steering wheel, and something several metres away responds. You press the accelerator, and things start moving towards you. On an off-road course, you learn to read the terrain, choose a line and understand what the vehicle beneath you is doing.
It’s a little different with these vehicles. The line doesn’t really matter because the tyres, with a diameter of about 1,340mm and a width of around 438mm, mounted on 20-inch solid steel rims, basically go where they are told.
With front, centre and rear differential locks, it will tackle the roughest terrain the world can throw at it.
An engineering project becomes personal
Deon Grobler, CEO of Paramount Land Systems South Africa, knows that feeling well. He has spent much of his career designing these vehicles and says seeing one of them finally drive away is enormously rewarding.
“It’s one of the most amazing feelings,” he said. “It’s one of my children.”
Behind the intimidating exterior and technology-filled interior of a modern armoured vehicle are engineers who have spent years solving remarkably complicated problems and then watching their ideas become something that moves.
The Mbombe 8, for example, is an 8x8 armoured vehicle developed by Paramount for high mobility in demanding environments.
We don’t always need a reason
But the fascination isn't necessarily about what the vehicle is designed to do but about what it represents. We don't necessarily love extreme vehicles because we need them, but because somebody had to imagine them, engineer them and then make them work.
It explains why people such as myself spend weekends modifying 4x4s, travelling remote gravel roads or taking vehicles into places where there isn't a road at all.
It is the same with a sports car's appeal even when speed limits prevent us from using its full potential.
That’s why it was so enjoyable sitting behind the wheel of a giant armoured vehicle because occasionally, there is nothing wrong with doing something completely impractical simply because it makes you smile.
willem.vdputte@nationalmg.co.za