Crackpot Startech Range Rover pick-up truck shown in Shanghai
Brabus' custom tuning arm Startech debuts wacky Range Rover pick-up design at Shanghai Motor Show 2015
If you're a fan of the current Range Rover but perhaps feel it needs a wild side, you should check this out. Startech, part of the Brabus group of German tuning firms, has unveiled this love-it-or-loathe-it luxury pick-up design at this year's Shanghai Motor Show.
Startech calls it "the world's most exclusive pick-up" and we'd be inclined to agree. The bonkers bodystyle is a first for this generation of Range Rover, replacing the classy rear-end with a "multi-purpose" flat loadbay that doesn't look much cop at carrying compost bags.
• Best pick-up trucks to buy now
Along with the chopped backside the SUV gets muscular styling additions, such as enormous 23-inch forged alloys, a carbon-fibre bodykit and a butch bumper design. Startech sums it up by stating the car is aimed at Arab customers for "transporting a securely fastened cage that holds their falcons for the hunt".
• Bonkers Shelby Baja 700 pick-up revealed
But this isn't amateur cut-and-shut effort, as Startech claims to maintain the same torsional rigidity 100 new bodywork components had to be designed and machined from aluminium and carbon fibre, involving substantial time and effort.
Under the bonnet is the same 5.0-litre supercharged V8 as the standard car, tweaked to produce 518bhp. It can sprint from 0-62mph in 5.3 seconds and on to a top speed of 155mph, putting it up there with other super pick-ups such as the comparatively sane Shelby Baja 700.
It goes without saying that this isn't really aimed at the UK market, and almost certainly won't be sold here. Startech has Middle-Eastern and Chinese buyers in mind, and we expect the luxury pick-up to command prices well into six-figures if it does go on sale.
What do you think of the Startech Range Rover pick-up? Let us know in the comments section below...
