With the profile of a super-saloon and the build of an armoured personnel carrier the 2012 Dartz Prombron Nagel looks like nothing we've ever seen before, but then it really is like nothing else we've seen before. What you see here is the world's first armoured 'Sportback' designed for towing yachts. Yes, yachts.
It's the answer to a question no one knew needed answering, but we're glad it has been. And, if ever a company could come up with the solution it would be Gray Design - who have brought as such delights as the Empress Crest B75, a gull-wing-doored speedboat, and the Strand Craft 166, a boat designed for people "who love that new leather smell..." Clearly, you need something equally as unique to tow these noble craft when sea turns to sand.
To this end, the design brief for the Dartz Prombron Nagel was simple: it should be capable of towing a 50-foot, five-tonne yacht at a speed of at least 150mph, while also, presumably, providing its occupants with protection from stray RPG and small-arms fire - an all too common hazard on a trip to Monaco.
It has 2,000bhp produced from an origin unknown, but likely a nuclear powered turbine - or possibly two. Making sure this can be applied without any blood being spilled falls to KAPSULA technology armour, apparently the world's safest. Its weight, says Gray, does a fine job of ironing out bumps.
The Dartz Prombron Nagel commemorates the victors of the 1911 Monte Carlo Rally who made it to the event despite a 2,025-mile trip, whether or not the Dartz Prombron Nagel will ever make it to production is, perhaps, less certain. But, if I had a
Bugatti Sang Bleu Yacht, I know what it'd be getting hitched to.
Russell Campbell - 11 May 2011