No job too hard

Ukrainian vehicle maker Torsus calls these the world's toughest heavy-duty off-road buses. ALEX GOY is inclined to agree

- ALEX GOY

Traveling by bus can be a mixed bag. You'll either glide quickly to your stop, or you'll be stuck next to someone unfamiliar with deodorant. You're also trapped on normal, Tarmac-clad roads. But what if there was a bus that could take you up a volcano without breaking a sweat? Meet the Torsus Praetorian and Terrastorm, buses built for the end of days.

Torsus is the brainchild of Ukrainian Vakhtang Dzhukashvili.

It was founded in 2014 and development of its first vehicle, the 35-seat Praetorian, began in 2017.

And it's quite the monster. All four wheels are powered by a 12-speed 6.9-litre MAN diesel six-cylinder motor offering more than 840lb ftadequate to tear over almost any terrain. Thanks to an intense amount of engineering, it can wade up to 680mm and climb 65% inclines without issue. Should it encounter rocks, lumps or bumps, its all-round air suspension is equipped to keep the ride as smooth as physics allows.

Dzhukashvili says that the inspiration to make something quite so hardcore came from the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014. He explains that what should have been a safe corridor out of conflict turned into a shooting range, and because of the state of the roads, regular buses couldn't handle the terrain.

"Our idea was that an off-road bus would at least give them a chance...