Built by Local Motors, the same company that aims to be the first to market with a 3-D printed car in 2015, the Rally Fighter has been around for a few years, but recently got a big break in Transformers 4 with many saying its car chase scene stole the show. And, recently, the company suggested the idea of a Rally Fighter Hybrid all-wheel drive variant.
“Looks like a race car, rides like a luxury vehicle.” That’s how Local Motors describes its limited to 2000 units Rally Fighter, but we reckon it forgot to mention the most obvious fact that it’s also an off-roader… But there’s more to the Rally Fighter than just its quirky, practical looks. See, when you buy one, and they’re priced from USD$99,900 (and can be road registered in 50 US states – we’re not sure about Australia) you also get what the company calls a ‘Build Experience’. And that means you get to work alongside the Local Motors team on either a one-week or three-day build experience.
“You will contribute to more than 50% of the vehicle’s build. From final assembly of the Chevy E-ROD LS3 engine to running the brake lines, from installing the transmission to selecting your interior options and your one-of-a-kind custom car skin, you will drive off our lot in a Local Motors Rally Fighter that is uniquely you,” the company says.
So, what is the Rally Fighter? Well, it’s just about all custom designed and built and gets a tubular steel space frame chassis, long travel front and rear suspension, front and rear disc brakes, a 6.2-litre V8 from a Corvette, tail-lights from a Honda Civic, a four-speed automatic transmission, Recaro seats (it’s a 2+2) 17-inch alloys, and rear-wheel drive.
The Rally Fighter was conceived in 2007 by Sangho Kim and design student. The design caught the eye of Local Motors and they decided to build the thing, presenting it at SEMA in 2011. Since then it’s been honed and tweaked to within and inch of its life with buyers wanting diesel variants to an electric version being evaluated, and a hybrid, all-wheel drive concept which runs a Ford 2.7-litre EcoBoost engine driving the rear wheels and an electric hub motor driving the front wheels… the projected output is 389kW and, er, 2002Nm of torque.
There’s no word on whether the Rally Fighter Hybrid concept will get off the ground … it seems the cost would be the biggest hurdle, but it could make for an exceptional rock crawler. Head straight to the specific page on the Local Motors site and leave a message, or tell them you’ve got the cash to bankroll the project… we’d love to see it get off the ground.
The mental looking Rally Fighter has been in the Gumball 3000 rally, at off-road events and horsepower shows and on TV shows like TopGear America, but went properly mainstream with its appearance in Transformers 4: Age of Extinction as a Decepticon. Watch the trailer below to get a brief glimpse of it in action at 27seconds.
