The best 6-wheeled cars ever ~ station of gear

Hennessey VelociRaptor 6x6 - orange front quarter

Sometimes four wheels simply aren't enough! Here are six of the coolest cars with six wheels ever made...

2017-01-03 14:45

Some might say that four wheels are better than two, so surely adding a couple more can’t hurt? A handful of established and specialist car makers have produced some weird and wonderful six-wheeled models over the years – and we’ve picked the top half-dozen.

The cars we've ranked range from the beefiest of off-roaders that can tackle the roughest terrains in the world, to bespoke supercars destined to turn heads. Having a car with six wheels also tends to imply absolute excess, which is why quite a few of these cars have come from independent tuners or the skunkworks of major manufacturers. For good measure, we've also picked out a car that has even more than six wheels!

Here’s our pick of some of the most outrageous six-wheelers ever created...

Land Rover Defender Flying Huntsman

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Britain's answer to the barrage of bonkers six-wheeled SUVs is the Land Rover Defender Flying Huntsman. The brainchild of luxury 4x4 and performance specialist Kahn Design, the Flying Huntsman is a world apart from your average farmyard Defender. The chassis has been stretched by 400mm to accommodate the extra wheels and, rather than an agricultural diesel engine, it’s powered by a monstrous 6.2-litre V8 from General Motors, pumping out 500bhp.

• Weirdest special editions ever

Other modifications include a panoramic glass roof, bespoke red leather interior and satin-style paintwork known as Cromax. Expect to pay in the region of £200,000, depending on the options included.

Hennessey VelociRaptor

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They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that’s certainly true of the pick-ups. Tuning specialist Hennessey Performance, which is based in the Lone Star state, has worked its magic on the 2017 version of the Ford F-150 Raptor before its official on-sale date.

The result is the VelociRaptor 6x6, with half a dozen 20-inch wheels wrapped in off-road tyres, locking rear axles, upgraded suspension and a heap of chunky exterior features. The firm describes it as a concept, but it can be bought for a cool £250,000.

Tyrrell P34

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With four minuscule front wheels and gigantic rear tyres, the Tyrrell P34 is arguably one of the most distinctive Formula One cars of all time. Even in the outlandish era of seventies motorsport, few racers looked this extreme.

Affectionately known as the six-wheeler, it debuted at the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix, and later that season Tyrrell drivers Patrick Depailler and Jody Scheckter drove their P34s to first and second in the Swedish Grand Prix. However, former world champ Scheckter openly called the car “a piece of junk!”.

Panther 6

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The Panther 6 was the original extravagant six-wheeled supercar. It debuted at the 1977 Earls Court Motorfair and wowed the crowds with its appearance and sheer excess.

Under the bonnet was an 8.2-litre Cadillac V8 with a claimed 600bhp and an equally unproven 200mph top speed, while luxuries included a telephone in each door and dash-mounted TV. The price tag of £39,950 was around 40 per cent more than the expensive Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the time.

Covini C6W

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A spiritual successor to the Panther 6, the Covini C6W six-wheeled supercar was unveiled in 2004. Sporting the same four-up-front, two-at-the-back wheel layout, the C6W used a mid-mounted 434bhp 4.2-litre Audi V8, and had a claimed top speed of 185mph.

Covini claimed the combination of four-wheel steering and a kerbweight of less than 1,200kg made it agile enough to give established supercars a run for their money. It’s unknown how many, if any at all, have been built.

Mercedes-AMG G 63 6x6

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The standard Mercedes G-Wagen is garish enough, but you can go one – or two – better with the G 63 6x6. The six-wheeled pick-up is the biggest and most extravagant street-legal off-roader the firm has ever produced, at 5.87 metres long and with a kerbweight of well over three tonnes.

It was initially developed for the Australian military with a more utilitarian turbodiesel engine, but power for the roadgoing version comes from a 5.5-litre 537bhp twin-turbo V8, and it’s sent to every wheel in a 30:40:30 configuration. The G 63 also features an on-board compressor, which can raise or lower the tyre pressures to better suit the surface.

And when even six wheels won't do...

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Why have six wheels when you can have eight? Russian firm Avtoros went two better with the terrain-battling Shaman, which weighs in at 4.8 tonnes and 6.3 metres long. A 3.0-litre 176bhp Iveco turbodiesel engine seems humble for such a behemoth, but despite its imposing size, the Shaman favours function over form.

It can be driven on tarmac of course, but it’s designed for heavy-duty off-road use and can cross surfaces too extreme for even a Land Rover Defender, courtesy of multiple locking diffs and eight-wheel steering. It can even be fitted with a screw propeller for traversing deep water.

Jack Carfrae

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