The 2020 Rezvani Tank is ready for nuclear war

Welcome to the new 2020 Rezvani Tank, a big old update for one of the more extreme SUVs on sale. If you can even call it that; Rezvani prefers to call it an XUV, or ‘Xtreme Utility Vehicle’, sending the Top Gear subs desk into mild panic.

While the Tank’s profile is the same as before, the styling is quite different when you really look closely, with each panel, light and piece of glass new. The biggest change appears to be the back doors switching from rear to front hinged, gaining a proper door handle in the process. Another one that’ll be electrified when you want full protection inside…

Yep, the Tank really is so much more than an SUV. On top of the previous generation car’s armoured, bulletproof and electrically protected body, there’s now the addition of electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) protection. In plain English, it’s ready for nuclear war.

See, in the event of a nuclear attack, EMPs are radiated, disabling electronic devices. No Instagram stories of the end of the world, in short. But with the Tank’s system – which can react within “five hundred thrillionths of a second” – you should be able to merrily tweet away about the bedlam outside and enjoy the standard Apply CarPlay in peace.

Top Gear goes searching for aliens in a Rezvani Tank

It’ll drive too, of course. Based on a Jeep Wrangler – the new one, rather than the older Wrangler you’ll find beneath the previous Tank – there’s switchable four-wheel drive, stocky Fox suspension and a plethora of engines, ranging from a sensible diesel right up to the 1,000bhp supercharged V8 sourced from the Dodge Demon muscle car. So rather than sitting tight watching the apocalypse through the window, you can have a pretty good go at outrunning the thing entirely. Even that EMP protection will operate, in Rezvani’s words, “at blazing speeds”.

"The focus of the new generation Tank was to be athletic in design and stance, have a refined ride and suspension, have a luxurious interior, and surpass 1,000 horsepower all in a car that’s bulletproof and easily a daily driver,” says company boss Ferris Rezvani. Quite a remit.

Prices start at $155,000 (£125,000) but you’ll be paying at least $295,000 for all the security features and $349,000 if you want the 1,000bhp Tank X. Which you do. But what price surviving the end of the world?