The Rezvani Tank is your 500bhp armoured city car

Do lots of driving in the city? Then what you need is a “Tactical Urban Vehicle”. Forget SUVs, it’s all about TUVs.

But what form should a TUV take? For urban driving, and its terrible traffic and problematic parking, you’d assume a nice open-top Fiat 500 or an electric Smart ForTwo.

Wrong. It’s an almighty off-road car with a 500bhp V8 and “optional ballistic armour protection”. We suspect the Rezvani Tank doesn’t see squeezing through traffic and nipping into tight parking spaces as non-contact sports.

Yep, the Rezvani Tank. That name immediately makes no bones about the car's intentions. It’s an “Extreme Utility Vehicle built for any off-road and on-road challenge,” which also makes it an EUV. This is getting confusing.

Its engine comes from America, a 6.4-litre SRT V8 with 500bhp. You’ve a choice of two different suspension and wheel setups – depending on how far off road you plan on going – and as well as the armour, you can have a supremely bright light bar and thermal imaging cameras. Depends if you want to be visible while you’re looking at stuff in the dark, really. We’ll not ask why that might be an issue.

If you’re worried it’s a bit too rufty-tufty for you, then there’s also lots of concessions to luxury. The back doors are rear-hinged – like a Rolls-Royce Phantom’s – and they’re power-operated. There’s a fancy head-up display and some posh, padded seats. Moving from your Range Rover to this shouldn’t be too much of a bind, then.

Financially it might be, however. Tank prices start at $178,000, or about £134,000. Which is cheap in Tank terms, but pricey in the SUV market. Then again, it’s a TUV. Or an EUV. Or something.

Want one?