See this hunk of metal I got from this weekend's Forzathon challenge? That's the Terradyne Gurkha LAPV and you are probably familiar with this behemoth as the one Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson drove on Fast Five. Yep. The wrestler turned action star played federal agent Luke Hobbs. The muscle who tries to gun down Dom and his crew on Fast Five, then later assists the gang on Fast & Furious 6 and Furious 7, and now a fierce rival who will stop at nothing to bring down the betrayed Dom on next year's The Fate of the Furious.
However, the Gurkha seen here isn't the same as the one Hobbs drove in Fast Five. This is the normal Terradyne Gurkha LAPV. Made by the Ontario-based armored vehicle company, the Gurkha is a tactical vehicle based on the Ford F-350 pickup truck. Apart from the LAPV shown here, there are other Gurkhas offered in the lineup such as the MPV for military purposes and a civilian-spec RPV pickup.
The LAPV is powered by a 6.7L V8 turbodiesel engine from Ford, which produces 300HP of power and 660lb-ft of torque, while mated to a 6-speed automatic gearbox. Because it weighs 15,000 to 19,000 pounds, the top speed is limited to 110kph. Not that quick by modern standards but because it's made to get through the roughest terrains like most military vehicles do, the Gurkha can get through points A to B with just a minor scratch but in one piece without worrying about the personnel onboard. Because it uses CEN B7/STANAG 2 armoring on the bodywork, even shrapnels of bombs can't hurt the Gurkha on the move. Now that's intimidating for a Canadian-made military vehicle based on a Ford F-350.
Driving one of these will make anyone think you're Dwayne Johnson except you're not The Rock. You're just the genius confabulator ready for some script rewrites to make actors a lot more miserable. If I were a genius confabulator, I would do a script rewrite to make use of The Rock's favorite beast from Fast Five, and that mean't I should take the Gurkha to...Blizzard Mountain!
The freezing temperatures, the severe blizzard warning, that's perfect to test out the Gurkha's toughness, even though its armored bodywork can sustain against the harshest elements that climate change can throw at it. Now, I want to see if the Gurkha lives up to The Rock's role. Otherwise, it would be just another one of The Rock's roles that doesn't look tough like...um...who was that again? Oh well...
On the scale of which The Rock role am I, feels like I'm not on the same level as Hobbs from the Fast & Furious series but rather...hmmm...nope, not The Scorpion King because I'm driving on ice. Perhaps, I feel like the hero from a disaster flick San Andreas! Nope, no. This isn't California. Sorry. Still, driving the Gurkha gives you an impression that you're living like The Rock in so many ways and no matter where you're taking this hunk of metal on it, it feels like it's another day for The Rock as he gets off from his luxury home and into the movie set to do some action star stuff. This car, like the actor, always have The Game Plan, which I should have said it in the first place.