Imagine the unholy love child of a Mercedes S-class, a city bus, and a Hummer. That is what the TORSUS Praetorian is like.

What is this and how does it work?

The whole thing rides on a MAN semi-truck chassis with a steel frame (it looks like a bunch of scaffolding) sitting on top, which carries the colorful plastic bodywork.

You can choose one of three MAN 6.9-liter turbo diesel straight-six engines to power this behemoth. The powerplants range in power from 240 horsepower and 682lb-ft (925Nm) of torque up to 290 horsepower and 848lb-ft (1150Nm) of torque.

What makes all that grunt even better is that any of those engines can be mated to a 9-speed manual gearbox with one crawler gear or a 12-speed automatic with two reverse gears.

In terms of handling, the Praetorian will need all the help it can get. In the most basic form, it comes with locking front, center, and rear differentials.

As well as front and rear leaf springs with reinforced shock absorbers, however, the option for air suspension is available. That being said, this massive machine comes standard with four-wheel drum brakes.

The Praetorian comes with 395 width Michelin XZL off-road tires and can be optioned with a central inflation system that can pump air in or out of the tires to better suit the terrain for over $10,000.

OK, its big, so it must be practical

In terms of practical capability, it can carry 35 people, has nearly 16 inches (40cm) of ground clearance under the axles, and can ford through nearly 27 inches (68cm) of water.

However, it probably would not be the best city car as it is 8.3 feet (2.54m) wide and 28.5 feet (8.7m) long. The size is a bit ironic though, as the Praetorian is not sold in America since they do not have any dealers here. But name another place where something this humungous would work any better.

Anyway, the lowest starting price is $187,182 (162,000 Euros) for the 'Personal Freedom' trim based on current exchange rates. This trim gives the liberty of being empty of all seats and gives you a world of possibilities to modify the interior in any way you like.

In some trims, however, the interior can come in the same sort of layout as an airplane or city bus with seemingly quite comfortable leather seats. In others, it more so resembles an off-brand Spirit Airline cabin.

how does something like this even happen?

Of course, it all starts with the company producing it. TORSUS International launched in 2008 at the Pulsar Expo and was soon doing deals supplying fleet cars in Ukraine.

Eventually, they landed a deal supplying over 200 vehicles for the U.S. Department of State in 2015. In 2017, the executives flipped the company head over heels and birthed the "TORSUS Praetorian project."

At this time, they dropped the idea of doing business with other businesses and government entities and started hard-core development on the Praetorian.

The whole idea behind this monster is to be the most extreme bus/people mover to work in the most extreme conditions to carry out the most extreme tasks.

Some examples on the newly overhauled TORSUS website are transporting miners, rescuing people from natural disasters, wild overlanding rigs, and a mobile outpost for law enforcement that seems to have been stolen from a video game.