ULTIMATE ESCAPE

WHEN YOU get into a discussion over locally-built vehicles, most people tend to think of Holden or Ford – not some giant block-of-flats military vehicle that’s designed to climb walls and act as a mobile hospital. And, to be fair, when we occasionally stroll into the showroom at Pennant Hills Auto Traders, we’re usually angling to swipe the keys for something like a Porsche or maybe a Raptor. However we couldn’t go past this thing as it definitely qualifies as unique. The Perentie is a locally-developed military series (the paint may have given it away) that’s loosely based on a Land Rover 110. In fact what the army did was pull the things apart, galvanise the chassis, re-engineer the driveline and fit them with customised aluminium bodies. Powering this lot is an Isuzu 4BD1 3.9lt four-cylinder with a four-speed LT95A transmission. All six wheels are driven, plus there’s a power take-off intended to provide drive to a trailer. Ian Creak at Pennant Hills reckons they’re overengineered and over-serviced, so they should last. So who buys them? It seems to be a varied audience. One enquiry was from a farmer who last bought an ex-Army Land Rover in 1971 and figured it was time to upgrade. Another was a gent who worked out this would be a handy thing for fishing get-aways. When you look at what’s gone into the development of these things, you’d have to figure that the asking price in the low 30s represents a fraction of what’s actually gone into them. And there’s a fair chance you’ll be the only one on the block who owns one!