“The Puma’s goal is not to be the fastest in the world, but to be the most unique...”
The Los Angeles Auto Show, 2013. Subaru’s new WRX
and the Mercedes AMG Vision Gran Turismo concept dazzle the crowds. But
something giant threatens to steal their thunder, like an angry blue
hippo with a shrunken head. Behold, the 20’
long Youabian Puma. As your eyes wander over the convoluted, bulging
body, you wonder exactly what it is. An aquatic vehicle? An SUV? An abomination that should have been aborted at conception? Yet it’s none
of those things. Well – except that last
one.
“Conceptualized
for those individuals who dare to be different than the ordinary. Those
who go a step beyond achieving and dreaming the best that they can be.”
Technically,
it’s a custom aluminum chassis, a pile of frightening fibreglass, a
Corvette drivetrain and the interior and roof of a Volvo C70. It took
SEVEN YEARS to
develop. And although the name makes some assume it’s some kind of
Chinese automotive cloning disaster, it’s actually from LA – the brainchild of a
plastic surgeon who’s name it bears. A plastic surgeon whose client
base is quickly shrinking since the 2013 LA Auto
Show, no doubt.
But perhaps that most frightening part of all this is the price tag - $1.1M. For what looks like a bloated whale carcass with monster truck wheels and a Volvo C70 stuck in the top. Better start saving.
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