The 2012 movie ‘The Dictator’ brought fame to coachbuilder Dartz, who later launched a limited series of 10 gold-plated SUVs inspired by the protagonist’s gaudy ride. Fast-forward a decade, and the same company announced another batch of SUVs based on the Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class this time around.
In case you wondered, the original movie car was built based on a Russian-made SUV named Kombat. Some of Dartz replicas of it used the Hummer H2 as the starting point of the conversion.
The first two photos in our gallery here are the new teasers. Like its predecessor, the SUV will be called ‘The Dictator Aladeen Edition’. As expected, it will come adorned with tons of fake gold, as well as flags and coat-of-arms of Wadiya, the fictional African country from the movie.
Baing based on the range-topping GLS, the new SUV will get 800 PS (789 hp / 588 kW) and 1,000 Nm (738 lb-ft) of torque from its V8, enough to zap 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 3.8 seconds and ultimately hit 280 km/h (174 mph) in a straight line. The numbers are frankly impressive for a lightly armored vehicle weighing 2.2 metric tons (4,850 pounds). Dartz says customers may request higher-grade armor plating, but warns that doing so will add a further 900 kilos (2,000 pounds).
The interior can be draped with a custom sort of leather, 555 varieties of wood and buttons coated in genuine gold. Safes with biometric locks are included in the base spec, while paying extra nets you a bulletproof umbrella and helmet, a Metaxas & Sins tape player, and two safes for an AK rifle and a sword.
The prices were omitted.