Tata Safari Storme GS800 pickup truck showcased; gets shorter wheelbase, turret-mounted binoculars and a single cab.
Tata Safari Storme has been in the news ever since it has been crowned with the title of the Indian Army’s vehicle of choice. Last year, the domestic automaker bagged the order to supply 3192 units of the SUV to the armed forces. Tata Motors showcased the Safari Storme GS800 pick-up truck at the recently concluded DefExpo 2018. GS800 in the name stands for General Service 800, where 800 implies the payload capacity of 800 kgs.
Just a couple of weeks back, pictures of the army-spec Safari Storme surfaced the internet. The GS800 pick-up is substantially different from the personnel carrier spotted earlier largely because it has a pick-up truck layout with a single cab. Draped in Techni-camo paint, the Safari Storme GS800 has a flat-bed covered by a soft-top roof. The wheelbase also witnesses a reduction as compared to the regular Storme.
It was made clear beforehand that the possibilities of putting the Safari Storme to other uses will also be explored. The pick-up truck version can be used for carrying personnel as well as equipment. With turret-mounted binoculars and antennas jutting out of the soft-top, this one does look built for the purpose. Tata has also beefed up underbody protection and revised the suspension setup for the Army-spec vehicles to cope up with extreme conditions.
Powering the Storme is a 2.2-litre Varicor diesel engine that pushes out 156 PS of power and 400 Nm of torque. It comes mated to 6-speed manual gearbox that can transmit power to all four wheels as well via a shift-on-fly rotary knob. The full-size Safari Storme spotted previously also comes under the GS800 category, but this one takes the game a step further.
Tata Safari Storme GS800 Pickup
– Tata Safari Storme GS800 in pickup truck avatar showcased at DefExpo 2018
– Built for the Indian Army
– Gets techni-camo paint, single-cab layout, reworked suspension and more
Images Source – CarToq.com