Schon mal etwas von einem Ferrari F333E "Lizard" gehört?
Eventually, every automotive manufacturer on the planet will get sparkly eyed at the prospect of getting a lucrative government contract to manufacture military vehicles. Even the Luxury vehicle makers get in on the act. The Mercedes G-Wagen has been a staple of European and Asian militaries for two decades. Land Rover has been supplying military trucks for over 50 years. BMW sold motorcycles to the Nazis.
Porsche designed the Tiger tank and the Wiesel AWC. Even if your civilian vehicles sell for $100,000 each, you can sell to the military. The Lamorghini LM-002 was adopted by Saudi security forces. And yes, even Enzo's acclaimed
Ferrari Engineering got in on the action.
The
Ferrari L333E Lizard is the result of that effort, produced in the early 1980's. It was an odd little vehicle at least a decade ahead of its time, providing special operations capabilities before special ops became a buzz words driving a large chunk of the world's military budgets. The Lizard offered sports car performance with armored protection. It was also unusual for its very odd design choices, including the roof hatch weapon mount and the overly spacious engine compartment.
The
Ferrari F333E Lizard was an odd little vehicle, it offered sports car performance with armored protection and special operations capabilities; had a reasonable price (one could buy several "Lizards" for the price of one
Ferrari's top-end sports car) and provided a status symbol for some third-world dictators. Unfortunately it did not make any waves with the military, because of
Ferrari's "absolute lack of experience in the military sales market".
(Quelle: darkroastedblend)