---
title: "The Avtoros Shaman Ambulance Is Like an 8×8 Freightliner on Steroids"
description: "If this is coming to get you, you know you really screwed up."
date: "2020-08-11"
modified: "2020-08-11"
authors:
  - name: "James Gilboy"
    job_title: "Contributing Writer"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/james-gilboy"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/35625/the-avtoros-shaman-ambulance-is-like-an-8x8-freightliner-on-steroids"
categories:
  - "News"
  - "Trucks"
---

# The Avtoros Shaman Ambulance Is Like an 8×8 Freightliner on Steroids

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2020/08/117443886_580526839495509_3674586757248624542_n.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Medical helicopters may have saved countless lives over the years, but they're not always the right [emergency response vehicle](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/32237/this-1-2m-electric-fire-truck-will-soon-be-servicing-hollywoods-finest>) for the job. They're prohibitively expensive to buy and operate and can be grounded by poor weather, making them too specialized a tool for some remote, poorly funded medical teams to use. That's probably why Russian all-terrain vehicle manufacturer Avtoros has turned its colossal Shaman 8x8 off-roader into what might be the most capable ambulance on Earth.

Made famous on an episode of *Top Gear* a few years back, the Shaman is a specialized all-terrain vehicle mostly aimed at well-to-to outdoorsy types, such as [oil princes](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/32765/classic-cadillac-brougham-playing-in-the-dunes-is-here-to-shame-your-lifted-suv>). Now, Avtoros hopes to also court emergency responders, and with the help of another Russian firm, has refitted the Shaman's cargo area for ambulance duty. It's now available surgical theater-grade lighting, cabinets to store medical equipment, HVAC, seating for four EMTs, and accommodation for up to two patients. And of course, lights and sirens.

![message-editor%2F1597168305647-117233355\_632989850664299\_789101222425678413\_n.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1597168305647-117233355_632989850664299_789101222425678413_n.jpg>)
*Avtoros Shaman Ambulance, *Instagram | @vezdehod\_avtoros**

![message-editor%2F1597168315833-117194207\_351524312516490\_5414256730765102562\_n.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1597168315833-117194207_351524312516490_5414256730765102562_n.jpg>)
*Avtoros Shaman Ambulance, *Instagram | @vezdehod\_avtoros**

![message-editor%2F1597170932908-59239d228a61bbdad5746a56a8d0d776.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1597170932908-59239d228a61bbdad5746a56a8d0d776.jpg>)
*Avtoros Shaman Ambulance, *Instagram | @vezdehod\_avtoros**

Beyond these mods, the Shaman-bulance is mechanically identical to a normal Shaman, meaning it spites a nearly 10,600-pound curb weight to be a near-unstoppable all-terrainer. Its eight, low-pressure tire-wrapped wheels are connected by locking differentials, and all eight can be steered, be it to [crab-walk around obstacles](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/28663/volvo-groups-arquus-scarabee-is-a-crab-walking-remote-controlled-humvee-fighter>) or navigate tight mountain trails.

Motive force filters down through a two-speed transfer case and a six-speed manual transmission from a 3.0-liter, four-cylinder Iveco [turbodiesel](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/35269/bmws-ridiculous-quad-turbo-diesel-engine-was-too-weird-to-live>), whose 146 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque can push the Shaman up to 44 mph on land—or 4.3 on water with the optional propeller attached. Returning 9.4 mpg, the Shaman's nearly 69-gallon fuel tank gives it a maximum range of close to 650 miles, making it capable of responding to remote calls for help.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDt8UFIpdoX

Should the Shaman ambulance enter service with any emergency response teams, it will inevitably become an odd sight to sore eyes expecting a helicopter, and not an 8x8 off-roader. To the rest of us, though, the Shaman is little more than an aspirational toy that ignites our inner four-year-olds. As Shamans seem to start at $215,000, though, the only way to please said inner child is by letting it run wild with [the Shaman's online configurator](<https://avtoros.info/en/landings/shaman/config/>). There are worse ways to spend a lunch break.

![message-editor%2F1597170874307-117200471\_176841040665127\_6945815364694345673\_n.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1597170874307-117200471_176841040665127_6945815364694345673_n.jpg>)
*Avtoros Shaman Ambulance, *Instagram | @vezdehod\_avtoros**

![message-editor%2F1597170881573-117404531\_320357815996870\_5039647852623448554\_n.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1597170881573-117404531_320357815996870_5039647852623448554_n.jpg>)
*Avtoros Shaman Ambulance, *Instagram | @vezdehod\_avtoros**

![message-editor%2F1597170887250-117289718\_3294546803938042\_3749020567254495477\_n.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1597170887250-117289718_3294546803938042_3749020567254495477_n.jpg>)
*Avtoros Shaman Ambulance, *Instagram | @vezdehod\_avtoros**

*Got a tip? Send us a note: tips@thedrive.com*

*h/t:* [*Top Gear*](<https://www.topgear.com/car-news/weird/out-way-avtoros-shaman-ambulance-coming>)

## Author
James is a former staff writer for The Drive. He has changed the conversation around electrification, debunked misinformation online, and become a prominent hunter of what he calls "automotive cryptids."

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/jamesgilboy>)