After all these years, I still don’t know why rich Middle Eastern dudes like ginormous cars. Remember the 21-foot-tall Hummer H1 that’s big enough to park a regular one underneath? And what about the double-wide Jeep that actually drives? I’m not sure where this goofy-looking 10-wheeler falls on the spectrum of pointless displays of exorbitant wealth, but it’s up there, I tell ya.
It’s called the Dhabiyan, and although I tried to pin down the meaning of its name, I couldn’t find anything reliable. It’s apparently the dual noun for “Dhabi,” which means Arabian Gazelle; however, someone on Reddit pointed out that it’s also dangerously close to “poop” in Mandarin. How you feel about the land yacht with Ford Super Duty headlights, a Jeep Wrangler cab, and Dodge Charger taillights probably determines which translation you prefer.
Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan commissioned the build, which sits atop an Oshkosh military truck frame and gets its twist from a 15.2-liter Caterpillar C15 diesel engine making 600 horsepower. All the info I can find about it says the overall length is roughly 35 feet, and it’s taller than an official NBA basketball goal at 10.4 feet. Weight estimates put it around 24 tons, or the same as about six crew cab dually pickups.
These clips of it driving through the desert help provide some scale, but they don’t do anything to make it look more tasteful:
THE LARGEST SUV IN THE WORLD! (Built by Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan)
The Dhabiyan is one of the strangest rigs in Sheikh Hamad’s collection, and that’s saying something considering what else he owns. (The Hummer mentioned at the top of this article also belongs to him.) His garage, otherwise known as the Emirates National Auto Museum, houses about 3,000 cars in total. Whether you’re looking for a 20-feet-tall Willys Jeep (again, why) or a Mercedes-Benz monster truck, this guy’s got it.
Personally, I’m a fan of big trucks, but this one isn’t doin’ it for me. I also don’t feel the urge to buy a Mercedes S-Class in every color like Sheikh Hamad did. Maybe that’s why he’s the Rainbow Sheikh and I’m not.
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