Even if you take your Jeep Wrangler, SUV or truck to an off-road shop and leave a blank check, there's still going to be a limit on where you can go. That's where the specialist All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) comes in. If you need to cross water, there are amphibious vehicles out there. If you need to cross snowy mountains, you'll want a vehicle with tracks. If tracks aren't ideal, you might need something with more than four wheels. They're not cheap, but with the right tool for the job, you can go almost anywhere in any conditions the world might throw at you.
Sherp ATV
When Sherp sat down to design the ultimate ATV, the brief was simple. In fact, the brief was to build in simplicity. The ATV had to be easy to repair with minimal tools and have minimal electrical components to go wrong. It also needed to go absolutely anywhere, including through swamps and forest floors full of deadfall, and across the water or sand dunes.
The Sherp ATV rides on 800-liter volume tires with a displacement capacity of over, 7000 lbs, so it has traction on any surface and can float across the water. In fact, the Sherp ATV has a hermetically sealed body, so even if the tires deflate entirely, or the wheels fall off, it will still float, and the occupants won't get wet. It weighs just 3,527 lbs and uses a Kubota low-consumption diesel engine making 44.2 horsepower and 87 lb-ft of torque.
Burlack 6x6
Like the Sherp ATV, the Burlack hails from Russia. However, this is a six-wheeled amphibious vehicle based on the BTR-60 armored personnel carrier. It's also specifically built to drive to the North Pole and back. The body is heavily insulated, equipped with a kitchen and shower, and the engine is accessible for repair and servicing from inside. It can carry ten people, the body floats, and it has a propeller for when it drops in the water.
Ripsaw EV2 and EV3
In this case, EV doesn't stand for Electric Vehicle. Instead, it stands for Extreme Vehicle, and according to Howe and Howe Technologies, its "super tank platforms are one of the world's most sought after high performance, luxury vehicles." Each one is hand-built across six months and can cost upwards of half a million dollars. If you think it looks familiar, you may have seen it featured in the Fast and Furious 8 movie or on the Grand Tour TV show.
The Ripsaw EV2 is powered by a 600-hp 6.6-liter Duramax engine making up to up to 1,500 hp depending on how much you want and are willing to pay.
Tinger Track
If you need something a little smaller and more agile, there's plenty of options out there, including the Tinger Track. An incredibly adaptable little vehicle, it's designed to perform the duties of a swamp buggy, a snowmobile, and amphibious vehicle, or even a tractor, while also being able to get through the tight spaces a quad bike is usually perfect for navigating its way through. Whether you need to cross ditches, go up 40-degree slopes, or cross rivers, the Tinger track is small, light and the 3-cylinder engine is known for its durability.
Autocros Shaman
The Russians seem to be dominating the extreme ATV world, and the Shaman is an eight-wheeled brute packing a 3.0-liter Iveco truck engine that drives all eight wheels through a manual six-speed transmission. The front four wheels take care of steering duties and make the Shaman incredibly maneuverable. It sits on a sealed boat style frame so it can get in the water while transporting a driver and up to eight passengers. It's a big vehicle, but according to Autocros, it is not too big for public roads.
Gibbs Terraquad
Gibbs is a company renowned for fun amphibious vehicles. On land, the Terraquad is a more than capable off-road vehicle and powered by a four-cylinder engine making 140 hp. Roll it off of dry land and into the water, though, and the wheels lift and flatten so the jet propulsion system can take over. It's a practical little beast as well, with room for two people and a small truck bed in the back. It'll hit 50 mph on land, but its real party piece is being able to do 45 mph on water, which is enough to tow a skier behind.
Argo Aurora 950 SX-R
Argo has a big catalog of ATVs, and topping the pile is the Aurora 950 SX-R. It features a 40-hp V-Twin engine, AirLock bead locked wheels that allow the tire pressure to be adjusted easily for the terrain, a progressive dual-rate steering system, a roll cage, and when the trail runs out, it's amphibious. Argo's "mud and swim" tires take care of propulsion, and there are eight of them to make sure you make it to the other side. The Aurora 950 SX-R is the top of Argo's range and designed to go anywhere in any season.
Rokon Trail-Breaker
Rokon has been making heavy-duty off-road two-wheel drive motorbikes to sell since 1963, and the Trail-Breaker has been evolving since then. They're slow-speed bikes built for arduous terrain, and amongst the useful features are full-time front and rear-wheel drive, the ability to climb a 60% grade, a 14-inch ground clearance, and hollow drum wheels can provide floatation in mud, sand, or snow. According to Rokon, the list of organizations and people that have put the Trail-Breaker to good use includes the US Armed Forces, Forest Service, Fish and Game officers, big game hunters, trail builders, farmers, ranchers, and even treasure hunters.
Kamaz 43509 Race Truck
If you have Russian oligarch levels of money, Kamaz might sell you one of these incredible trucks. Kamaz is a Russian truck maker that has been dominating the Rally Raid truck world with the latest iteration of its racing beast. The company has been a regular fixture in the Dakar rally for years, with 16 wins in the truck class under its belt. The latest iteration of the race truck has a mind-boggling 1,150 horsepower being generated from a 13-liter six-cylinder turbocharged engine from Cummins. It weighs 9.5 tons, and each wheel alone weighs 330 lbs apiece, yet it has a sports car's 50/50 weight balance and happily pounds its way across sand tunes at crazy speeds.
Parajet Explorer
Back in 2009, you could pre-order the Parajet USA SkyJet. It was a small buggy with a 0-60 mph time of around 4 seconds and a top speed of 115 mph. Due to its paraglider wing, it could also fly. Now, over a decade later, Parajet is at it again with the Explorer, an all-terrain vehicle crossed with a light aircraft using the latest in ram-air parafoil wing technology.
It's not just a standard buggy for when it's on the ground either, and features pressurized nitrogen shocks with inverted double wishbone suspension and one of the most powerful power-to-weight ratio engines in the world. It uses a 600 cc Twin Rotor RT600 EFI Rotary engine that delivers around 100 hp while having a core weight of just 48.5 lbs.