Torsus builds ultra-rugged buses for hauling people off-road at places like rock quarries. The company announced a partnership with MAN Truck & Bus to build the body structure for the Torsus Praetorian. The businesses released a video (above) highlighting the assembly process at the Starachowice plant in Poland.
MAN is assembling the Praetorian's body structure. Each one consists of 780 components that total 895.7 feet (273 meters) of material. There are 2,606 pounds (1,182 kilograms) of steel and 773.8 pounds (351 kilograms) of sheet metal parts. After welding together the pieces, there's a three-stage coating process for corrosion protection.
Gallery: Torsus And Man Building Praetorian Bus
After building the structure, MAN sends the component for final assembly at the Torsus factory in Horné Srnie, Slovakia.
The Praetorian rides on an upgraded version of the MAN TGM chassis. The bus uses a turbodiesel 6.9-liter inline-six that makes 286 horsepower. The engine connects to MAN's semi-automatic gearbox with 12 forward gears and two reverse gears. The drivetrain is all-wheel drive with locking front and rear differentials. The bus has an air suspension with 18.46 inches (469 millimeters) of ground clearance.
The Praetorian is available with room for 35 people inside and starts at the equivalent of $252,055 (236,900 euros). The Freedom version has a bare interior for customers who want to outfit it as a motorhome or another custom layout. This variant has a base price of $237,759 (223,510 euros). Torsus has online configurators for all of its models.
Torsus offers a wide array of options for the Praetorian. Customers can add an air filtration system with a dehumidifier, rear ladder, roof rack, front winch, additional lighting on the roof, a driver's seat with an air suspension, a roof-mounted air conditioning system, and more.
Beyond the Praetorian, Torsus also offers the smaller Terrastorm. It uses the all-wheel-drive Volkswagen Crafter as a starting point with an upgraded suspension with Bilstein B6 shocks. The rear end has Profender Dakar shocks and a locking differential. This setup provides 11.4 inches of ground clearance and 27 inches of water fording depth. The company even offers an ambulance variant.
