With styling that boasts sharp geometric angles on a black exterior, the ITA Karlmann King seems to come straight from the domain of a certain fictional caped crusader. It was unveiled by ITA at the Beijing Auto Show and we present the facts here as the AFP reported them, despite conflicting reports on the name (ITA vs IAT) so take note search engine robots, we aren’t trying to game anyone! The domestic carmaker had indicated that they were planning to put the car into a limited production of 10 units globally, but it turned out to be just a working prototype for now. Even in that state though, its eventual price is slated as a jaw-dropping $1.85 million – an amount of money that you could use to buy four Bentley Bentayga SUVs, a Lamborghini Huracán and a Ferrari 488 Spider.
The SUV is hand-built on a Ford F-450 pickup truck chassis and stands at six-meters long. The cabin is still a work in progress, but it retains the Ford pickup dashboard setup. The only difference is that it’s dressed up with Alcantara wrapping and gold accents. With seats for only four, the interior space feels like a limo, and to ramp up the luxury factor there are tables for rear seat passengers, a bespoke porcelain set for drinking tea, and a champagne cooler. In a nod to the Rolls-Royce starlight headliner, the roof liner is full of optic lights, and there’s so much wood you’d think you were in a log cabin.
Though it seems only an eccentric billionaire like Bruce Wayne would want to get in on this, especially at that cost, China has no shortage of excessive spenders. Well, the current situation does not inspire confidence even in that… Still, this appears to be the strategy ITA is basing this model on – uniqueness and exclusivity, something which is extremely desirable among the rich over there. Whoever can find the spending power to splurge on this metal monster can well expect himself to be the envy of the roads.
Still, we have to wonder what that excessive price tag is about since there is nothing particularly special about this model. It is easily more than 20 times the price of a Ford F-450, which it basically is. Also, we aren’t sure if the maker is called ITA or IAT as the AFP source this story is built on calls it ITA but other sources, including Bloomberg call it IAT…
This story was built on an AFP base, is not Batman-shaped in any way, and is absolutely free for your entertainment.
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