- A group of Ukrainian volunteers received a Porsche Cayenne to retrofit into a vehicle for the military.
- The car has been fitted with night vision cameras and high-tech internet access.
- Car4Ukraine has sent 244 retrofitted civilian vehicles for the front line.
A group of Ukrainian volunteers has transformed a Porsche Cayenne SUV 3.0 into a military vehicle for one of the army commanders leading the fight against the Russian invasion.
German donors gave the luxury vehicle, worth at least $70,000 new, to the Car for Ukraine team in March, significantly different from the normal vehicles they convert into war trucks for Ukraine's battles against Putin's forces.
"When our team received this Porsche, it was quite a challenge to find the best way to utilize the luxury vehicle," said Roman Hapachylo, co-founder of Car for Ukraine.
Usually, the team will fit civilian trucks by reinforcing the body with iron plates to armor the vehicles, adding a stand on the back for a machine gun or Javelins, NLAWs, and Stingers anti-tank weapons.
But the Porsche car was a different project.
It has now been transformed into a battle-ready, high-tech military vehicle It has a night vision camera, so when the soldiers need to drive close to the enemy lines, they can turn the light off and still find their way.
Storage for weapons has been fitted, as has a Starlink internet system, so the fighting commander will always be connected to his officers and his troops.
The Porsche has also been adapted to drive through a range of terrains. Civilian versions of the German SUV have a top speed of 170 mph and can accelerate to 0-62 mph in less than five seconds.
It has now been dispatched and will see action to the front line with the battle-hardened 24th Mechanized Brigade, which has seen action in recent months in the bloody fighting around Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine.
"We've made a decision to give the truck to the commander of the 24th Mechanized Brigade, 26 y.o. warrior with a call sign 'Bison'. 'Bison' has been fighting since 2014 and has earned respect from both higher commanding officers and his troops at the fields," Car for Ukraine said in a statement.
The Porsche is just one of the 244 vehicles Car for Ukraine has retrofitted and sent to serve the Ukrainian military.
It sources secondhand four-wheel drive diesel trucks with 2.0-liter engines from across Europe.
The favored models include the Toyota Hilux and Tundra, the Mitsubishi L200, the Ford Ranger, the Nissan Navara and KingCab, the Isuzu D-Max, the Маzda BT-50 and Mazda B2500, and the Jeep Gladiator. These trucks usually cost €5,500, or roughly $5,800.
British farm vehicles are also popular among the mechanics and technicians at the non-profit.
British trucks come in many models and make, but they all have one thing in common: the driver's seat is on the right-hand side.
This slight difference to other trucks and vehicles on the front line has saved the lives of many Ukrainian soldiers, Car4Ukraine's Ivan Oleksii told Insider in December. According to Oleksii, Russian snipers mistakenly aimed for the passenger seat, thinking they were shooting at the drivers.
Sometimes, Oleksii said, the drivers put dummies in the passenger seat to further cement the decoy.
Car for Ukraine exists solely on donations of military aid, vehicles, and money.
According to their website, they have distributed nearly $2 million worth of trucks to the Ukrainian military.