Welcome to my review of the 1:18 DNA Collectibles Rezvani Tank in Stealth Grey! If you don’t fancy reading the whole background of the real car, feel free to click here and skip straight to the model itself.
When is a Jeep Wrangler not a Jeep Wrangler? When it’s a Rezvani Tank of course! But what the heck is a Rezvani? Don’t worry, I’d never heard of this company either. Founded in 2014 by Ferris Rezvani, an American-Iranian entrepreneur, he brought with him the expertise and knowledge learned from his days working with Dutch-based low volume maker, Vencer Cars. Rezvani’s father was a fighter pilot and in order to develop a thrill similar to flying an F-4 fighter jet, Rezvani set out to create an extreme sports car that gave drivers the opportunity to experience the same exhilaration and g-forces behind the wheel. This theme is represented in the motif of the company badge, with wings representing his roots in aviation and steering wheel and racing stripes representing the brand’s dedication to driving.
Based in Irvine, California, Rezvani Motors’ first production car was the Beast. Designed by Samir Sadikhov and announced in mid-2014, this open-top speedster sported Ariel Atom 3 underpinnings with a sharp carbon fibre suit. Considered the base model of the lineup and originally available with an engine output of 300bhp, this 750kg razor sharp machine was capable of the 0-60mph sprint in a neck-snapping 2.9secs. A 500bhp version was later released, dropping the 0-60mph time to just 2.7secs. At its core sits a 2.4-litre supercharged and intercooled Honda racing engine, further developed by the Rezvani team, and given an innovative and efficient Rotrex supercharger.
There have since been a number of other Beast variants, including the Beast Alpha (a coupe version of the Beast with a removable hard top), Beast X and Beast Alpha X (slightly more hardcore versions, with the Beast X having some crazy aero additions) and most recently, the 2018 Beast Alpha X Blackbird – an uber extreme model which takes its name from the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane. Featuring a 700bhp engine developed with the legendary engine specialists at Cosworth, this version of the Beast is actually based on the Lotus Elise, not the Ariel Atom. The full carbon body helps it stay below the 1000kg mark, at 975kg. 0-60mph is dispatched in 2.9secs. You get all the mod cons, such as Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, air conditioning and electric windows, plus those now signature “SideWinder” doors first introduced on the original Beast Alpha model. Pricing starts at $225,000. Stick some red flashing lights in the front and we have a strong contender for the next KITT car! It looks so futuristic and menacing!!
So once you’ve conquered the supercar market, what would your next niche be? SUVs are all the rage nowadays and even Lamborghini has entered the fray with their Urus, so this surely seems like the next logical step? But how would Rezvani Motors put their unique spin on the SUV? By not creating merely an SUV, but a TUV (Tactical Urban Vehicle). Marketing shticks aside, just what is the Rezvani Tank all about?
Unveiled in October 2017, the Tank is a really interesting proposition. It is based heavily on the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, although you’d never think so just by looking at it. However, once you open those wicked suicide doors you’ll notice the interior has been pretty much lifted wholesale from the Wrangler! You do get some retrimmed seats and the option to upgrade the infotainment system, but the whole interior is a bit of an anticlimax compared to the bonkers exterior.
The Rezvani Tank comes as standard with a 3.6-litre 285bhp V6 engine and
- Custom paint colour = $5,000
- Black or Dark Grey wheels = $500
- FLIR Thermal Night Vision System = $5,500
- Tow Package = $8,500
- Automatic Retracting Side Steps = $5,500
- Change to 6 speed manual gearbox = $0
- Upgrade to 6.4-litre 500bhp V8 = $32,000
- Off road extreme suspension = $12,500
- R1 Brake System = $4,500
- Leather Seats and Full Leather Interior = $6,500
- Choice of 6 seat design options = $0
- Coloured stitching on leather seams (choice of 5 colours instead of black) = $500
- Rezvani branded floor mats = $350
- Heated front seats = $450
- 9-inch touch screen with Apple CarPlay = $3,500
- Side camera system = $750
- Ultimate sound system = $8,200
- Weatherproof car cover = $750
- CTEK 4.3 battery trickle charger = $175
The total for all that? A cool $260,175 before any taxes. I can’t decide what is more mental – the price or the look of the car!!
If the Tank (or the price) is still too tame for you, you could always stump up some extra cash for the Tank X. Instead of the 3.5-litre V6 or 6.4-litre V8 you could choose to go for the 6.2-litre supercharged Hellcat V8 that pushes out an immense 707bhp. The base price for the Tank X is $259,000 – optioned all the way up (pretty much the same options as the Tank) and you’re looking at $321,675 before taxes.
But what if a more powerful engine still isn’t enough for you? What if you’re a dictator in some far flung corner of the planet and you need protection from an impending coup? Step right up the Rezvani Tank Military Edition! Starting at $295,000 your modern take on the Hummer H1 includes the following as standard:
- 6.4-litre 500bhp V8 engine
- Bulletproof opaque glass and body armour
- Underside explosive protection
- Fuel tank wrap
- Electronic scan detection system
- Radiator protection
- Reinforced suspension
- Ram bumpers
- Military grade run-flat tyres
- Electrified door handles
- Siren and horn options
- Strobe lights
- Blinding lights
- Intercom system
- Magnetic deadbolts
- Gas masks
- First aid kits
- Hypothermia kit
- Smoke screen
You’ll be happy to know that Rezvani kindly throws in the $5,000 custom paint colour for free! To upgrade to the 6.2-litre 707bhp supercharged Hellcat V8 engine is $29,000 and add all the other options you can get on the Tank and Tank X anyway and the total is $376,675! You may as well save yourself some money on buying a house and just live in the Tank Military Edition. You can even park it in a dodgy neighbourhood and sleep soundly at night, knowing full well ain’t nobody gonna be able to touch you.
The review…
Now we know all about the wonderful world of Rezvani Motors, how have DNA Collectibles scaled down the madness into 1:18? Firstly I would like to thank the guys over at DNA for sending me this model to review. They really are a nice bunch of guys to deal with – courteous, quick to respond and enthusiastic about the hobby. Most importantly, as a young and growing company, they are very keen to take on any constructive criticism and feedback collectors are willing to dish out.
Just before we get onto the model itself, I think it is important to highlight what has changed in the DNA camp since I reviewed their 1:18 Saab 9-3 Viggen Convertible back in June 2018. In terms of new models released/announced for pre-order since then, we have in 1:18 scale:
In 1:43 scale we have:
- Audi S4
- Mazda RX7 Convertible
Nevs 9-3 Turbo Prototype- Subaru Brat
- Volkswagen Golf GTI 25th Anniversary
- Volvo V70 XC
So you can see from the lists above just eclectic their lineup is – not to everyone’s taste, I’m sure, but you can’t fault their imagination! The team have also introduced a 10% discount on all pre-orders, which is nice to see. You can often find a 10% discount code to use on models already released, as DNA sometimes hands out specific codes to reviewers, magazines and clubs. They also have a Rewards and Referral Programme, whereby you can earn points to use as discounts for future orders. Nobody can deny these guys are really trying and it is certainly impressive to see how far they’ve come in less than 12 months! I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the company.
This 1:18 scale Rezvani Tank replica costs 179CHF before shipping. That roughly translates into 160EUR/£143/$181 in today’s money. DNA
I covered the rather unique packaging and unboxing experience in my Saab 9-3 Viggen Convertible review. The box is obviously bigger this time, due to the hugeness of the model and we still have the same microfibre bag and tag – the Rezvani Tank is product #DNA000009. The polystyrene setup inside the box is also still the same and it seems to have stood the test of time. DNA are nine products in with this model and mine arrived in mint condition. We also still have the same unique acrylic base with “Rezvani Tank” printed on. Now, remember how I said the DNA team are always willing to listen to feedback and improve? In my Saab 9-3 Viggen Convertible review, you may remember I mentioned that “I couldn’t see any way of taking off every last bit of the cling film-like protection off the base without unscrewing the model first“. Firstly, the team have done away with wrapping the entire acrylic in a plastic film so you don’t have to unscrew the model as you did before. Secondly, they have put some easy to remove plastic sleeves across the two ends for protection against any scratching from the pieces of card that secure the base into the polystyrene tray for shipping. Thirdly, because they haven’t covered the entire base anymore, that still leaves the bottom vulnerable to scratching – so they have included a thin brown cardboard-like film there to ensure you don’t scratch it when you first take it out of the box and place it down. If you wanted to keep it on, that’s cool too, because they have written the chassis number on the film – otherwise you’d have no way of knowing where your model sits in the production sequence. Colour me impressed, because just these small changes to the packaging
Just four long screws with spacers hold the model down to the base. I actually needed to use an electric screwdriver to remove them, they were screwed in so tight. Let’s take the customary 360-degree look at the model now. This thing looks so menacing – I can’t believe its only a Jeep Wrangler underneath! Especially from
Starting with the lights and they seem well defined. The aperture of the light cutout from the black surround is very slightly off when you compare directly to the real car shown below, but you’d struggle to notice that without the side-by-side view. The main let down for me is the detail of the lenses themselves. The shape of the bulbs is decent, but there is no reflective detail in the lenses and is somewhat of a departure from the incredible headlights they fitted to the Saab 9-3 Viggen Convertible from last year. I can see their logic, however – I reckon they were hoping that having a silver background with those lines scored into it would react with the reflective lens cover and give off a convincing effect of the real headlights, but they certainly could have improved them. You will also notice that they missed out the panel line that goes from the top right corner of the headlight and reaches round to the bonnet.
Moving down slightly and we come to the foglights housed in that menacing front bumper. DNA did a much better job at replicating the four LED bulbs here.
Flipping the model around shows those massive twin LED light bars on the back. They look quite impressive and even have the two rows of LEDs per light. If I was being picky (and I usually am), I’d mention that the real car has 19 LEDs per row, whereas DNA has done 26. Don’t let that minor discrepancy detract from the otherwise nice job the team have done!
The liberal use of mesh in the front grille is very welcome, even if the shape of the holes are slightly incorrect versus the real car. The shape and curvature of the X-bar that spans the grille looks correct, but I think the Rezvani wording at the front is ever so slightly too large. The picture of the real car below shows how there is more space on that central bar around the lettering. You may or may not have noticed that DNA should have sat the whole grille a bit further into the front, with the upper corners of the X-bar sitting flush with the bodywork around it.
The Tank badge on the front flanks is present. The font is correct, however, you’ll notice the real car has a relief to the badge and is therefore 3D. DNA would have done well to make this out of 1.5mm or so
Looking at the badges on the
The fuel filler cap is located on the left-hand side of the model. It is not bad, but desperately misses the 6 bolts located all around the edge of the housing. That would have been a lovely addition! The three strakes above the cap are actually hollow on the real car and allow air into the boot space. Not sure why you would want cold air coming into your boot, but its there. The picture below also gives you a great look at the epic paint job. The texture is just the right side of feeling slightly rough to the touch but stops well short of feeling like sandpaper. I’m a big fan of this Stealth Grey. In fact, DNA
The windscreen wipers look really well detailed and would be a pleasure to have on any model. However, they are not true to the original car! The arms should be angled downwards to come out of the area just below that cool looking bonnet bulge. In this view we also get to see the Rezvani branding on the headrest, as well as the grabhandle everyone probably needs to scale the climb from ground to seat. The rearview mirror is also visible and DNA have added the little bit that flips the angle of the glass when you’re dazzled by lights from cars behind you – this is a really nice piece of detail to include. So far so good – the interior looks better than something GT Spirit would produce I reckon.
DNA have specced the $12,500 Off-Road Extreme package that includes a
The FOX 2.5 inch Internal Bypass Shocks with the firm’s Dual Speed Compression tech are included on this scale model. Being a sealed resin model in the mid-price range, we were never going to get an
The Dynatrac ProRock XD60/80 axle set with air lockers plus front 1350 and rear 1410 driveshafts seem to be present. I’m no off-road expert, but the entire setup looks impressive to me – certainly good enough when you compare it to the real car as shown below.
The underside of the DNA Colectibles Rezvani Tank is quite well detailed as far as resin models go. The chromed silver exhaust system adds a nice touch of colour and the driveshafts and axles look good too. I guess because the car is so raised up, it would make sense to add some extra detail that is visible when it is sitting on the shelf.
You get a lovely silver stamped chassis certification on the underside too. Whereas the Saab 9-3 Viggen Convertible merely told what chassis number you had, DNA have now included the total production run number as well so you can be reminded just how rare your model is – nice!
Here are some more pics of the various suspension and driveshaft components – the silver bolts are a welcome detail.
The bad thing about sealed models is that you just can’t enjoy the interior too much, especially if the windows only offer a narrow view in. This is made doubly worse in this particular case because DNA did such a brilliant job on the interior of their Saab 9-3 Viggen Convertible! The buttons and dials were probably the best I’ve seen in a heck of a long time and put most other manufacturers (both opening and sealed) to shame. So with this being a fully sealed model, how well did DNA do on the interior? Did they just think that since nobody will be able to see much through the windows, they may as well save some money on the production costs? Let’s find out…..
If you wanted to open up the model yourself to upgrade the interior, perhaps, all it takes is removing 7 screws and a bit of prying to pull it apart – the
The Rezvani Motors emblem on all four headrests looks great and that definition is clear to see through the windows as well, as you will have read about earlier. I must also commend DNA on the quality of the seat
The same goes for the seatbelts, buckles and even the clips complete with red buttons. A stellar job! Compare to the real car below and you’ll even notice they’ve got the orientation of all three seatbelt clips replicated accurately. I appreciate when a model manufacturer takes even the smallest of details into consideration.
DNA
Brake and accelerator pedals are suitably textured, plus the gearlevers for both the normal and low-range gearboxes are well finished. They even have the grippy part replicated. It would have been nice to have the buttons around the gearlevers marked up, however.
I have no complaints about the door cards either. They’re glued onto the inside of the resin body and come complete with silver door pull, armrest and pull handle. The real fabric seatbelts with photoetched buckles make another appearance up front.
Annoyingly the entire dashboard is both glued and screwed into the resin body, which made it impossible to remove and take better photos. Hence the odd angle of the shot below. Never mind, DNA
And here we see Ferris Rezvani with the 1:18 model in front of one of his 1:1
So that concludes this review. The DNA Collectibles Rezvani Tank is not a 100% perfect model. But the perfect model doesn’t exist! No matter what end of the market you’re looking at – low/medium/high cost and diecast/resin/composite, there is always something wrong with a model. It merely boils down to how good it is for the price and for the medium. This Rezvani Tank scores quite highly. The subject matter itself is unique – the DNA team seem to be boldly going where no other model manufacturer has gone before and for
Let us not forget that the DNA Collectibles brand is not even a year old in the marketplace. In that time they’ve truly achieved so much and they’re humble enough to take on all the constructive criticism
Thanks for reading this detailed review of the 1:18 DNA Collectibles Rezvani Tank in Stealth Grey.
Other reviews by DNA Collectibles:
Image credits:
- https://www.rezvanimotors.com/tank-gallery-1
- https://www.autoblog.com/photos/rezvani-tank-v6-sema-2017/
- https://www.instagram.com/p/Br28zSPlTvH/