Pouching Rhinos

Recoil rode the Rhino GX hard, put it away wet, and were Admittedly Swooning Afterward

- John Schwartze

When given a chance to get behind the wheel of a recent entry into the exotic vehicle market, we’ll be honest — we had low expectations, because luxury SUVs are a strange breed. They ride the line between practicality and bling, but often sacrifice the former for lots of the latter — maybe too much.

Remember the Lamborghini LM002? Seemed like a good idea at the time, but we think the one belonging to Uday Hussein that the U.S. military blew up probably had a bigger audience than the 328 that were produced. How about the Hummer? After years of mixed reviews, a struggling economy, and GM’s failure to sell the brand, it too went the way of the LaserDisc.

Here’s the rub — we walked away from our experience remembering why someone might buy a Cabot Black Diamond Deluxe 1911 over a much cheaper version. It’s cool, they can afford it, and they want to belong to that elite group who can say they have one. We know you guys are out there too, so perhaps you should look at the Rhino GX instead of that Unimog you might be eyeballing. Your sh*t-eating grin might look like ours after driving it.

We came across the Rhino GX made by U.S. Specialty Vehicles (USSV) while at the 2015 SEMA Show, and since its California home base was close to the RECOIL HQ, we hit up the owners about getting a chance to drive this behemoth for ourselves. The company started out building limos, and their Chinese clientele requested a prototype of a larger SUV to fill the void left by the Hummer — still in huge demand over there. USSV created a version called the G Patton, and it became an overseas sensation. Next stop, the American market.