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Here's the world's newest, ugliest car -- a Ram pickup in disguise

The Aznom Palladium is... something.

Sean Szymkowski
It all started with Gran Turismo. From those early PlayStation days, Sean was drawn to anything with four wheels. Prior to joining the Roadshow team, he was a freelance contributor for Motor Authority, The Car Connection and Green Car Reports. As for what's in the garage, Sean owns a 2016 Chevrolet SS, and yes, it has Holden badges.
Sean Szymkowski
2 min read
Aznom Palladium
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Aznom Palladium

Yikes.

Aznom

This is a totally unofficial award the Roadshow crew decided to award this morning, but we present to you the world's ugliest new car: the Aznom Palladium. That's what you see here, and there's a lot to unpack with this thing.

Aznom Automotive, based in Italy, took a Ram 1500 and gave it a total overhaul for what we think was absolutely the worst. This is a little bit like someone cobbled together a Rolls-Royce design onto a pickup truck and it's so, so strange to take in. Part of the problem is the fact Aznom covered the truck bed so we get a strange, sort of Whoville-mobile design. It's not pretty.

But the company thinks there's a market for this contraption. The Palladium is supposed to straddle the line between "hyper limousine" and a vehicle that can handle its own on any terrain. So, like a loaded Ram 1500 Laramie but with a lot more opulence, in the company's opinion. On the "limousine" part of things, Aznom definitely struck that well because the dimensions peg the Palladium to measure 20 feet long.

What is actually interesting is the powertrain. The company tuned a 5.7-liter V8 engine and slapped two turbos on it to create 710 horsepower and 700 pound-feet of torque. An eight-speed automatic handles shifts. Even though it's an ugly duckling, for sure, it will get up and go. But this beast weighs nearly 6,000 pounds -- the Palladium might need every pony to really scoot around. In an odd break from the all-terrain prowess Aznom claims, engineers wrapped the massive 22-inch wheels in Yokohama Advan Sport tires. Those won't do much good off regular pavement. The finer details surrounding the suspension are out, but Aznom said there's a highly capable suspension system in place five arms linked in the rear for better stability and a set of shock absorbers provide a surprising amount of off-road capability.

Inside, "gaudy" is the word that comes to mind, but there's no doubt the materials are premium. A vast majority, including the headliner, is covered in Foglizzo leather and the seats boast a special pattern Aznom designed. The same materials move to the rear, where the company believes owners will spend the most time. Back there, passengers also have their own HVAC system to control the temperature.

No word on prices for the Palladium, but there are buyers in line for this machine. Aznom said it worked with clients to design the interior, but it's not clear just how many the company plans to build. When production does start, Aznom will assemble each car in Italy and we're dying to see one of these in the wild to get a better sense of how odd it is in person.

The Aznom Palladium is a weird Ram pickup in disguise

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Watch this: 2021 Ford F-150 vs. Ram 1500: Truck battle royale