Sorry, kids! You’re going to school today regardless of what.
We’ve been to the Torsus Praetorian. We love it because it is the only off-road bus that we know of, aside from some crazy, unique monster truck builds. It can be used to transport heavy equipment to remote sites and as an overlanding vehicle. Torsus now presents the revered Praetorian in a school bus because some schools are more difficult to reach than others.
Torsus claims that the Praetorian Schoolbus edition is designed for the most difficult school run routes in the country. It is hoped that the world will not descend into an apocalyptic world where just getting to school requires almost 16 inches of ground clearance, and water depths greater than two feet. The Praetorian’s MAN-based chassis, four wheel drive and 6.9-liter six cylinder diesel are capable of handling such situations. They also have 240 horsepower (176 kilowatts), and a terrain-swimming 682 pound feet (925 Newton-meters), of torque.
Torsus makes some changes to the Praetorian, other than its exterior school bus yellow shade. To make the seats more durable, they are coated with a polymer protective coat. The covers also feature a math/science motif that encourages higher education. The Praetorian rides outside on new Michelin offroad tires that provide better grip in difficult terrain. The durable, new seat covers might be useful in these situations as they are easier to clean in case students get soiled during the ride. The Praetorian can hold 35 children, so things could get messy.
Although there is no mention about cost or availability, Torsus wants to emphasize that the Praetorian is a versatile machine that can be used for many applications. We don’t expect to see these buses on roads anytime soon. However, this is kind of the point.