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If you are a fan of or have played the video game series Halo, then you will recognise the vehicle you see here. It is known as the Warthog (a.k.a the M12 Light Recon Vehicle) and it is like a crossover between a dune buggy and a huge truck. This real life version of the Warthog was commissioned by 343 Industries (the company that made Halo 4) and they engaged a Los Angeles based marketing company to build it. Franchise development director at 343 Industries, Frank O' Connor, mentioned that the company wanted to really build something that people could literally see, touch, reach out and enjoy. O' Connor managed to persuade the marketing department to approve his team's idea and budget. And they engaged Antenna to make the Warthog into a reality and the budget figures ran into the hundreds of thousands. Pat Devereux, chief executive of Antenna, stated that 343 Industries sent him an enormous amount of data for the Warthog. Devereux then took the data to Aria Group; who was responsible for actually building the vehicle. Aria Group is known for building numerous concept vehicles for automakers such as General Motors, Honda and Kia. The company took around six months to build the body to the exact specifications and appearance, including the fake heavy machine gun at the back. Beneath the body lie the chassis, engine and transmission from a Hummer H1. It has a 6.5-litre V8 diesel engine and a four speed automatic gearbox. The Warthog's top speed has been limited to 25 miles per hour (40km/h) and this was done for safety reasons. There are only two differences between the real life and digital versions of the Warthog. The digital Warthog has four wheel steering and this would be too costly for the company to incorporate it into the real life version. The real life version is also around twelve percent smaller than it would have been if the company had made it to a 1:1 scale. Despite this, the 7200lbs (3265kg) Warthog makes almost every other vehicle look small. The Warthog will make appearances at the Electronic Entertainment Expo and ComicCon later this year. Buyers with a huge bank account may possibly buy one as Aria Group is in talks with Microsoft to license the production of the Warthog. Image credit: David Undercoffler / Los Angeles Times

Times are changing for the US military, which now finds itself embroiled in urban combat, for which the standard Humvee is less than ideal. As the U.S. military phases out the Humvee, its maker, AM General, strongly believes that the hardcore off-roader may still have some life left in it. For fans of the Hummer or the actual wartime vehicle that inspired it, now is your chance to own a version of the original High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle or Humvee for short but without an engine. After more than 10 years break from the civilian vehicle market, AM General is considering to offer a kit car based on the C Series Humvee. The kit which is said to conform to US regulations includes a rolling chassis and could start from US$59,000 but builders have to get their own engine and transmission. A starting price of that amount is not too bad and with a suitable engine and transmission fixed, the final price will probably be around US$75,000. Considering the price of a Hummer H1 in 2005 was around US$140,000 before any added options, that US$75,000 price tag is rather reasonable. But, there is a catch. The reason why it is pretty inexpensive is because a kit version will be as stripped as a military version. That means buyers will not get the nice trimming or accessories a normal, civilian version would have. Buyers would likely get a cloth top, cloth doors, no interior trim, no sound deadening and no air-conditioning. But this would not matter much to the hardcore Humvee fans as these fans are pretty much more concerned about the Humvee