The compact body tucked between ginormous off-road tires just looked too odd to be real. But the Russian vehicle is indeed real and it's one hell of a way to drive over anything short of a sheer cliff face.

Led by technologist Aleksei Garagashian, the minds behind the Sherp ATV – minds that are almost certainly a little twisted – got together in 2012 to develop a vehicle with supreme terrain navigation capabilities. They finished up the design last year and are now showing the vehicle at expos like the upcoming Hunting and Fishing in Russia show.

The Sherp ATV isn't just an off-roader; it's an off-track vehicle designed to navigate over terrain that hasn't benefited from even the most basic human clearing – through the heart of brush fields, into swamps, over deadfall-strewn forest floors, and up and over talus fields. Its positively massive tires stand 63 in (160 cm) tall and provide the size and traction needed to roll over and through virtually anything in the way.