No, you aren’t tripping – this really is footage of a stranded Russian driver utilizing camel power to free his Lada Niva from a tricky situation
The desert-dwelling camel wouldn’t be your first choice to call upon when marooned in the southern Volga region of Saratov, Russia. Yet, a video posted to social media proves that it should be.
Although there is no information on how the Lada 4x4 came to find itself stuck in such a snow drift, footage shows a two-humped camel pulling the white Lada Niva free from an area where other motorised vehicles would struggle to reach.
The camel’s wrangler can be heard calling out instructions as the cameraman expresses utmost surprise at the animal’s grunt. Reportedly filmed within the Kumysnaya Polyana nature park, the 20-second footage left us with a burning question. How powerful is a camel?
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"The Camel’s owner gives children rides near the circus," the video’s unnamed creator told the nversia.ru website on Thursday. Yet beneath that playful mantra, clearly lurks the strength of a low-range gearbox.
Estimated power is impossible to say, but judging by Nissan’s new format for demonstrating off-road prowess in the Arabian desert, we’d say a Camel is far stronger than your common horse. It clearly has low-down toque, too.
Nissan lists power output for its Middle-Eastern 4x4 range in ‘Camel Power’, rather than the traditional BHP reading as ‘Horse Power’ isn’t deemed good enough to showcase a vehicle’s abilities in the sand.
According to Lada’s official figures, the off-road Niva churns out 61bhp at 5000rpm, with torque peaking at 129 nm on the 4000rpm barrier. It also claims a top speed of 142km/h and zero to 100km/h sprint time of 17 seconds. Still, it’s no match clearly for a camel…
