Riding Roughshod

Tanks for Everything in Christchurch is offering frustrated drivers the chance to crush a car with a tank, armoured personnel carrier or Jeep, the largest of which can easily flatten a family sedan. Tanks for Everything has a fleet of eight disarmed tanks. The pride of the operation is Maximus, a British-made battle tank, weighing 52 tonnes and powered by a V-12 Rolls Royce engine, which saw service with Australian forces in Vietnam in the early 1970s. “I think it releases repressed frustration, to go and crush something with a tank,” owner Jonathan Lahy-Neary said. Rugby All Blacks Piri Weepu and Conrad Smith, as well as visiting members of US band Smashing Pumpkins have all had a drive. Tank-driving prices start from $450.