Not once but twice in 2009, while attending major off-road events, most of the rage we encountered centered on a wildly modified side-x-side vehicle.
At DuneFest, in Winchester Bay, Oregon, crazed “dunatics” were going nuts over a giant Polaris Ranger UTV, properly named “Brutus,” with thirty-five inch tires, custom seating for five people and a radical body cage outfitted with powerful H.I.D lighting.
At the annual Moab UTV Rally it was a Polaris RZR that stirred up a commotion. “The Animal” sported insane long travel suspension with seventeen and a half inches of travel, custom body work and fourteen inches of ground clearance; a rock crawler’s dream come true!
Both vehicles are custom creations from the mind of Chris Burke, the master of gas powered sculptures at Marshall MotoArt. Sure there are plenty of companies out there making custom UTVs, but we were shocked at the stir created by these two particular – over the top – side-x-side vehicles. These machines turn heads around every corner, and crowds would gather around them at each stop along the way.
Here’s just a general specification list for each machine, both of which can be duplicated for those that desire (and have a heavy wallet to pay for) an “Animal” or “Brutus” of their own.
THE ANIMAL
Suspension: Double A-Arm with 17.5 inches of travel
Shocks: FOX 2.0 air shocks
Wheels: 14X5 ITP
Tires: 28" Super Swamper TSL (or rock crawling alternative)
Drivetrain: Polaris RZR with all-wheel-drive
Chassis: (Polaris RZR Conversion)
Track Width- 63 in.
Wheel Base- 85 in.
Overall Height- 63 in.
Overall Length- 113 in.
Ground Clearance- 14 in.
Rocker Clearance- 19 in.
Seating Capacity- 2
Production Built Usage: All around extreme use - sand, dirt and rock racing.
BRUTUS
Original Machine: 2009 Polaris Ranger XP HD
Suspension: Double A-arm with 9 inches of travel
Shocks: Nivomat self-leveling
Wheels: 20” Ballistic Off-Road Jester
Tires: 35” Super Swamper IROCK
Track Width- 79 in.
Wheel base- 86 in.
Overall Height- 83 in.
Overall Length- 125 in.
Ground Clearance- 19 in.
Seating Capacity- 5.5
Built For: “People Moving”
We recently sat down with Chris to find out what makes his hand-crafted machines so unique, and what we can expect to see from Marshall MotoArt in the near future.
Trail Nation: What was the basic concept for the Animal? What purpose is it built for?
Chris Burke: I basically wanted a rough and tumble vehicle where everything is beefed up and stronger than a stock Polaris RZR. The RZR is an awesome platform to start with, but when you really get to abusing it in a way it shouldn’t be used and they way I want to use it, we needed stronger stuff. Everything is beefed up with longer suspension arms that provide seventeen and a half inches of wheel travel. It’s set up to work really well in the rocks, but it’s still a good all-around sand, mud and snow type vehicle.
TN: How about Brutus?
CB: I wanted Brutus to be a people mover for one. It started out where we built this five and a half seat setup where we removed the bed and installed seating for three more passengers in the back. There’s room for three people up front, two can sit comfortable on the outside edges of the back seat and the person in the middle has to fold their knees up. Now once we did that, we decided we wanted Brutus to be something that got peoples’ attention, so we threw a big lift kit at it with thirty-five inch tires mounted on twenty inch wheels, and just made it the ultimate, attention grabbing people mover.
TN: Now we know you build custom turnkey vehicles such as these two for your customers, but do you also offer up parts and kits for those that want to modify their own machines?
CB: We’ve got a parts line that we’re working on now, products like custom bumpers and skid plates. We have our own suspension kits and the 5.5 seating kit for the Polaris Ranger that gives you the back seat like the one in Brutus. In fact, we have things set up where we can throw the 5.5 seating kit on a pallet and ship it out to a customer so they can install it on their own.
TN: You use a mixture of old and new technology in a lot of your designs. Many of your parts are truly hand-crafted.
CB: We’ve got CNC benders and all that kind of stuff that do our bending, but a lot of my sheet metal stuff I English Wheel by hand you know, the old way to get the perfect panel. We do hand weld, TIG weld and MIG weld depending on what the project is. So yeah, we’ve got a little bit of old and new, whatever it takes to get things done the right way. That’s the way we go after it. There’s certainly cheaper ways of doing things, but we want to do it once and do it right.
TN: What would you say is the one thing that makes Marshall MotoArt unique to other custom UTV builders?
CB: I would say attention to detail. We’re also innovative. We don’t look to others to see what’s possible. If I can envision it then I will try it and make it happen. It may take one or two tries to perfect it, but I want to create something I’ve never seen before. I think that’s what separates me from most.
TN: What are some of the newest projects you are working on?
CB: Our biggest project right now is a vehicle for TLC for the reality show “Little People, Big World.” We’re building a vehicle for Matt Roloff (the father) which started out as a Polaris Ranger Crew, and then we’re adding on to it, kind of like Brutus, a back half cage. His is actually going to get an entire new cage, also like Brutus, but in the end it will be an eleven seater. Three people can sit across the front, three in the middle, and three in the back, and then there will be two kid-sized jump seats at the back of the vehicle. Matt is going to use it to give tours around his farm. It’s also going to have a big lift kit with thirty-five inch tires and a big stereo and intercom system so he can talk to his guests. So we’re excited about that. TLC is going to do some filming at the shop, and we’ll also be on hand for the delivery in Oregon. We went up there a couple of months ago and had an hour long appointment scheduled with Matt, and ended up spending two days on the farm with him. It was pretty cool.
TN: Anything else on the drawing board for production?
CB: The next vehicle we are working on right now is called “the Maniac.” It’s basically the same footprint with the same dimensions as the Animal, but it has a single seat. The theory there is that being centered in the vehicle provides equal left and right turning ability. You don’t have any bias, and the seat position is a lot less unnerving over off camber terrain. It’s funny that we have a lot of interest in the Maniac. These types of vehicles started off as single seaters way back, and then it was “oh, we can take somebody with us,” and now it’s back to “I just want to go by myself.” So things have kind of come full circle for us.
We’ll be looking forward to catching a test ride in the new “Maniac” for a future report here on Trail Nation.
For more information, as well as fantastic pictures of other creations by Chris Burke, check Marshall MotoArt out on the web at
www.marshallmotoart.com.