Short-track offroad racing has been popular in Europe for many years and while there all kinds of classes in the United Kingdom (like rallycross) and the United States (like off-road truck racing), we’ve never seen anything with vehicles quite like this Russian racing event. The video title says they’re basically buggies built from the ubiquitous 3-½ ton GAZ-53 truck that exists everywhere in Easturn Europe. Clearly, all that remains is the frame and maybe the drivetrain with a single, center-mounted cab making these awesome, low-budget Russian trophy trucks on ancient tires.

The racing looks to be similar to that of Finnish folkracing, which is more or less like a low-buck way to rallycrossing. The Finns (and Swedes, who also have folk races) tend to cost-cap their racing with claimer rules, but it’s pretty unclear what the rules are in this Russian rallycross-style event. Since this is Russia, the rules don’t really matter and we should be content with the existence of these chopped-up GAZ trucks knocking about head-to-head for our entertainment here on the internet. They don’t sound too bad, either.