There's few things that could make one turn away from the blue light at the end of the tunnel and return to the land of the living, but a ride in a Porsche Cayenne ambulance just might do the trick. Apparently Bulgaria agrees, as the cash-strapped country's health ministry is using a loan from the World Bank to buy a fleet 32 Cayenne's destined for ambulance duty (a Russian Porsche Cayenne police vehicle is shown above).
Unlike normal ambulances, the Cayennes will be used to reach remote rural areas where normal emergency response vehicles wouldn't dare travel. Is the buy legit or is the health ministry full of car nuts that want to do some high-performance off-roading on the weekends? Bulgarian Health Minister Radoslav Gaydarski says that Porsche offered the lowest bid to win the contract with his country. The natives, however, are peeved, as Bulgaria's healthy industry is in debt and faces a constant shortage of supplies and services. Considering the retail price of a Cayenne could pay for a few triple-bypass surgeries, Porsche must have cut one killer deal for the Bulgarian government on its über-utes.
[Source: Ananova via Caradisiac]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
M. @ Mar 30th 2007 2:38PM
Why not? I know that here in Germany BMW is often winning contracts to the Revenue Service and other services to offer 3 series 318d "Touring" for less than Volkswagen Golfs.
Everyone does a different calculation...
thisislame @ Mar 30th 2007 2:42PM
Not sure how tariff impacts Bulgaria but I am sure there are alternatives to off-road solution that is much cheaper and possibly more reliable. Sounds like car nuts to me.
DPC car videos @ Mar 30th 2007 2:55PM
I am not sure if this Porsche SUV is big enough for supplies and if they have to have a stretcher in there. In any case I thing they have some extra cash in their hands.
http://www.dpccars.com
DPCcars
Eugene @ Mar 30th 2007 3:01PM
the car in the picture is actually a police vehicle
JM @ Mar 30th 2007 3:06PM
Why wouldn't they just save some money and get the Touareg instead? It's the same truck for a lot less money. I'm sure they could have gotten the V10 TDI for the same or less than the cost of these Cayennes.
Jason @ Mar 30th 2007 3:13PM
I'd love to see the full list of bids.
aman @ Mar 30th 2007 3:15PM
That is correct, #5, but the touraeg has less horsepower, and worse handling, and for an ambulance, good handling and high horsepower are a necessity when weaving through traffic with an almost-dead boby in the back(ironically, most ambulances have neither of these traits). Besides, wouldn't you rather say "my job requires a powerful Porsche" rather than "my job requires a powerful volkswagen" which is kind of an oxymoron.
fd @ Mar 30th 2007 3:35PM
I doubt this vehicle will be used as an ambulance in the strict sense ~ patient transportation.
Where this type vehicle comes in as the rapid response vehicle for emergency care medical doctors & nurses which are on call at hospitals and respond alongside regular ambulances to the scene of severe accidents and other life threatening emergencies.
When they roll out at the same time, they arrive often minutes ahead of the regular ambulance. When they're called on scene by an ambulance which has arrived, they've got a bit of catching up to do, hence they do like a vehicle with some extra horsepower. Then the MD & nurse will accompany the patient in the ambulance (or helicopter if they ordered one) ... or take charge of medical needs at the scene.
Commonly the rapid response vehicles have been a variety of stationwagons from Scandinavia, Germany or the rest of Europe. Depends on where you are too. In some countries they prefer their local brands.
K. Vpalto @ Mar 30th 2007 3:43PM
Eugene (#4) is right. Actually Moscow Police vehicle is pictured. I wonder why it have to be Porsche: no more expensive vehicles available?
66coronet @ Mar 30th 2007 3:44PM
$43,400 is not that outragous when compairing to Land rover range rover $76,000 and jeep commander hemi 4x4 $44,300. But I'm sure a Nissan Xterra $26,200 would have been more affordable.
Kin @ Mar 30th 2007 4:08PM
Well, at least they found a way to give people the ride of their lives right before they pass away!
Better idea than encouraging crime by having Cayenne or Gallardo police car, don't you think?
66coronet @ Mar 30th 2007 4:30PM
Jeep grand cherokee 3.0Lcrd 4x4 aprox limited $41,500 overland $45,000 is similar in price. So I do not think it's too bad of a deal they got. 4.7L $38,500 and 5.7L $40-43,000
Even the land rover LR3 V-6 is $42,000 & V-8 $48,000.
TheMac @ Mar 30th 2007 5:44PM
Yuk, I spent some time in Bulgaria last summer and I will never be going back.. (didn't know why we went in the first place). But seriously given the food and beverage in this country; they need fast ambulances. I can recall only one meal where someone in our group didn't get sick.
Don @ Mar 30th 2007 5:53PM
So, let's get this straight: they're cash-strapped, but buy Cayennes for ambulance duty?
Wait, they're probably cheaper than actual ambulances.
Max @ Mar 30th 2007 9:17PM
The photo is taken in Russia. According to the decal on the door it is a police car. Definitely it is not a regular patrol cruiser.
Peter @ Mar 31st 2007 2:23AM
We don't know the details, but you can be sure they didn't pay list price (and price of the base car is only a part of the overall costs anyway). This may very well have been a better deal than buying VWs / Nissans / whatever. #8 is right, I don't think any patient will see the inside of it. Over here, usually emergency doctors don't wait for the patients at the hospital but either ride along in the ambulances or are rushed to the scene in fastish cars. Mostly big station wagons in urban areas, or off road vehicles if they might need to go to harder to reach destinations. Where I live they drive Mercedes Gs, quite a sight when they storm through the streets...
jacob24 @ Mar 31st 2007 2:39AM
In Russia, once you get off the main highways into rural areas, the roads may indeed become very bad during the winters or when it rains. I really wonder though why Russian government didn't buy something more utilitarian for its bad roads, such as a Toyota Land Cruiser or a Land Rover.
Ford Mustang @ Mar 31st 2007 11:48AM
Might as well waste the taxpayer dollars somehow.
pablo @ Mar 31st 2007 11:53AM
y como corno van a meter una camilla dentro de una cayenne? Bulgaria sigue siendo una dictadura como en la época del comunismo?, porque de otra manera no se explica como los contribuyentes lo dejan pasar...
marin @ Mar 31st 2007 3:29PM
My first response is for "TheMac". You have no idea what you are talking about. Bulgarian food is way better than food you will get here in america. You are just used to junk food, and when you eat real food, you get an upset stomach. Bulgarian overall is the best place to go on vacation, but it is the worst to live in due to the economy.
Anyway, it is dumb what they did by buying these cars, but oh well.
Oh and by the way, the picture is from russia, and the car is a Russian Police Car.