So there I was, parked up at Dover, awaiting my early morning ferry to go catch a couple of stages of the Tour de France a couple of weeks ago - when I noticed, a few rows across, something truly awesome...



Needless to say I went to have a little look and was pleased to find a convenient map to save the driver the need for those "so where have you been in it?" conversations:



(Yes - the black thread is the route!)






Of course, I went and got chatting anyway. Turned out that map related to their trips in just that vehicle, not any of the various ones they'd owned before... They have spent the last 6+ years on that journey, every so often they'll park up, lock up and fly home to South Africa for a while, then fly back out and carry on the adventure!



The camper started life (a while ago) as a Forward Control land rover, with a bespoke camper body and a 2 ish litre petrol engine. Since then the engine has come out to fit a 6ish litre Diesel V8, land cruiser gearbox and axles from an East German 4 ton truck. As he puts it "The only things left that are land rover are the badge and the windscreen"


Looking round I was quite amazed by just how much he'd fitted into such a compact unit (it was barely longer than my Vectra Estate) and just how clever everything was. The sand ladders are useful when off road, but the rest of the time they are just extra weight - so they double up as window grilles, meaning you can't break in easily There were endless neat tricks like this - all clearly the result of someone who's been travelling a long time and has spent their time refining it.


Obviously I was in love, and had to stop myself making an embarrassing "Blank Cheque" off to him!


Just thought I'd share it with you all and see if anyone else thinks it's something a bit awesome.




(PS - if you see it around then go and say hi, the couple who own it are very friendly and it certainly passed the time waiting to get on a ferry)

Very cool. No doubt that thing would be unstoppable in the rough stuff!

Especially gnarly with the V8! Wow. Maybe the Chev V8 from the US HMMWV?

Nasty on the fuel though I guess...

The've been many places hopefully Clarissa and I will be over the next couple of years on our BM's.

Yeh I shudder to think how much the distances marked on the map cost in fuel. What would that thing do 10mpg? 15?

Must admit that would have been the first question I asked which, I guess, is a sad indictment of our times

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That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing...

Bet it's a bugger to pick up if you drop it. ride safe.

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Mike
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Mike is riding the twisty road in the sky

Another amazing journey here BBC News - Gunther Holtorf's 23-year road trip

Hmmm. Simon and Lisa Thomas also set off thinking they'd be away for 18 months and have been going 9 years or whatever now.

The moral of the story is: don't go off on an 18 month road trip, unless you want to be doing it all your life

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That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing...

Here is the granddaddy of them all, on the road for 28 years if my maths is correct, I met Emile and Lillian in Pakistan in 1994 and am amazed to find that they are still on the move.

Worldrecordtour, Index, Start, Begin, Overview, Guinness Book of World Records, Toyota, LandCruiser, Emil Schmid, Liliana Schmid

That's a Land Rover Series 2b, as supplied to the military from 1966 onwards. 2.6 petrol engine was standard.

I used to hang round with a group who had expedition-prepared 101s (the later version of the 2b and also forward control). David French had a 101FC converted to six-wheel drive and went round Africa in it. I've been inside it - very cosy. Here it is making a few attempts to crest a dune in the W Sahara. The Playschool colour scheme is deliberate - in its original khaki, it would have looked dangerously military.

6x6 Land Rover 101 cresting a dune - YouTube

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2006 XT660R daily ride, 1994 XT600E about to be reborn, Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/