What was I thinking?
So, what was I thinking when I decided to pick a 32 year old vehicle to be the platform for our overland journey. When I was in the initial planning stages of what vehicle to choose I had a few set criteria that needed consideration. Within budget, being off road capable, able to fit in a container, able to carry a payload, basic electronics and engine and being able to live inside of the habitat.
Some of the vehicles I considered in the quest was the Fuso Canter 4x4, Mercedes Sprinter 4x4, Hino 300 4x4, Isuzu NPS 300 4x4 and the Iveco Daily 4x4. I did like the Fuso Canter as I like the EarthCruiser platform but for budget all the vehicles were way above budget and trying to find a good second hand one that wasn’t beaten up from being in a mine fleet was hard. So this is what led me to the Landrover Perentie 6x6, more information of the Perentie 6x6 can be found on the FAQ page.
Due to the fact the Australian Army had changed there vehicles to the Mercedes G-wagon the Land Rover 4x4 and 6x6 variants started being auctioned off to the public by Australian Frontline Machinery from around the year 2012 and are still in the process of auctioning them off each month by Pickles Auctions. Each month I was looking and bidding on what was available, this in itself was a scary proposition as this was during Covid and there were border closures, quarantine restrictions and they were being auctioned off in Albury NSW some 900 kms away from were I lived in Adelaide SA and not being able discuss any thing regarding the vehicle was a concern. The prices they were fetching at the auctions were between $18 and $28k and about the same as what you could pick them up privately, so this led me to find one in Sydney NSW, now 1400 km away from were I live. However being able to speak with the current owner over the phone and do a video chat going over the car the deal was done and I was the proud owner of a Land Rover 6x6 General Maintenance Vehicle.
'“Lizzy” came with the log books that the Army used to document anything and everything that was done to the vehicle and all the army bases it was stationed, being part of the engineers division she became a training vehicle and had parts replaced constantly and received 3 engines during her time and that the latest was fitted in 2013 right before she went to the auctions in 2014 she had very low kilometres for now a 22 year old. Also the previous owner had done a lot of the upgrades I had planned to do.
Being the 6x6 variant they came with the Isuzu 4bd1 4 cylinder 3.9 litre turbo diesel engine.This engine has a reputation of bullet proof reliability and heaps of torque at a very low 1800 rpms with most of this available at idle. Also being a very basic engine enables myself to perform the routine services of changing oils and filters and with an easy 12 volt electrical system and no complicated computer electrical circuitry, if any thing goes wrong I am able to trouble shoot. Another bonus of being Ex military is the fact there are very detailed parts as well a service manuals which help if any thing needs to be rebuilt or replaced.
Lizzy having a GVM of 5600kg meant there was a lot of room for payload and with the general maintenance pod removed, she weighed 3000kg which gave a great payload of 2600kg to work with but I didn’t want to use this much and wanted to keep her weight as low as possible. With the overall length of the tray being 3m and the ability of having the bed above the cab gave a great platform to fit everything on the list, being enough storage, comfortable living area and as well as the option of a second sleeping area in times of foul weather or stealth camping.
So, with all the criteria met, this is why I went with choosing a 32 year old car as the base of an Overland Vehicle.
