simonwh Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 I know what you mean. From my brief dealings with them so far it is certainly a case of 'Think of a number' which changes not by the day but by the minute. One company even wanted to charge me for a quote! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Yak Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 in about 2000 I saw a two landrover campers one a 4x4 the other 6x6.they looked like proper camper vans but had defender cabs but they had a extra 8-12" added to the middle of the bonnet and bulk head and grill (and had a third vent on the bulk head). also each/all of the Salsbury axles were extended putting the diff in the middle to widen the whole truck. this resulted in a fairly normal sized large camper A class with a very good towing ability. I saw them at the Off Road World championships at Trenthem Gardens and some other shows that year. Does anyone know who has them now or who built them. they were big trucks Hi Jules. The current owner is Gary who lives in the North East. I am sure he would love to talk with you about it. However, I will email him first to get his approval to pass on his contact details. Cheers, Bob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules Posted August 13, 2007 Author Share Posted August 13, 2007 Hi Jules.The current owner is Gary who lives in the North East. I am sure he would love to talk with you about it. However, I will email him first to get his approval to pass on his contact details. Cheers, Bob. I spoke to him about it years ago at a show up north about it and since then I have owned my own big camper and several caravans. if you do get hold of him I would like to chat about how he did build it and the body work. let me know and I will PM you my Email address Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
66gaza Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 I spoke to him about it years ago at a show up north about it and since then I have owned my own big camper and several caravans.if you do get hold of him I would like to chap about how he did build it and the body work. let me know and I will PM you my Email address Hi Jules, just received an email from Bob (the Yak) I think is his name here asking for permission to send you my email address. I said yes but decided to do a google and found this thread. Also looked around the site and it seems to be right up my street, so I joined. The 6x6 was built at Arrow services as it was then, the chassis side is now Designa. Not at Billing this year though so maybe business isn't so good. The 4X4 that you refer to (Trentham gardens 200?) is owned by someone called Lawrence from Birmingham the chassis and axles are normal Landrover the cab bodywork has been widened and wheels with a wide offset to fill the gap, his body is a pukka body made by one of the makers of military ambulances which one I can't remember but they are in Brum. Mine is a normal camper body just beefed up using thicker materials glueing & screwing and externally ply all exterior surfaces. It was built to be a camper first & formost with some offroad ability. If (when) I want to travel around the world I would put a roof tent on a 110. If I wanted to go round the world in a camper I would probably go for a Unimog. I have always been happy with my camper, I must be I've had it for 8 years. I wouldn't do it again or recommend doing it to anyone else, too much trouble time & expense. I havn't towed much with it just a rapier trailer probably not even a ton with what I had in it but didn't know it was there and towed a 90 out of a snow drift in Iceland. Talking about Iceland I hope the person who saw me on the docks enjoyed it as much as we did and to come over and have a chat if he sees us again. The Ibex camper is owned by a mate of mine who we went to Iceland with (I also have a SWB Ibex) Gaza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Baldwin Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 Talking about Iceland I hope the person who saw me on the docks enjoyed it as much as we did and to come over and have a chat if he sees us again. The Ibex camper is owned by a mate of mine who we went to Iceland with (I also have a SWB Ibex) Gaza That would be me! I was with one of the Jeeps that were sat on the dock alongside yourselves waiting to catch the same ferry home. We were there for a press trip. I'd help set the trip up and drove one of the cars out and back. Cool trip. Will drop by and say 'hi' if I see you again. Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules Posted August 14, 2007 Author Share Posted August 14, 2007 Hi Jules, just received an email from Bob (the Yak) I think is his name here asking for permission to send you my email address. I said yes but decided to do a google and found this thread. Also looked around the site and it seems to be right up my street, so I joined. The 6x6 was built at Arrow services as it was then, the chassis side is now Designa. Not at Billing this year though so maybe business isn't so good. The 4X4 that you refer to (Trentham gardens 200?) is owned by someone called Lawrence from Birmingham the chassis and axles are normal Landrover the cab bodywork has been widened and wheels with a wide offset to fill the gap, his body is a pukka body made by one of the makers of military ambulances which one I can't remember but they are in Brum. Mine is a normal camper body just beefed up using thicker materials glueing & screwing and externally ply all exterior surfaces. It was built to be a camper first & formost with some offroad ability. If (when) I want to travel around the world I would put a roof tent on a 110. If I wanted to go round the world in a camper I would probably go for a Unimog. I have always been happy with my camper, I must be I've had it for 8 years. I wouldn't do it again or recommend doing it to anyone else, too much trouble time & expense. I havn't towed much with it just a rapier trailer probably not even a ton with what I had in it but didn't know it was there and towed a 90 out of a snow drift in Iceland. Talking about Iceland I hope the person who saw me on the docks enjoyed it as much as we did and to come over and have a chat if he sees us again. The Ibex camper is owned by a mate of mine who we went to Iceland with (I also have a SWB Ibex) Gaza Thanks for the the reply and info I'm abit busy for few weeks can I discuss this in September when I have some more time on my hands. the cost would worriy me a bit building from scratch.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moggy1968 Posted February 17, 2008 Share Posted February 17, 2008 I saw a similar 130 with a demountable body at Lanmania in France earlier this year. There was a gap of two feet! between the cab and the camper body and the whole thing overhung the back of the pickup by nearly 4 feet. I'd hate to take it around a road island at any speed.Geting the kayak attached to the roof of mine is our next problem to solve. I don't want to fit anything too substantial to the roof that will prevent it getting into a container. At the moment I'm favouring cargo rails on the roof which will stick up no more than the solar panel but could be a logistics nightmare lifting it up there, I struggle to get it onto the roof of my Disco sometimes. Cheers Simon HI all from a newbie, appologies for sticking my oar in but neither the government or C&E make the rules. The rates are set by the countries you are travelling too, thats why there are variations. There are very extensive discussions about carnets on the horizonsunlimited forum. Originally for bikers it also caters for 4+ wheelers and is probably the most definitive place for info on foreign travel. I always refer to it when planning a trip. Andy TLC H60 (dare I say it here!) Mitsi L200 former 101 owner and aspiring 130 owner! www.captainmoggy.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moggy1968 Posted August 30, 2008 Share Posted August 30, 2008 well, I finally sold the Mitsubishi and bought a 130 from MRM Landrover. wouldn't buy another from them, but now we have agreed an out of court settlement I am a little happier! Simon, see the Azali feature earlier in this thread, was a great help and I contacted Azali. with regards to price the conversion is about 25000 euros, which was not bad a year or so ago but a bit pricey now!! all the same, it is comparable to a decent demountable, but see below. I also considered the foley 6x6 route but am coming round to the idea of the azali. I hope to visit the factory in the future to have a look round them. I seem to recolect reading about a big foley 6x6 which did a major trip which seemed to suffer a lot of prop shaft problems. In the interim, until funds permit, I got hold of a cheap demounanle on ebay to use as a trial. I liked the idea of an alaskan demountable so that I could still use the truck as a pick up. The one I currently have is an american one, so a fairly decent size. being built for US trucks though it wouldn't clear the cab of the 130 so I had to build a wood frame underneith to lift it about 4 inches. it looks very top heavy but the handling is suprisingly good, better than the wolf ambulances I have driven. It has been a useful exercise though as I have decided a demountable is not the route to go down. even with the weight of this unit (probably about a ton) the ride is very harsh and I just don't think a demountable would survive the vibration of African roads. The Azali on the other hand is purpose built for exactly that kind of environment. I would be intersted to know if, given the relative light weight of the Azali, Simon kept the original springs or went for standard 110 items. although this would soften the ride I think this is what they have done on the wolf ambies and the resulting body roll is hideous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92.9 Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I have just found this thread via Google whilst having a late night fantasy session about Land Rover campers. I love the look of the Azalai. Some great photographs on their website. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 the 6 wheeled Defender in December 08 LRE mag is up for sale, the advert is on page 174 under 'other land rovers' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselhead Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 in about 2000 I saw a two landrover campers one a 4x4 the other 6x6.they looked like proper camper vans but had defender cabs but they had a extra 8-12" added to the middle of the bonnet and bulk head and grill (and had a third vent on the bulk head). also each/all of the Salsbury axles were extended putting the diff in the middle to widen the whole truck. this resulted in a fairly normal sized large camper A class with a very good towing ability. I saw them at the Off Road World championships at Trenthem Gardens and some other shows that year. Does anyone know who has them now or who built them. they were big trucks I remember the ones you were talking about. The were a billing a couple of years but haven't see them there in a few years. As far as I remember the guys built them themselves but the chassis was produced by Design A Chassis. The second year I saw them at Billing the 6x6 was on Design A Chassis's stand there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
66gaza Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I remember the ones you were talking about. The were a billing a couple of years but haven't see them there in a few years. As far as I remember the guys built them themselves but the chassis was produced by Design A Chassis. The second year I saw them at Billing the 6x6 was on Design A Chassis's stand there. For the last 4 years or so the 6 wheel Defender has been in the overflow camp site next to the offroad course. much quieter and less theft/pikies. Gaza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Maybe one of the ex utility ones the 'defender centre' sell would be a good basis for one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92.9 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 It would be good if Azalai sold camper conversion kits so people could do their own conversion at home. That would save a lot of money for those capable of making a good job of it! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milemarker Type S Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Just for info the Azalai website is here and for more info give Anton at OEC a shout- he will be more than happy to tell you all about them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyfarmerboy Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 lots of people convert old series ambulances into campers. Not a bad idea if you have lots of time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Defender 130 ambulances also make a good basis for a conversion too. I sold mine a couple of years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92.9 Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Now, this would be a nice one to own. I'm not sure how good it would be off-road, but it would surely be better than a non-Land Rover camper! http://www.landroverclub.net/Club/HTML/Vario_Mobil.htm Are there any more photos of this vehicle anywhere? I have exhausted Google and couldn't find any others, apart from in that article. It would be nice to see some different views of the camper. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sparkes Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I'm just passing through, so to speak. The rear overhang on that looks enormous; you could catch it going into a lot of normal camp sites, never mind a more informal 'off-road' site car park. Don't forget that any weight behind the rear axle is trying to lift the front wheels off the ground. Even on normal tarmac roads and in a standard panel van (SWB Fiat Ducato style, internally fitted out as a camper van), I could tell the difference between a full and empty water tank, as it was under the rear doors. These vans have much less overhang. The steering went light any time the rear went down a bump. Especially noticeable during cornering. In short, consider dynamic weight transfer. I'd suggest that LWB wins out over a long overhang, despite the negative influence of LWB on the turning circle. Thus standard length 130" is better than 109 / 110 with long overhang , even if the overall length is the same. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bush65 Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Here is a thread about a camper add-on for a 130 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landrover598 Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 OT, do you have a location / grid ref for that plane ? as i'd like to see that next time i go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angusb Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I found this when researching the overland camper thing a while ago. An interesting conversion based on a Unimog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92.9 Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I found that one during an overland camper search as well! I like the layout inside. Looks like a nice job he has made of that. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacks906 Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 depends on your base vehical but you could always get the cosy option also an ambulance on ebay at the moment dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92.9 Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Hmmm, I'm not sure I like the proportions of that 90! The Vario-Mobil conversion is my favourite so far, despite the large overhang, as David pointed out! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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