Evolution Of The Troopy, Trip Preparation
OVERLAND VEHICLE DESIGN INSPIRATION
Oct
The challenge? To design + execute an awesome, liveable, mobile home from our 1989 Toyota Troop Carrier. We’ll be working with a 5m³ living quarters and we must design it to get us to where we need to be and to sustain us in remote areas.
In our home on wheels our aim is to have everything accessible, comfortable, clean and ordered. A place for everything and everything in it’s place.
Below is some visual inspiration to get the creative juices flowing. We hope that if you are planning a trip and building your interior that it floods you with ideas and ignites your desire.
Now, hop to it.
INTERIOR DESIGN
Loving… an internal lounge for when we need a little indoors from the outdoors, flush cupboards, tricky fold down tables (however probably not something we really want/need), seats and storage that is quickly grab-able from rear and re-surfaced flooring.
EXTERIOR SIDE SHELF
Loving… a side shelf that acts as a permanently axifed table. Perfect for avoiding putting your stuff on the ground and then eventually spreading grit throughout our ‘home’.
Really Loving…. mounting sand ladders over windows for security and then having them double up as an exterior shelf. Winner!
STORAGE FOR THE INEVITABLE BITS N’ BOBS
Loving… mini book shelves mounted to cargo barrier for tidy storage of maps and books, fabric pockets to keep things ordered, the additional storage unit over the back window (however extra weight on the back door hinge ain’t so good when being shaken to death on outback tracks).
SAFARI SUN ROOF
Loving… the absolute luxury of having a sun roof so we can pop ourselves out while on safari in Africa. It would also give us a bit more natural light for inside. Truth be told we are hunting for additional justification to get this… any ideas?
MAKING IT EVEN SCHMICKER
Loving… the emergency indoor bed created by the seat folding out into a bridge, a drawer sliding out from the seat (this will be our pantry), tricky backdoor tents, insulation over car windows for privacy/heat reflection, and the fly screen over the back door. That last one is an absolute essential – mozzies hunt Kirst.
So, what do you reckon?
Let us know in the comments below if you reckon.
Comment below if you have any ideas, thought, products, tricks you think we should know before embarking building our home…
Cheers
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*Image credits: Travel Maniacs + O and L Trip + Tin Can In Africa + Go Africa + Langebaan Sunset + In 8 Mud + O R B H + 4WD Action Forum + 2 Globe Trotters
*Please note: as we have been gathering these images over the past 12months we have incidentally not recorded the source for all. Our apologies. When originally saving the images we didn’t know we would be sharing them. That said, if you spot a photo here that is yours please let us know and we will immediately credit you with the photo and encourage our readers to visit your site.
Looking good… I like all the planning you are doing. How about a poll so that we get to vote for the various mods and prioritize them for you? 🙂
That way you will live in luxury without spending money of sunroofs that will bake you in the African heat 😉
Thanks Martin! A poll, hey? Interesting… we’ll mull it over
Point taken about the heat of the sun beating through the sun roof… there are so many things on the mind that, that, actually didn’t occur. #ohdear
whhhhhhadabout a metal sunroof. same material as the roof itself. that we can still pop out of to see lions but doesn’t let any heat/light through?
or perhaps a cheaper, more sensible option would be to just crawl out onto the roof!?
Hi Guys,
I didn’t see a mobile fridge anywhere in the spec, did you have one? I would be interested to read your opinions, as I am a refrigeration engineer, and would like to design a unit that has some grunt in high ambient conditions.
Hi Mike
Yep, there is a 57 litre fridge behind the passenger seat at the end of the drawer.
Is the fridge the Engel combi fridge/freezer, if how do you like it? Does it keep the frozen goods frozen in the freezer, without freezing the goods in the fridge?
Hey Bruce – Yes it is the Engel fridge/freezer. We used it on the road for 2+ years straight with a cover and it was excellent.
It’s still going strong. The only problem is the hinges have become weak and need a fix-up.
More pics inside our landcruiser overland design can be found here http://aussieoverlanders.com.au/expedition-vehicle/ and http://aussieoverlanders.com.au/converted-landcruiser-images/