The Base vehicle is such an important choice and one that we spent ages ( years ) researching and deliberating over.
Although we have only travelled for relatively short distances in a conventional Motorhome and on a Motorcycle, these experiences gave us a basic criteria to work with when making our choice.
We read others blogs experiences and soon came to the conclusion that the most important aspect to us was reliability followed closely by robustness.
We realised that being new did not necessarily go hand in hand with this criteria. In fact it soon became apparent that most of the breakdowns tended to be linked to modern technology / electronics that are present in newer vehicles.
In view of this we decided to to look for a vehicle that had very little or no electronics on board . This meant going back in time to the the 1970’s, 80 and early 90’s.
We also realised the when travelling around the world we would have to be able to buy spare parts so having an obscure vehicle such as a “Dennis” or Scania ( although excellent vehicles ) could present us with problems acquiring parts .
So the criteria ended up as:-
Reliable
Robust
A reasonable size, capable of carrying large volumes of fuel and Water
Simple to repair and
Parts are reasonably easy to source
Here are some of the vehicles we considered
Hanomag
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These vehicle fitted nearly all the criteria and there are plenty of people who have been travelling in these vehicles for many years without any problems. They are truly fantastic vehicles and we loved them However, their size is quite limiting and although we all think that we can travel with the bear minimum of comforts, the truth is we cant. We like to have some luxury and be able to carry lots of things. Sadly the Hanomag wasn't ably to do this for us, but still a great vehicle .
Magirus Deutz
There are plenty of vehicles available by Magirus Deutz, both commercial and ex military.
These vehicles were serious contenders . They are very robust have a big payload.
The most appealing aspect of this vehicle is that their engines are Air Cooled. You don,t get simpler than that. I looked long and hard at these vehicles and their relatively low prices was very appealing .
The only aspect that stopped me buying one was the lack of information available on acquiring parts around the world. I am still not sure that we shouldn't,t have chosen one of these vehicles .
Mitsubishi Fuso / Canter
My research led me to conclude that these vehicle are truly fantastic base vehicles for overland campers and at one point I was convinced that this would be the right choice. However, I spent about 6 months trawling the internet looking for a 4x4 version for sale in Europe. and didn't find one for sale. . It would appear that very few 4x4 versions ever came to Europe so faced with importing one fro Japan to the UK and all the grief that entails I struck it off the list . Shame really as they are pretty awesome trucks.
MAN
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MAN are another great example of German vehicles. Their quality is up their with Mercedes but again the availability of parts around the world concerned me .
I have however spoken to owners of of MAN trucks who tell me that parts are not an issue , so maybe the research I did misled me.
Mercedes Benz ( Daimler Benz )
Mercedes were the only make of vehicle that I came across that appeared to have a reasonably world wide dealership and parts distribution network. I think that a a relatively early stage we knew that this was probably the make we were going to have . The only problem was that there are far too many suitable models to choose from.
If we applied our criteria and looked within our budget there were a few models that stood out from the others
These were the 911, a classic old timer with great looks and character .
The 1113 which has all the same features as the 911 but has a bigger payload. Some great friends of ours Sandie and Karsten have one of these and it truly a fantastic looking vehicle that turns heads at all the rallies we go to. ( Probably the best looking vehicle out there, in our view )
Both of these were in the running especially as the access into the cab is relatively easy and Patricia has a bad knee.
Right from the outset we always were drawn to the MB1017A.
It is probably one of the most robust models that Mercedes ever made, and they made 100’s of thousand of them so availability of both vehicles and most parts is relatively easy.
This model was made primarily for the German Army and German Emergency Services, although you will see them in Holland, and Denmark and with the UN and NATO. Unfortunately they are rarely seen in the UK.
In the 1970’s Mercedes were obviously given the task of designing and building a vehicle that will do most jobs in most situations.
There is no doubt that if you want a vehicle that is fantastic off road then you would probably choose a Unimog, but for all round ability the 1017A takes some beating.
We were very luck to meet some seasoned travellers “Clive and Anne” who spent several days with us showing us their fantastic 1017A. This was an inspirational time and we were sold on this model from that moment.
We were also luck enough to meet another fantastic couple from Germany “Ellen and Perry” who also own a 1017A and have held our hands through the mine field of buying such a vehicle .
Its simpleness was the the selling point for me . Basically, anything that might let it down has omitted at the construction stages.
It has no electrics as such, no Glow Plugs for starting and doesn't even have things like “Valve Stem Oil Seals” so it can run on all types of diesel without fear of rubber seals going brittle.
The down side of the vehicle is that they made it with three different axle ratios . Ours had the medium speed which is still slow. (85 kmph )
