Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

indoor bog

Doesn't have to be a stinky chemical toilet or a complex plumbed in flushing monster with a black water tank. There are small composting lavs. No plumbing. The smell goes out of a little vent to the outside. A low voltage always-on fan sucks the fumes away. Excretions go into something sawdusty. When composted you bury the matter in a wood or somewhere. The composting reaction requires you not to mix piss and shit. So the bowl of the appliance has a divider. You have to aim.

You forgot the Sainsbury's delivery van🙂

Oops, I thought the Sainsbury wagon was a transit...I was dazzled by the fire engine..

Hence why many tow a car.

Also you may need a hgv license.

VW Beach

Beach money is adjacent to electric Transit money. And the gumment might punish diesel van owners after the numbers announced last week https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/22/carbon-emissions-vans-rising-uk-drivers-diesel

I have the pleasure of driving through sandy lane a lot. Nice thatched cottages but the roads very busy.

This thread has gone shit again

I think I've posted this before tbh.

https://expeditionportal.com/video-of-the-week-matthew-paynes-daf-t244-matilda/

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Lardy, broken, 4WD, Italian Estate.

Very tempted.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364960867459

I see similar rigs parked up at the waterfront where I walk the dog, they must cost a fucking fortune. Totally Alpha camping setups. Ridic.

We saw so many of them when we were touring - always driving on highways and staying in campsites…

They are so obnoxious as objects, totally fucking stupid. If you want to travel in a way that separates and alienates you from your surroundings and the people there - get one of these trucks.

Absolutely. Tho' I did see one where the inhabitants were a young family and TBPH they looked like they were homeless (but living in a very expensive military 4x4). Or maybe they were just Mad Max style hippies.

There were a couple of exceptions with families living the good life in slightly more toned down ‘rigs’.

If there’s a correlation between those with the most sharing the least then almost all overlanders we saw/met were bang on trend.

Ultimate cuntmobiles.

That red one with the self-proclaimed “Me: aDvEnTuReR” vinyl next to the driver is particularly egregious. So you’ve driven through some dirt tracks in your 5.9-litre diesel monstrosity… what do you want now, a blue peter badge? You tone-deaf self-aggrandising cretin.

Bit of a niche compliment, but has to be one of the best looking steering wheels.

One of my friends back in my mid-20’s bought a massive fuck-off Mercedes ex-Brinks armoured gold bullion transporter truck at auction. The thing weighs the best part of 20 tons. He spent £50K converting it into a camper… sorry, ‘overlander’, keeping all the bullet-proof glass, armoured shell panels etc, then spent a year driving it to Mexico and back with his partner.

How do you justify doing this? The fucking thing can’t get above 50mph or 10mpg, and isn’t even 4x4. He even paid a pro photographer take loads of moody pics of him standing on the roof of it.

It’s still parked in his back garden, ULEZ-exempt as he had it spuriously registered as a ‘showman’s vehicle’ ffs.

Being able to say “and this is my showman’s vehicle” has a certain appeal though.

If you’re a cunt.

Edit: not a personal dig, I just think the entire ‘overlander’ scene is an insipid stain.

is this the one that lives just by Leyton Orient Stadium?

No, this one’s in Tottenham.

Ah - I saw some guy reversing a unimog type thing into a back garden around Brisbane Rd a few months ago - thought that might have been it.

That will need the rear subframe, which is hard to source a decent one being a rare car.
Harder to source than masserati bi turbo rear suspension!

What do you think of this?

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Does that mean he got a showman's licence?

Wonder where in Tottenham.

Am not sure I agree with you.

Do you feel the same about boat owners?

Have fancied the outdoor life, the idea being able to work anywhere and travel to where I want.
Also those things can't really off road, not without your camping stuff being broken while driving. Or having to tidy up.

Hence with the idea of converting military vehicles. The idea of diff locks and central inflation and deflation. So you can go anywhere and then get level to sleep. Sleeping at odd angles is disconcerting.

Then the bigger problem is that in many places, you can't just stop and camp. You have to go to designated camping areas and they are few and far between.

Tho feel that the idea of having the money to buy something like that I would be so out of touch ;)

Have converted buses to live in and wanted to buy hgv trailers with hydraulic sides so can have a living area as large as a central London pied a terre and separate trailers as a garage vehicle store and workshop.