Willi unterwegs (“Willi on the road”)
Uwe and Renate Knoblauch built their "Willi" with us. Willi was the first Mercedes, a MB 1017 AF, whose frame we shortened. Willi’s proud age of over 40 shows how well fire departments normally take care of their vehicles. With a cabin matching the driver’s cab perfectly, both painted in the colour “RAL 1017,” Willi embarked on his world tour May 2021. Inspired by Uli Dolde’s book Motorhome: Self-build and Optimisation, Uwe and Renate finished out their cabin all on their own. We are thrilled at how beautiful the interior turned out. Willi was able to prove his off-road capability on his trip to the Sahara with a group of our customers.
Auszeit-reise (“Gap year trip”)
Inspired by their gap year trip with a Land Rover Defender, Karin and Klaus didn't want to leave behind their itinerant lifestyle. However, the Defender was not spacious enough as a permanent home. After some research, they decided on a four-wheel expedition truck weighing under 7.5 tons. When Karin and Klaus came to us and shared their ideas, everybody quickly agreed: with an aluminum cabin mounted on an Iveco 90-16, their needs would be perfectly met. After they completed the cabin very successfully on their own, Karin and Klaus live, work and travel together in their “IVO.” Their destinations? The world! They now have the right platform for their endeavors…
Tobias Teichmann was one of my early CD-ROM customers in 2011, and over the years not only has a collaboration emerged, but also a real friendship. We both have a passion for traveling to remote regions with an off-road truck. And we both see it as our mission to help other people who have similar dreams realize theirs.
I with “software" in the form of information, inspiration and motivation, Tobias and his team with "heavy metal hardware" and implementation expertise. So our "Sternchen" (Starlet) is born in the 4wheel24 stable, where I built the truck painstakingly, with 4wheel24’s support, over seven months.
A big thank you to Tobias and his team. And if push comes to shove, we pull each other out of any mess.
>> Ulrich Dolde <<
selfbuildmotorhome.com
Allzeit-bereift (“Always equipped with tires”)
In the fall of 2019, Lyggie and Meli from the team allzeit-bereift.de set out to find a suitable successor for their old overland motorhome, the “Fienchen.” After some trials and tribulations, they finally came to us and spontaneously decided to buy a Mercedes-Benz 1222AF with a short cab, which until then had been used by the volunteer fire department of the small city of Hammelburg. A great deal of work had to be done; we were able to fulfill many special requests. Just in time for Valentine's Day 2020, the base vehicle was “married” to the almost finished cabin. A very special day indeed, on which the expedition truck “Black Pearl” was born. As icing on the cake, the vehicle was outfitted with customized decals by the company Folienvision. Black Pearl could then set sail on its maiden voyage with its happy new owners.
Lulatsch Reisen (“Lulatsch Travels”)
January 2017, it is cold in Hasloch, and the weather outlook does not look promising. While snow plows clear the roads, Jutta and Gunther come “snowing in”... Long and intensive conversations follow... imagination and wishes turn into a realistic plan. It was to be a 90-16, not too many extras, and a nice GRP (glass fiber reinforced plastic) cabin with 2.05 m interior height and a great deal of window area. Jutta and Gunther being “Nordic travelers,” emphasis was placed on good insulation and cold-weather resistant equipment. The two wanted to shoulder the interior work themselves. Since then, Jutta and Gunther have made several trips with their “Lulatsch” and are now planning larger tours during their well-deserved retirement.
Dream Life Family
Heike and Stefan have just settled back in after an 18-month trip with their two children and dog Emma, when we meet at the 2017 Abenteuer Allrad trade fair. The motorhome is sold, and plans for the next campervan have already been drawn up on the computer. The order of an IVECO 90-16 is quickly placed, and while Heike pores over the accessories, Stefan updates his 3D model and meticulously kept weight tables. Thus the two turn their “Viver” into a self-sufficient family motorhome in a record-breaking 16 weekends. Viver survives the first test drives to the Baltic States and the skiing vacations in the Swiss mountains at minus 29 degrees without damage. Finally, in 2019, they venture with us on an unforgettable off-road tour through the African desert.
Ulrich Dolde
With his book Motorhome: Self-build and Optimisation, hobby mechanic and writer Ulrich Dolde helps all off-road fanatics realize their dream of owning their own off-road motorhome. His over 600-page tome leaves hardly any question unanswered and instills you with the desire and courage to tackle a self-remodeling project. With his “Sternchen” (starlet), Dolde is often off-road himself.
The Sunnyside
Here are Phil and Karo with their dog Maya from the YouTube channel “The Sunnyside.” From 2017 to 2020, the three have zigzagged over 100,000 km across the Americas in their homemade Defender “Willi.” Right now, they are taking a break from traveling to pursue their other passion, camper conversions. For this purpose, they have purchased an old MAN truck, which they, together with 4wheel24, are converting and upgrading little by little into a tiny mobile home. Videos are regularly published on their YouTube channel.
Marieluu on Tour
Marie and Rico from the channel @marietrappen practically ran into us at the Abenteuer und Allrad 2019. There Marie was allowed to drive off-road for the first time with a fire truck, through the course. The two are real firefighters and are working on their own world tour, on which they visit fire departments around the world together and report on it. Rico sells, among other things, the still intact parts of fire engines that come to our yard. We supported them with our know-how during their first "small Europe project," a Nissan Patrol. In the fall/winter of 2021, the acquisition of a first fire truck is on the agenda, which will be converted into an expedition vehicle in close cooperation with us.
marieluu.de | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram
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