World by Land

The Car

The ideal vehicle choice

For more than a year and half we´ve been planning our Around the World trip. In the first months, when the doubts were superior than the certainties, we´ve made contacts with some assemblers through e-mail to suggest the utilization of their cars in this expedition. We were expecting for a NO as a reply seeing that in that time we didn´t even have a prefect project. We couldn´t prove that that idea of the trip could be something real. Then, studying a little bit more about our need, we made a choice of purchasing a Land Rover Defender 130, considering these items:

• Number of passengers: 2 – Roy and Michelle;
• Intention to live inside the car, “building” then a Motorhome;
• Probability of driving on an unpaved road due to the Cultural Project Play Universe that we´ll be developing, which focus on the countryside of the visited countries;
• Need of low cost in the ship travels (Argentina – Australia; Australia – Singapore; Singapore – India; India – Kenya; United Kingdom – Canada). To decrease this cost, we had to build our car to fit in a 20 feet container;
• Maintenance facility: For this, we chose a worldwide car, which means, it´s the most sold one in the entire world;
• Land Rover passion, this defender is the fourth one Roy owns.

The car purchase

OK, car chosen! But where can I buy it? The Land Rover Defender 130 is very difficult to find in Brazil. Its production was always very limited because it´s an expensive and utilitarian use car. But luckily and with some friends´s help, we found this Land in great maintenance condition in São Paulo – with only 16.000 km. We named it : Road Wolf.

Motorhome construction

Without ever doing anything like this, we decided we would manage the Motorhome construction ourselves. Our friend Juliano Fröhner helped us with the outside project and one day, while talking in a pub, we convinced IKA, the tinsmith (Alquini Tinsmith shop) to build it. We say ‘convince’ because he´s never made a Motorhome.
Take a look at the concerns we´ve taken to build it:

• The car needs to be light and very resistant and between fiber or metallic plate, we opted by building a tubular structure (TUPER) and cover it with a 1mm thickness aluminium metallic plate. All this was covered with epoxi painting to provide durability to the equipment. Its empty weight is very interesting, about 500 kg, its capacity is 1300 kg;
• Imagine living in a space a little smaller than 4 square m (just the Motorhome, without the car cabin)! Ergonomy would be the key word to any decision in the project time. We created, then, a 2,70 m height motorhome, where we can stand up. However, 2,39 m is the 20 feet container´s height, without mentioning the 10 cm of the forepart that is like a doorpost. How would the car fit in the container? We developed, then, a hat, fixed just by two screws and two Scania hood hinges, which can be removed so that the car fits in the container. This hat became very useful because we can use it as a sunroof and it helps a lot in the ventilation;
• The Defender 130 original bodywork was 1,75 m long, and, because with this size it wasn´t possible to put a bed in it, we built a 2,10 m long motorhome, but everything in the Inmetro´s rule;
• A way between the cabin and the motorhome is also necessary, thinking of necessity and comfort. We cut, then, the cabin´s back and made a way with a strip composed of 3 canvas layers and a thermic isolating. This way needed to be flexible due to the car cabin being independent of the bodywork, working one related to the other;
• Lining/Acoustics and thermic isolation. For this purpose, which is one of the most important to be ‘well’ done, due to the different climates and temperatures we´ll pass by, Poliuretano plates of 2 and 3 cm were used and covered by leather;
• The inside part of the vehicle will be very simple, with a 1,20 width double bed, when it´s taken a part it turns into a work and meals conuter. We´ll have cupboards with sliding doors and with many shelves to the equipment organization, a Waeco refrigerator of 50 liters and the possibility of reaching 18 degrees (that we´ll buy only in Australia) and a gas stove generated from the gasoline;
• In the outside part of the car, an awning will be fixed, where we can stay and be protected by the sun and the rain;
• 1 salient fuel tank of a Ford Belina, with 65 L capacity. This tank will have no direct connection with the main tank or with a fuel pump. It´ll be used as a galloon, but with the advantage of being in a low part of the car, assisting this manner, the stability;
• Under the Defender´s back seat, which was taken out, a not drinking water tank was made, with capacity of 100 liters, using pipes and couplings of PVC of 150 mm. The water will be pumped by a small pump – capacity of 1,9 galloons/min. – to shower and sink. This shower is portable and fixed anywhere in the car through cupping glasses;
• Electric plant. A total of 7 fluorescent lights were installed, a navigation lamp, an electricity converter of 12 V to 110 V with 300 W capacity and a Mercedes truck´s universal key for safety, in case of robbery and fire. Due to the great number of equipments that´ll be used during the trip, it was necessary one more Deep Circle battery;
• The 5 windows were made of aluminium profiles – aiming practicity and lightness – and they´re opened by a dump truck system;
• As for the car tires, we´ll use the Scorpion ATR tire, Pirelli, most of the times, which are the best ones for paved roads and unpaved ones without difficulties. Two Scorpion Mud tires will be used as a steppe, for worse roads, with mud and difficulties;
• In case of tough roads, we´ll also have two Sand Tracks, which are very resistent steel planks to put below thw stuck tires. But if we want these planks to be used, we´ll have to have a High Lift Jack, which is a high elevation jack, that we´ll also buy in Australia;
• Our lifeguards on dufficult roads will be two tow trucks. A mechanic EK-35 of 12.000 pounds to the front part of the car, and a small and light electric tow truck E-5000 of 5000 pounds for a quick help on the back part of the car. All of them provided from EKRON from Curitiba.

Assembly of the car

Well, these are the most important details in the car´s preparing, which reached the amount of R$ 20.000. Reminding that several items were donated as sponsorship. With the car already equiped, the only necessary things are courage, adventure spirit, determination and going the distance.