MyE28.com

I'm on vacation on in Bryce Canyon National Park, an incredible place I've been to several times now. There are often lots of foreigners, mostly europeans here, which is fine. But today I spotted this beast. Actually I think I saw it briefly a few days ago in Moab, Utah, but only fleetingly. It's some sort of cabover Land Rover, a real one before all of these plush fragile toys Ford is selling and calling Land Rovers. It's got 20" wheels, with 9.00 X 20 tires. And two spares. An air intake snorkle that must be 8' off the ground. And an awfully short wheelbase. This thing looks like it will go anywhere, though not quickly or comfortably. A map on the side suggests it's been on 6 continents now, currently working their way thru North America. A bit topheavy and I bet it's a penalty box at any speed, and top cruising is probably 50 MPH, but anywhere!

Looks cool. Are you sure it's a Land Rover, it looks a bit like a Unimong.

Looks cool. Are you sure it's a Land Rover, it looks a bit like a Unimong.

Well, it did look vaguely like a Land Rover, but more convincing is the grill badge and the angled line between the two words which is the same on Land Rover and Over Lander. It was definitely a head turner for me at least.

Awww Mike, that thing is made for deepest, darkest Africa! Kinda cool but let's hope you'll never need it here in the USA. I was about to suggest perhaps a Hummer H1...then recalled the one we saw (totally loaded, probably less than a year old) on I-8 two weeks ago during our road trip back to SD. Broken down, being pulled up onto a huge flatbed tow truck. Guess it could have been worse for the guy, he could have been someplace else more remote...and it was only 112 degrees outside in the AZ desert.

Definitely not a unimog. Unimogs are not usually that big. They're also usually in a pickup configuration and they have a big Mercedes symbol on the front of them. That thing will go quicker than you'd think. Its not that top heavy either. all the weight is in the drive line, which is fairly low. Its not very smart to have an off road vehicle with a high COG. I've been designing the one I'm going to build for a few years now. Most of those trucks start out as military radio trucks or troop carriers. They're pretty bad ass.

That thing is sweet. Saw something similar on ebay a few years ago. I believe it was a unimong.

It's a Land Rover Forward Control Series 2B. That thing sure gets around...it's been to 6 continents and more than 80 countries in just 4 years!

http://www.landyonline.co.za/off_road/d ... ravels.htm

grahamular wrote:It's a Land Rover Forward Control Series 2B. That thing sure gets around...it's been to 6 continents and more than 80 countries in just 4 years!

http://www.landyonline.co.za/off_road/d ... ravels.htm

Great find! I only hope that when we all reach retiring age, we can all afford to do something like that, if fuel as we know it is still available!

Awww Mike, that thing is made for deepest, darkest Africa! Kinda cool but let's hope you'll never need it here in the USA.

Who said anything about needing it, I just want one! Good for showing the poseurs with jacked up pickups what a real 4WD is all about and getting to places I'd like to but can't.

And I had no idea it had that kind of a history and writeup, that thing's been thru the mill.

Didn't Homer Simpson design that in an episode that featured Danny Divito as his wealthy, long lost brother?

No, he designed a much uglier car - the Z4 (but it was called the Homer).

If you want to build one of these, a pinzgauer or a unimog would be the way to go. Unimogs run on portal axles. I'm not sure about pinzgauers though. A site with some good info.

http://www.rockymountainmoggers.com/

Having been a Land Rover nut before, I can confirm that is a Land Rover 101 Forward Control. Basically, a 101" wheelbase Land Rover with standard Land Rover drivetrain, meaning a 2.25 liter 4 cylinder engine that weighs more than any engine should be allowed to, and puts out a whopping 55-65 horsepower and about 100 lb/ft of torque. The suspension is taller and the driving position is moved over the engine bay, giving it it's name.

Top speed is about 50mph unless dropped off a cliff and it takes a few minutes to get there. However, the gear reduction in low gear is super low, so it can get over most obstacles. The Series 2 Land Rovers were built from 1962 to 1968, Series 2A 1969 to 1971 and Series 3 from 1972 on. The standard 88" Rovers were imported until 1973, but the Forward Controls were not imported and were designed for military use.

All of the old Rovers are named for their wheelbase, 80, 88, 101 and 109. The later 90 is on a 94" wheelbase, but the 110, of which only 500 were imported in 1994, actually had a 110" wheelbase.

I owned and restored a 1971 Series 2A 88. They are great cars for learning the restoration process because everything unbolts. They are like a big model car.

That's a poor man's OKA.

Unimog has portal axles. Much better than any OKA. 8)

If I had even the vaguest idea of what the hell a "portal axle" was, I would argue that point with you to the end of the earth. But since I don't, I'll just say... okay.

A portal axle refers to one where the driveshaft and differential is not at the same level as the wheel hub - they're up higher, allowing for not only greater ground clearance but the size of components such as the differential can be decreased due to the gear reduction at the rear wheels. Both the Unimog and Pinzgauer use this technology.

Is this achieved by an additional helical gear set at each drive hub or by hypoid gear drive out of the spider gears from each side of the diff?

In the wheel hub assembly, there is a gear which connects both the end of the axle to the wheel hub center, which is what also accounts for the gear reduction. There are several companies that make aftermarket portal axles. Among the most popular is Portal-Tek (www.portal-tek.com).

Yes, old thread. Member "bimmur" recently moved to Flagstaff and happened to see this at the Wal-Mart there. He shared the photos on Facebook. Judging by the first photo, he wasn't the only one that found it interesting, either.





He also photographed this map on the side:

Wow! Still going.. awesome!

Oh man, to have a Forward Control.....

I dig them......much cooler than a Unimog. Everyone has a Unimog.

You have an impressive memory.

The map is too cool. What a great way to go through life.

Cool thread, and cooler that the vehicle and the family are still out on their walkabout adventure. I looked at some of their photos and that thing has been to some very impressive places!

And just think, now they can post a picture of the greatest frontier, the Walmart parking lot!

I've notified immigration. They've obviously overstayed their visa.

Adam W in MN wrote:And just think, now they can post a picture of the greatest frontier, the Walmart parking lot!

I'm sure someone (could have been me) told them, "You know, if you want to see the real America, I can take you to a place."