Tour "The Beast", An Overlander Built On A 1965 Mercedes Truck

If you’re making the active choice to live in a vehicle, you might as well go as hard as you possibly can with the vehicle choice.

This absolute beast of an overlanding vehicle is built on a 1965 Mercedes truck, once used as a part of the firefighting fleets in Germany. Its massive tires, according to the owner, cost an eye-popping $1,000 a piece.

“In this Episode we met Peter and he gave us a full tour of his Expedition truck, his Mercedes Benz 1113 4×4 off road expedition truck.”

Honestly I’d be afraid if I rolled into a ski-lot and saw this monster sitting there. Who needs this? Who can even handle this? That said, if there’s anything I’d want to be in at the start of a zombie apocalypse, it’s this, and with the cage over the front window and lights, it seems 100% prepared for anything.

The internals look pretty cozy too, and not in a bad way. Seems more spacious than lots of college (and ski employee) dorms I’ve seen, and the wood finish looks quite nice. Given the right conditions, I’d be willing to live longterm in something like this.

Also, just to be clear, overlanding is essentially hardcore car-camping. Overlanders use off-road vehicles to reach remote locations, often using those vehicles or tents as the primary form of lodging throughout the trip. It’s not just off-roading with camping, though, and usually continues for extended periods of time and includes a lot more proper adventure than a simple camping weekend. It’s true self-reliance. Maybe it’s closer to backpacking with a vehicle than hardcore car-camping?

I think “The Beast” is an apt nickname for this unit.