"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo)
04/07/2014 at 09:59 • Filed to: Tips
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"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo)
04/07/2014 at 09:59 • Filed to: Tips | 2
| 2 |
http://www.wired.com/2014/04/worlds…
In the '80s and '90s, Ferren scouted locations for Hollywood features and documentaries in places like Death Valley and Alaska. Around the same time, he was also helping ABC develop some of its location trucks. As a result, he became enamored with off-road expedition vehicles. They were well suited for his many hobbies, including archaeology, mapping, and fine-art nature photography. He built one himself, which he called the MaxiMog, completing it in 2001. Adapted from a Mercedes-Benz all-terrain truck called the Unimog, the vehicle was equipped with videoconferencing equipment and a 40-foot mast with a camera that allowed passengers to see the terrain ahead. (An attachable trailer, meanwhile, featured a collapsible sleeping loft and an espresso machine.) A combination of rugged pragmatism and sleek design, the MaxiMog was eventually displayed at the New York Museum of Modern Art.
Around the time Kira was born, Ferren had an idea. What if he built an all-new, bigger and better expedition vehicle? No, more than that, what if he made the ultimate adventure truck, the very platonic ideal of such a thing—which he could outfit for a family of three? He started to envision a vehicle that could take Kira nearly anywhere on earth without limitation—a mix of high-powered machinery, bomb-shelter self-sufficiency, and luxe-life accoutrements. It would be a mobile, malleable five-star fortress. It could form the centerpiece of his and Kira's exploration of the world and be her ride into the future. Before he drew up the first blueprints, he'd given it a name: the KiraVan.
Now, nearly four years later, it is almost, sorta, kinda finished, and while Ferren won't divulge the exact budget of the truck, he grants that its total cost is in the millions. If Ferren's claims are to be believed, when it finally hits the road sometime this year it will be the most elaborate all-terrain vehicle ever built—a six-wheeled terrestrial spaceship capable of traversing nearly any terrain, from mud-swamped roads to rock-covered pathways to small bodies of water. It will be able to travel up to 2,000 miles without resupply and navigate slopes as steep as 45 degrees—an incline that is difficult to walk up.
Then there are the extras, which include Kevlar-reinforced tires, more than a dozen interlocking communication systems, and a diesel-powered motorcycle "dinghy." Add to that the KiraVan's massive trailer, which is 31 feet long and more than 10 feet high and houses an ecofriendly bathroom, a custom-designed upscale kitchen, and Kira's own "penthouse" loft (which she herself helped design). The only thing missing is a built-in espresso machine. A countertop one will have to do.
RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
04/07/2014 at 10:05 |
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There is no way this thing weighs little enough to get some of the places I'm sure it thinks it can.
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ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
04/07/2014 at 10:33 |
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51,700 pounds.
So, yeah, it's freaking heavy.