Our Land Rover Defender - our mobile home
It was clear to me that if I wanted a motorhome, it had to be a Land Rover. Even looking back today, I still think the Defender is the right fit for us. Our rational criteria have always been:
· A robust construction
· All-wheel drive
Compact dimensions
· Available worldwide
· Robust in fuel and
· As little complex electronics as possible
With these criteria, the Santana or the various Land Cruiser types are available as alternatives.
After analyzing the used car situation, it quickly became clear that it would be a new car. This proved to be a good decision in retrospect, as we now know the car from the beginning.
Our Land Rover is a 2005 special "Limited Edition" model, number 115 of 150. It's the last TD5 series with the flat hood, the gorgeous reddish-brown leather upholstery, and the polished aluminum parts. A beautiful home, which is always very important to us. And in the meantime, I've also managed to convince Bettina to buy this vehicle.
In the first few years, it was primarily our main vehicle and workhorse. Back then, we traveled a lot with the caravan. The high towing capacity made traveling very relaxing. For us, the caravan was always a vehicle, not a stationary piece of equipment.
In 2016 the final decision was made to convert the Land Rover into a motorhome.
From the beginning, it was clear that it would be our home on our travels in the future. Therefore, it had to be completely converted: from a 9-seater to a 2-seater with the option of reinstalling the rear bench seat, thus providing at least 4 seats.
The most important points for us are:
In bad weather we must have enough space in the vehicle
In extreme cases, we must be able to sleep in the car
· A toilet in the vehicle
· Make a coffee in the vehicle
· Sit upright in the vehicle
· As many storage compartments as possible for a very long journey
We thought long and hard about whether to get a rooftop tent or a pop-up roof. In the end, we opted for the rooftop tent. Overall, we have more space and a larger bed. The downside is the setup and takedown, especially in bad weather. We're currently dealing with the cold with excellent sleeping bags.
... if necessary, we can also sleep in the vehicle; the conversion is designed that way.
A word about the model. We have a 110 station wagon (110 inch wheelbase). There was also the 130 double cab with a flatbed. Back then, we lacked the courage to go with that design. We always envisioned converting a finished body. Today, with some distance, we would reconsider that idea. A camping setup on the flatbed does offer more freedom, but that's the future.
Back to our conversion: We didn't do everything at once, but rather completed the conversion in phases, and then we traveled again. This allowed us to check whether everything was working and fit, and what we still really needed.
In the following we describe the individual details of the conversion ->
