When I decided to convert the Green Rover into a heavy duty long range expedition vehicle, I first had to decide what kind of a car I wanted. I feel that this is a very important step. If you don't know what you want the finished design to look like its too easy to add great modifications that work very well by themselves but don't work well with each other. Its also very easy to forget something important.

 

I decided that the car needed to:

• Be a self contained camper that would provide basic amenities for a month and longer in the field and carry enough supplies to be out a week without petrol, water or food stops.

  This meant large fuel and water capacities and a refrigerator instead of a ice chest. I felt a toilet and a hot water shower capacity was a must. I defined the camping tasks that the design needed to accommodate such as sleeping, meal preparation, after meal clean up, personal hygiene and storage for needed items.  The design needled to optimize for these tasks as much as possible within the given interior space.  This helped me define  what the end design needed to accommodate and where best to put it for best task workflow.  Anyone can put up with just about anything for a weekend, but the true test of a camper design is if the camper would like to go home and relax after a couple weeks out camping or prefer to stay out on the trip.

• Be a more capable off road Land Rover than she was when she came from the factory.

  This meant keeping the center of gravity as low as possible, minimizing exterior protrusions and that everything had to be rugged and well secured. The running gear, suspension and wheels had to be strengthened and improved upon where possible.

• Be set up for one or two person camping, and have space in the rear interior for a large dog when packed.

  This meant That the rear interior area had to be  as open and wide as possible. All cabinetry had to be along the side benches. Everything had to fit into cabinets so storage space had to be maximized and as much stuff as possible moved to unused space. The design needed to include two front seats, beds and chairs in back.

• Be safer than she was from the factory.

  This meant uprating the brake system, providing additional impact protection, designing a safer way to jack up the rear of a 109, adding a fire extinguisher, first aid kits and emergency lighting. I wanted to improve the barely adequate wiper system and speed up windscreen demisting. I also wanted to add head rests for whiplash protection.

• I wanted the car to remain Land Rover as much as possible.

  There are many variations of Land Rovers designed for many missions. This created a large pool of components that "look right" and will work well together. I wanted the look of a design that Rover might have created.

   

With these design specifications in mind, everything I looked at was examined for its suitability as part of an overall system   that focused upon task work flow and comfort.  I looked at as many expedition equipped and modified Land Rovers as I could find, as well as camper conversions and RVs.  I spent time laying under the Land Rover to look for unused space outside the normal interior space where things could be placed.  As the design progressed I used cardboard furniture mockups as needed in order to see what fit, and how things worked together to enhance inside living and camping task flow.

The modifications I made to meet the design criteria were based upon a combination of the best features I saw and my own ideas.

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