robadr posted some pictures shot at the beach in Zipolite, Mexico. This is quite the three-some, here, although VW “vochos” are hardly unusual. Not surprisingly, that truck with living quarters in back is what caught my eye. Let’s take a closer look.
It’s a Mitsubishi of some sort. And it has a double cab. But just exactly what the rear part was before being converted is not perfectly obvious. Maybe some sort of utility van or such. And the two big “visors” are unusual. They appear to be rigidly mounted, and if I had to guess, the lower one is a stone shield to protect the big windshield, given that this rig undoubtedly sees a lot of unpaved roads. It’s got plates from both Belize and British Columbia. A serious snowbird; or rainbird, in the case of BC.
And here he is; looks like he’s gluing something. Yes, this is a rolling man cave, not some dainty little camper for a two-some.
That’s a cool rig! Looks to be heavy with man stuff. I notice that the spare tire doesn’t appear to be mounted on a rim. Makes for a lot of side-of-the-road use of levers and bars and such.
Based on what I saw on my one trip to Baja a few years ago, there’s always a llanteria (tire repair shop) within a few kilometers. I think it’s easier to find tire repair (and they seem to use levers, no machines) than food or water.
Wondering if he takes on “handyman” type jobs for a little extra spending money, carrying all that around.
Hmmm Don’t believe that it’s possible to drive from BC to Belize even today.
The Darien Gap is still a thing.
https://www.aswesawit.com/cross-the-darien-gap/
Umm; do you know where Belize is on the map?
Uhm, no…no I didn’t. I was thinking of British Guiana….
Some friends of mine drove from Maine to Belize in a beat-to-death Maxivan some years ago for a canoe trip.
The cab has a custom bodied look about it fire truck maybe in a previous life Quite a good rig I like it, I keep seeing custom made house trucks here some are very well done and on very old trucks obviously repowered and with updated running gear or perhaps an early cab on a later chassis.
Wow, what a unique ride! I’d bet it started life as a trade vehicle of some sort, but that pop top is strange. It doesn’t say emergency vehicle to me, and I’ve got a pretty good radar for that, but who knows. I haven’t spent much time in Mexico. One thing it definitely says: bachelor.
The plate on the back end appears to be from still another jurisdiction, though I can’t quite make out where.
CharlieD612 that is a modern British Columbia vanity plate.
http://15q.net/bc.html
That looks like a personalised Michigan “Spectacular Peninsulas” plate as seen here. The legend on the one on this vehicle reads “VULCAN”.
As to the BC plate up front, “MX-0666” might have been picked and applied because MX for Mexico and 666 for, y’know, black arts and the devil and that lot. BC’s recently previous plate configurations of 123-ABC and ABC-123 did not omit 666, and every so often one would be able to point out the Mercedes-Benz E-Class of the beast, the Chevrolet Cobalt of the beast, etc.
I should have found out more about this fellow and his unique vehicle. We were looking for a place for supper though, and I needed to catch up with friends who were wandering on ahead. Not everyone has patience with the sudden appearance of vehicles that demand documentation, as many here will know.
Loved the look of this van though. There is a slightly British look about it to me, with its eccentric but functional design and smart black on green colour scheme.
Thanks. This is a cool ride. I agree with the statement that this vehicle screams “bachelor.”
There’s something screwy with the headlamps on this rig. There’s aluminum tape or something over the upper half of the left low beam, and it looks like the matching piece on the right side has fallen down to cover most of the low beam projector. Maybe driving this is like constructing a tall building in France or Quebec: you use only I-beams!
Is more correct to call it a FUSO?
May have built from a rolling truck/bus chassis in a latin American country with high duty on built up imported vehicles.
I know when small Japanese trucks switched from sealed beams to the plastic type they became swear word expensive.
I think I brought a sealed beam for around $20 for 82 Holden Gemini van I owned 15 years, year or later I was working at a truck a similar light we were selling $250-$300 used.
These days for Japanese trucks you can get a new reproduction lights cheap, usually low quality though.
Guessing tape is covering stone damage.