HOME ON THE RANGE

MUSCLE: 2000 P38 Range Rover Camper POWER: BMW 3.0-litre straight-six turbodiesel (230 bhp) OWNER: Mike Beady

MIKE Beady and his wife, Milly, love camping and off-roading. For several years, they spent their weekends in a luxury 7.5 ton camper truck, but that wasn’t suitable for off-roading. Mike knew he needed Land Rover capability, but he didn’t want to sacrififice the level of luxury they had become accustomed to. The answer was this remarkable P38 Range Rover conversion, which Mike designed himself. Inside, there is a luxury fifitted kitchen, with a pop-up sleeping area for two. How so much has crammed into its Tardis-like interior is testament to Mike’s skills.

“It was two years in the planning, two years in the building,” admits the Crewe-based engineer.

Many people steer clear of the second-generation Range Rover, which was the most advanced 4x4 of its day, with complicated electrics to match. But Mike’s different. He loves a challenge and even replaced the original 2.5-litre diesel with a BMW twin-cam 3.0-litre straight-six, then created a whole new wiring loom and body control computer to run it all – flflawlessly.

Better still, he kept the weight down to 2.2 tons (the same as the original), by removing all the bodywork behind the front passenger compartment and replacing it with laser-cut composite panels of 1.2 mm aircraft-grade aluminium outer, 2.5 mm foam insulation and formica inner.

Once it was fifinished, Mike and Milly took it for a four-week tour of Morocco and the Sahara Desert, which it took in its stride.

“It’s very capable off-road and its ability isn’t at all compromised by the camper conversion,” says Mike. “It’s got off-road ability with Range Rover levels of comfort. As far as I know it is the only P38 camper – and more people should do it.”