Africa’s coolest Landy?
His love for Land Rovers began in 1997 on a 4x4 course in the Eastern Cape. Since then Johan de Villiers from Cape Town has owned many Landies, but the latest one is his favourite.
Johan came across a Land Rover Defender – the double-cab bakkie version – on Gumtree and went to pick it up in George. There had already been some light modifications done to the Landy, but Johan would eventually turn it into a next level rig. Johan was specifically looking for the double-cab bakkie, because according to him, he didn’t want to look like an old fart driving an ordinary Landy station wagon. He wanted something that could compete with the looks of a custom Jeep Wrangler and perform just as well offroad. His Defender has travelled more than 60 000 km in countries including Namibia (and the Van Zyls Pass), Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia. Johan spray painted his Landy orange because he is an avid off-road biker and his favorite brand is KTM. This Land Rover attracts a lot of attention and was featured on the cover of Land Rover Monthly in the UK. This, according to Johan, is the first time a South African four-wheel drive vehicle has been featured on an overseas cover. Johan’s advice to someone interested in tackling such a project is to avoid doing it step by step. His recommendation is to save enough money and do everything in one go. Getting the electrical wiring right in one shot and thus avoiding problems with competing devices helps. He likens it to a house that is built room by room over several years – it will never turn out as well as a house built in one push. Johan’s Landy weighs about three tonnes when he’s loaded up all his camping gear. The Landy carries 50 ℓ water, 160 ℓ diesel and a 60 ℓ Engel fridge/freezer. Seeing as Johan didn’t want to build a monster truck, but rather a reliable and exciting touring rig, he chose not to fit extra diff lockers. He’s had too much trouble with lockers that break, he says. It’s also better to use standard parts because they’re easily obtained as opposed to specialised parts that have to be back ordered – imagine having to do that when you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere.