There was a wide variety of overland-ready vehicles at the recent Armchair Adventure Festival, held just outside Plymouth, England: Several Defenders (including Toby Savage’s much-modified Carawagon, the veteran of many Sahara journeys), some pop-top vans and VW Transporters, and a spectacular six-wheeled Steyr-Puch.
But my favorite was this diminutive Daihatsu van, a model amusingly enobled by the company with the title “Gran Max” (it’s also sold as the Toyota Town Ace and Lite Ace). Within its Lilliputian dimensions (barely 5.5 feet wide and 13.3 feet long—a foot and a half narrower and three feet shorter than a current VW Transporter) the owner, a friendly young woman named Tuesday, had tidily fit the following:
Cabinet
Cooktop
Sink
Fridge
Folding 36-inch-wide bed
Storage underneath
A cassette toilet
And, of course, it has full standing headroom with the roof raised.
Did I mention it also has four-wheel drive? With a locking center diff?
Even with the additions, the van probably weighs under 3,200 pounds—less than half our HZJ75 Troop Carrier. I didn’t ask, but with a 1,500cc four cylinder (petrol) engine, a five-speed transmission, and the frontal area of a refrigerator, it likely gets twice the fuel economy as well.
Tragically, I missed the owner when I went back to snap the interior, but I can tell you it had all the room a single traveler needs, and would easily work for a couple who liked to spoon at night, or had a small tent.
You can see how the Gran Max compares to the VW Transit next to it.