The A2A Expedition Defender
Words by Graeme Bell. Images by Greaeme, Luisa, Keelan, Jessica Bell
The Land Rover Defender used by the A2A Expedition family for the last 11 years was bought second hand in 2009. The Landy had three previous owners and was used primarily as a farm truck in the interior of South Africa. The sneaky bugger salesman had insisted that the Landy had not been in any accidents, but it had, so he offered a new gearbox as consolation. I was consoled. Her name is Mafuta, which means “oil” in Swahili, fitting for a Land Rover.
Here are some specs:
Land Rover Defender 130 “Storm”
South African Spec Td5 18P, 2.5 l, 5 cylinder turbo diesel without EGT
Right hand drive
Double cab
384 000 km’s on the odometer
Purchase price R160000.00 ($20 000.00 USD)
I modified the truck from standard into an overland ready vehicle and then drove her to Kilimanjaro from Cape Town, a journey during which the Landy performed faultlessly over 15000 miles and across seven countries. In preparation for that journey we installed:
An aluminum topper,
A 1.4m Howling Moon roof tent,
A Hannibal awning
A self built drawer and load system
Rancho XL shocks ( which failed as soon as we crossed into Mozambique)
Standard Defender springs
A Little Black Box engine management system (essential!)
Melvill and Moon Seat covers
Roof mounted 3 Ammo boxes in a Camp Cover canvas tote
Roof mounted 3 jerry cans
Long range fuel tank
Frontrunner Bullbar
32, 11.5 R15 BFG MT’s
2 x Roof mounted spare tires, one on a wheel
Front Runner steering and diff protectors
Axe, spade, propane gas tanks rear mounted.
Ramsey 9000lb winch
That journey to Kilimanjaro changed our lives and overland travel became our passion. We bit the bullet hard, liberated the children from school, sold the business, the cars, the crap, put a bunch of sentimental crap in storage and shipped the Land Rover to Uruguay, South America. In preparation for South America we:
Replaced the 1.4m Howling moon RTT with a 2.4m Howling Moon RTT.
Installed Terra Firma heavy duty springs (excellent)
Terra Firma Big Bore Expedition shocks (excellent)
One spare, hood mounted 750 / 16 “space saver”.
We then circumnavigated South America before driving from Argentina to Alaska (A2A initially stood for Argentina to Alaska, became America to Asia then Asia to Africa and now Africa to Americas). In the USA we realised the limitations of the Roof top tent set up and designed a camper built on the 130 frame. Our challenge was to build a lightweight, flexible, tough as nails camper with sleeping and seating for four. The camper had to allow a lot of natural light, be efficient to heat and cool and had to be able to take on the toughest roads in the world.
The camper features:
Sleeping for four
Built in water tanks
Kitchen with 11 kg gas
Extended roof rack
General Grabber X3 285 75 R16
Built in Storage boxes
Solar power with dual battery
Bearmach rock sliders
Bearmach spot lights
Entreq sand ladders
Howling Moon 3m awning with annex
Pelican spares box on roof rack
3 x Jerry cans on roof rack
Firestone Ride Rite rear air bags.
Wish list. Eventually we will install:
Maxtrax
Diesel camper heater
Surfboard / SUP boards
Cummins turbo diesel engine
Full custom suspension
ceiling vents.
Luisa, Keelan and I built the new camper (with composite panels, windows and adhesives supplied by Total Composites) in Florida over the course of two and a half months and the work has not stopped since. The Landy and family then shipped to the United Kingdom and toured Europe and Turkey before driving down the Western Coast of Africa and returning temporarily to South Africa eight years after leaving. The Land Rover Now has 390 000 km’s on the clock, original unmodified engine. We have now prepared the Defender to drive from Cape Town to Vladivostok, the longest possible over land route, if we can drive through Syria. The interior will be remodeled when the kids move on to their adult lives.
We have written five books about our journey, you can get your copy from our-
website: www.a2aexpedition.com.
Instagram: @Graeme.r.bell
Facebook: A2A Expedition
