What is OLMO782?

As we hope to bring a new take to Expedition Vehicles, how it came to be may be just as unusual.

Strangely enough, it started all with the plans for a Sprinter conversion three years ago. Then to find vans are not really for us. And that, on the other side of the spectrum, neither are the hyper off-road -capable 6X6' expedition vehicles. Busses, alcoves and slide-outs never got on our radar.

When trying to define what it is anyone would need, it is clear that it’s all one big compromise. If you want the one, you can’t have the other. And saw that prices balloon with every step taken.

We soon found builders with a luxury product approach closer to yachting and watch making, than to what it actually is: A tiny house bolted on a mass produced industrial vehicle.

We saw people building magnificent vehicles in their garage. And travelling them extensively. Strong willed people with strong feelings about how they do things. Proud of their work. Proud of their pioneering. And rightfully so.

We then met an industry that is either eying budget-conscious self-builders, or the very wealthy. With little in between for those not capable to build themselves, yet not capable - or willing - to write a 800K+ cheque. For those not willing to write off 400K€ over 5 years. And those who don’t want to figure out the endless option lists adding 30% to the “from”-budgets advertised. Not knowing in which year they will have their own. Pressured to reserve elusive building slots.

Based on extensive high-tech Superbike, yacht-racing and one-off heavy equipment project experience, it was hard to understand what warranted pricing and lead times. So we set off to find if this is how it should be. It took a lot of demystification. And questioning some of the industries mantras. But, in the end we found it was not. There is no justification why a travel truck should cost the price of a mansion in the countryside. We did however see quite some manufacturing and scaling inefficiencies.

We got a decent understanding of how one factor or wish impacts the others. Of what makes a build stand out. What gear, components and brands make the most difference. Their quality, availability, service and global reach. And then compared them to what the heavy duty and boating industries have to offer. And found that these industries cater to applications that are exponentially more heavy duty and business critical.

We listened to, watched en talked to all the big name specialists. To people with decades of travel experience. From roof-tenters to dune riders, Silk roaders and Baha Surfers. There was a lot to learn from all of them. But majorly: we figured out what is YouTube Vlogger clickbait and dreamland. And what happens to the vast majority of travellers.

Then we needed partners that were willing to chip in their specific know how and skills. It took well over a year to bring it all together. We built the eco-system of specialists and made sure we optimised all of their know how and capacity. Making sure we avoided everything that would reduce the capacity to scale rapidly.

We like to think we do some things differently. And that we do them for specific reasons. Have a look at “our take” . We will explain every aspect of why we will build the OLMO’s the way we do. We will answer your many questions. And hope you will like our thinking. All in good humour and with a wink. 

(by the way : OLMO stands for O-ver-L-and Mo-bile)