" We at influx towers have always aspired to do proper off road adventure one day. There's something about the untrammelled feeling of freedom that comes with busting free from the rules and regulations of the highway. It's a different, primal "
1966 Mercedes Unimog
If there was ever a car out of time and place, it is this 1966 Mercedes Unimog I came across this morning in the car park at Newport Beach, Orange County California. ” My buddy bought this thing from NATO, and I stole it. I’m going to drive it all over the world so he can’t take it back off me!” Tie-died owner, surfer, farmer and charismatic bechside stalwart tells me as he checks the surf this morning.
all images Michael Fordham/Influx
“I get 12-16 MPG, so that’s pretty good mileage,” He tells me. “Speed is not important for me. As long as you get there with style, that’s the main thing…” I tried not to wince when he mentioned the MPG figures: but there’s a different scale to things here in California is roughly half the price it is in the UK. At around $4 a gallon these guys still moan about the cost of gas. When I was last here in 2009, it was around $2.50 a gallon.
” The cops love to pull me over in this thing, especially the younger ones. But it’s all completely above board. The only slight concession I ask is that I leave the Berlin license plate on the front. It’s not a lot to ask, is it”. Indeed not. There are subtle hints of this machine’s former usage as a radio car: with the utility space in the back and the battery packs at the side. “The box turns this thing into a great camper”, says Bart, “plenty of room for a double bunk and everything you need.”
The open cabin is an element of surprise: not sure what happens when there’s a proper downpour. The retractable hood looks like it’d be only competent to deal with the lightest drizzle. But the resourceful Italian American farmer takes the lack of a proper lid wholly in his stride. “I love being open to the elements, he says. “It’s the coolest way to get around…”
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