for sale!

A totally unique 4x4 overland truck, ready to go, fully kitted out with all you need for a great African Adventure ...

This truck has just taken our family of four on a seven month trip through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and back to Jo'burg, carrying us faithfully through desert, water, mud, sand, up and down steep mountain passes, on gravel and sealed roads alike.

A fully equipped home on wheels, Manfred, as he is affectionately known, comfortably sleeps up to 6 people (more if they're little'uns) either inside or in tents on the roof. All bedding is included, along with very good adult and childrens camping mattresses for the roof tents.

The kitchen is fully equipped with a sink, 4 hob gas stove, electric fridge (runs off both 24v and 220v) and loads of counter-top food storage, right where you need it. Cutlery, crockery (at least 6 of everything), suacepans, kettle, coffee maker (essential!), mixing bowls, cooking utensils, even herbs and spices are all included.

You can plug in when staying at campsites, or run off the domestic battery system when bush camping, making Manfred totally self suffient.

The main living area inside the truck has a large table with comfortable bench seats along either side. The table and seats fold up to make a double bed with a single bed above.

There's also a separate table, with fold-up chairs and stools which can all be set up outside in moments. We used these all the time - particularly useful for turfing the kids with a large box of lego!

There is a washing line, pegs and washing bucket. We have a great system that allows you to do a wash whilst going along, do ask! There is even cleaning equipment and cloths. This truck really is ready to go!

Manfred has almost endless storage - we never had to leave anything behind for want of space. In the main living area there are 12 large draws for clothing, with 3 bigger draws below. Opposite these are umptine kitchen drawers, smaller ones at the top for crockery, cultery, etc, down to large draws at the bottom for tinned food, drinks etc. There are also three lift up compartments with 20 good sized tupperware boxes to store pasta, rice, coffee etc.

Both sofas have large storage areas below/behind them for housing bedding. Surrounding the air-conditioner is a handy collection of drawers and cupboards, ideal for papers, pens, books, laptops, etc. A 220v power supply is built into one of the cupboards for charging cameras, phones and the like.

Hanging rails and hooks run throughout the length of the living area (useful for drying clothes on the move), as do a set of fantastically useful zip-up cloth compartments.

Outside the truck there is a whole new world of storage. 3 large hatches house fitted storage boxes, many filled with interesting goodies such as snorkels, kids toys, hammocks, etc. Lower compartments store a fully equipped tool kit and spares. On the roof there are yet more storage hatches.

The cab (with its marvellous German U-boat type switches!) is accessible from the main body of the truck.

There main living area has a side door and a back door, both with steps. There are 8 sliding windows, all with locks.

Sadly the end of our trip is looming and we will be returning to England, so we will leave most of the things we have here. We have lived as a family in Manfred for 7 months and can honestly say he has everything you will need. We will even leave some toys if you have kids, and much of our extensive medical kit.

Fitted out beautifully by the previous owner, a Belgian man who with his family traveled in Manfred throughout Aisa and Africa, the truck is full of character and is beautiful to look at. All the internal fittings are in varnished wood, and all the soft furnishings have washable covers. There are 4 cusions and a couple of quilts.

The truck was originally used by the German army as a mobile printing press. During the 80s it was a motorbike support vehicle for the Paris-Dakar rally. Then 12 years ago the truck was bought by the previous owner who completely fitted it out as the lovely home it is today and headed off on various trips around the world.

Mechanically Manfred is very sound. During our 7 month trip we have had only one breakdown (in Namibia) which was fixed in less than a day with an easily sourced brand new MAN part.

We are very very reluctantly selling Manfred because it is too expensive to ship him back to UK. However much we would like to bring him back, he is most at home in the wilderness on an adventure!

* Wherever you go, you are always at home! *

Technical Stuff