sa国际传媒官网网页入口

A  wants to come home to New Mexico.

This blue adventure vehicle started life as a, said Gavin McCalden of Vanlab in an email to GO New Mexico. He bought it with just 15,000 miles on the clock, he said, and upfitted it into its current state, including a full four-wheel drive Quigley transmission, making it capable of legally conquering most any road in the Southwest. Papa Smurf has just 55,000 miles and seats five and sleeps four, including a custom pop-top penthouse. 

Colorado requires four-wheel drive, not all-wheel drive, on most of its famous backcountry routes like at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Imogene Pass connecting Ouray and Telluride.

The technical specs are impressive for what was the Durango van builder鈥檚 family and demo vehicle:

2011 Ford E350

• V10 motor

• Agile RIP kit installed spring of 2023

• Custom-painted Toyota Calvary blue with color-matched Raptor liner rocker panels

• Custom pop-top from a Fiberine 20-inch aero top 鈥� goes up about 24 inches so you can sit upright in the top bed; it鈥檚 about a 68-inch standup height when the top is down

• Secondary (removeable) interior insulation for the pop-top canvas.

• Ujoint off-road front and rear bumpers with a modified rear swing-out for two 1UP bike trays above the storage box; five pounds propane tank mount and an Aluminess flip table

• Aluminess side ladder

• Warn winch with synthetic line

• Baja Designs lights 鈥� spot clear, amber driving/combo, and SAE clear driving fog

• ARB twin compressor run to front and rear bumpers

• Falken Wildpeak AT3W Tires 鈥� 285/75/17 (basically A 34x11.5)

• Full-size spare tire

• American racing wheels

• Fiamma 45S 300 awning

• Extruded aluminum roof rack 鈥� 96 inches by 60 inches, most of it is flush-mounted solar with a 60 inches by 30 inches flat platform with L-track cutouts right above the ladder

• Tow/brake controller

• Bushwacher fenders 鈥� front was trimmed by 1.5 inch pie cut and welded 鈥� so you could fit a 35 inch tire if you wanted

• 4.10 gears

• Dual Cat-Back exhaust

  Interior Build

• Fully sound deadened and insulated with Thinsulate insulation

• Phifertex upholstered wall panels with a bamboo ceiling panel 鈥� this is the same material rafting gear is made from, super durable and easy to clean

• L-track in the ceiling and miscellaneous locations

• Bamboo front cabinetry

• Hex ply rear cabinetry

• 3/4 inch custom concrete countertop from CounterKULTURE Design Studio

• Broad Arrow three-person seat that folds into a queen-size bed; child seat hooks, etc. mounted in L-track through the floor

• Scheel Mann front seats 鈥� passenger side swivel, both are heated

• 56 inches by 80 inches upper bed with a 5 inch memory foam mattress

• Removable insulation package for pop-top canvas; there are six windows in the canvas and four in the insulation package; the sides are all no-see-um mesh and the front two are clear vinyl

• Lagun table mount

• Projector screen and magnetic mount

• Upgraded speakers

• Drop in rear storage compartment for battery, recovery gear, etc.

  Systems/amenities

• Victron electrical system 鈥� dual 30 amp alternator chargers, cerbo, 300 watts of solar, 2000 watt inverter/charger, shore power connection

• Master shut off switch with 鈥渏ump start鈥� connection to starting battery

• Lithionics 320 amp hour heated battery with Victron comms

• Single burner induction cooktop

• 24 gallon fresh water system and five gallon gray water system with motorized ball valves and tank monitoring to the cerbo display

• 15 inches by 10 inches sink

• Rear spray/shower port

• Dimmable lighting throughout

• Gasoline fired 4kW heater

• Maxx-Air 7500k fan

• Trelino separator toilet in removable 鈥渇oot rest鈥� box

  
  

The ladder on the side leads to a rooftop ski rack, and a heater makes it perfect for travel even in the winter.

"This is a true overlanders dream. 鈥� This is a 鈥済o-anywhere鈥� adventure vehicle," the VanLAB website says, and I agree. 

It is time to buy some lottery tickets or sell the house to buy this rig. Will someone lend me the $138,00 list price to buy it to upgrade from our broken-down, two-wheel drive Promaster sa国际传媒官网网页入口mobile van that is still awaiting a new transmission in Abilene, Texas?

"I built this as a family rig and used it as such," McCalden wrote in the . "It's been all over the Western U.S. on bike trips, ski trips and off-roading adventures. We added bits and pieces along the way 鈥� awning, accessories, updates, etc. We always take care of it, doing regular maintenance, keeping it tidy 鈥� that sort of thing. It's an adventure rig that we've put through the paces for a family of four.鈥�

"Our shop (Vanlab of Durango) is booked into November with new build appointments not done until 2027 鈥� this rig is available now."

Unless I buy it first.

Share your New Mexico adventure channel, rigs and panorama photos with us at go@abqjournal.com.  It could appear in an edition of the Sunday Journal in the GO! New Mexico weekly outdoors section.