Our trip to this year's Abenteuer & Allrad was much more than just Volkswagens, 4x4 camper vans and camping areas packed out with otherworldly off-roaders. In showcasing off-road adventure of all shapes and sizes, the show ranged from the weird and wild to the high-tech and cutting-edge. In this gallery, we run through that gamut, everything from a mobile hunting stand atop a Puch G, to a spider-like electric off-road buggy, to a Volkswagen pickup with snow treads. There are a lot of very different ways to have fun in the great outdoors.
Extrem Fahrzeuge Electric Cruiser
Technology may not be ready to give us an all-electric expedition vehicle just yet, but it'll never get ready if folks don't fiddle around with it. And in the meantime, directing a little all-electric torque at rough, unpaved ground should prove a satisfying short-term reward.
Germany's Extrem Fahrzeuge has developed an all-electric Toyota Land Cruiser with help from the automotive electronics experts at the Huber Group, ripping the diesel powertrain out and dropping in an 80-hp (60-kW) electric drive. With only about 112 miles (180 km) of range and 81 mph (130 km/h) of potential speed to offer, the Electric Cruiser is far from an ideal intercontinental expedition vehicle, but Extrem developed it more as a cleaner Land Cruiser variant for underground mining. Plus, the company says the 42-kWh battery pack only takes about two hours to charge.
Whatever use(s) it ends up fulfilling, an electric Land Cruiser is many times cooler than a Prius or RAV4 EV.
Mobijagd Pickup Kanzel
Abenteuer & Allrad had plenty of vehicles that stretched stories upon stories long, but only one that rose multiple stories into the air. And, if we're being honest, it took a couple of minutes to figure out what the hell we were looking at.
It turned out to be a folding hunting blind from German company MobiJagd. Other MobiJagd blinds are carried on trailers, but the Pickup Kanzel version rides in the back of select pickups, like the Mercedes X-Class or the Puch G it was mounted on at the show. With a sturdy truck below you, you can rumble over whatever roughness stands between you and the hunt and set up on the spot, then quickly break down and move around as conditions demand. The convertible top lets you take shelter or pop up over top the sidewalls to hunt birds and other prey.
The blind is designed to sleep in and, of course, it's much more compact in driving mode – though it still sticks up enough to cost you some mpgs. We'd say a video is in order for this one:
Vagrand X-1 camping trailer
Off-road trailers weren't nearly as big a deal at Abenteuer & Allrad 2018 as they were at Overland Expo 2018, but there were a handful of interesting tow-alongs. The X-1 from Poland's Vagrand Adventure Trailers was so new that it was still being called a concept trailer, though it seems production isn't far away. The pop-top is made from fiberglass and reinforced with carbon at the floor. An independent suspension and BFGoodrich Mud Terrain tires help it roll over all kinds of slick, bumpy terrain.
The X-1 is designed to support two people off-grid for up to four or five days and includes an 80-L fresh water tank, dual 150-Ah batteries and 450 watts of solar. Inside, Vagrand has managed to squeeze in a bathroom with shower and toilet, along with a kitchen area and sleeping accommodations. The trailer also has an outdoor shower.
We've packed all Abenteuer & Allrad's other superlative show trucks and innovative off-road creations into our photo gallery. See the entire collection there.
