Lance Gillies and his wife were globe-hopping overlanders who couldn’t buy the rugged, go-anywhere four-wheel-drive home they could imagine so they built it instead.

Today, his Bend (Oregon)- based company makes the rapidly-deployable Earthcruiser on a hefty Mitsubishi Fuso platform (complete with a motorized retractable toilet and indoor shower), but a newer pop-top truck camper as well.

* Special thanks to Budapest-Bamako for race footage.