The (old) Land Rover Defender has always been a dream of mine (that’s me, Peter). After traveling on KTM dirt bikes for over a century and the decision to add another member to the family (Joiz the blogging dog), the time was right. Our 2012 Defender Station Wagon has already taken us from Switzerland to the most southwestern point of Europe (near Sagres/Portugal)  and as far North as Lødingen/Norway. Since September 2017 we’ve added 290.000 Kilometers exploring Central-, Eastern- and Northern Europe and Northern Africa.  We experienced sudden losses of engine power when driving in Spain and Morocco which led to multiple encounters with towing services in Spain and Germany. After replacing the cylinder head some of the problems disappeared but in the end we decided to go for a new engine. In May 2021 we „upgraded“ our setup with the purchase of an offroad camper trailer. The Hero Ranger is build in Denmark and convinced us with it’s high quality and versatility. We sold the Hero Ranger in March 2026 because we wanted to go „back to the roots“ and will continue our adventures with the Vickywood Teac 160 Rooftop Tent. This new setup will give us more flexibility to explore remote locations and is more suitable for overnight stays.

Matschig Mike (this is what we call him) has gone through a number of modifications some of which are listed below:

Battery: IBS Auxiliary Battery System with a 95AH Bosch S5 AGM battery all by 4×4 Manufaktur

Solar Power: Goal Zero Yeti400 Lithium and Goal Zero Nomad 100 Solar Panel

Light: Nolden LED-Headlights, Philipps LED-Daytime running lights (from Nakatanenga)

240 Watt LTPRTZ DR-X Lightbar

Heating: Webasto Air Top 2000 air heater (4ward4x4.com)

Winch:  Superwinch Tigershark 9500 (4ward4x4.com)

Bumper:  Engage4x4 tubular bumper (4ward4x4.com)

Drawer-System: Schmidt-Fahrzeugbau dog cage drawer- and shelf system

Trailer: Hero Camper Ranger, Columbus Edition (from April 2021 to March 2026)

Awning: Vickywood Branch Hardcover 270º

Rooftop Tent: Vickywood Teac 160 

Roof Rack System: Spacerack from Rolling-Space