zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Trucks
/
Here Are Two Very Different Ways to Build an Ultimate Overland Jeep
Here Are Two Very Different Ways to Build an Ultimate Overland Jeep-October 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:13:08

Image for article titled Here Are Two Very Different Ways to Build an Ultimate Overland Jeep

If you’ve fantasized about spending weeks of your life, or tens of thousands of dollars, or both, on a Jeep off-road camping vehicle here’s some inspiration. This ’74 Jeep J20 and JK Wrangler with a house on its back represent two different approaches to custom-vehicle building, but both results are sweet.

Check out these two truck-and-builder profile videos from HeavyMetalConcepts’ Terminal Apex series: One’s a 1974 Jeep J20 passion project, wrought from a $1,000 crapcan. The other’s an over-engineered scientific masterpiece of modern off-road living.

The two vehicles are not opposites per se, but I think it’s fair to say the upgraded oldie is a little more of a creative right-brain expression while the squared-off Wrangler feels more like an exercise in exact science. Not that the J20 here appears to be half-assed in any way, but I mean, Dave Harriton of AEV says he spent “seven 100-hour weeks” on design of this JK Wrangler camper before the vehicle was assembled.

Anyway, would you rather roll in this restomod J20 with a melodious AMC 401 V8:

Or this intuitive and tactical-looking AEV Outpost II:

Also baked into that second video is a little bit of backstory on how AEV, probably one of the better-known off-road shops in America right now, started out as a business plan Harriton had to make for a college class. He took that to a bank, got a $35,000 loan, and kicked off a company that grew into a powerhouse in its industry.

So yeah; stay in school, kids.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Trucks
Porsche Built A 911 With Portal Axles To Go Where Unimogs Can't Reach
Porsche Built A 911 With Portal Axles To Go Where Unimogs Can't Reach
No car has ever driven at higher altitude than this 992-generation Porsche 911 Carrera 4S with portal axles. On Saturday the Porsche crew, led by racing driver Romain Dumas, reached the highest peak of the west ridge of the Ojos del Salado volcano in Chile, . That’s the tallest...
Oct 29, 2025
Ford Robbed Us Of The Old Four-Door Ranger To Give Us The Explorer Sport Trac
Ford Robbed Us Of The Old Four-Door Ranger To Give Us The Explorer Sport Trac
By definition, a big truck like a or struggles to be small. Even in its smallest, most trucky configuration — a two-door single cab — a full-size truck is relatively large and comes with a sizable bed for hauling cargo. But a small truck like the third-generation can do...
Oct 29, 2025
The 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Is The Hybrid Truck America Probably Needs
The 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger Is The Hybrid Truck America Probably Needs
In addition to the all-electric , the truck brand announced this week that it will also release a engine gasoline-powered hybrid version of its electric pickup, called Ramcharger. The goal here is to use the V6 engine as a generator for the electric powertrain when the 92 kWh battery...
Oct 29, 2025
The Nissan Navara Was The Overdue Frontier We Deserved A Decade Ago
The Nissan Navara Was The Overdue Frontier We Deserved A Decade Ago
gets dunked on for letting models like the languish for years. But, the truck saw a model update well before the release of the , which is mechanically much like an with a design. Outside of the U.S., the successor to the second-generation Frontier came in 2014 with the...
Oct 29, 2025
There Was Once A Glorious Compact Chevy ZR2 Truck
There Was Once A Glorious Compact Chevy ZR2 Truck
Those who saw the meteoric rise of through the 2010s and onward probably associate the badge with the . The was Chevy’s halo midsize truck when it was released in 2016, but the ZR2 badging goes all the way to the when Chevy made the S-10 ZR2. It’s gnarly....
Oct 29, 2025
Deer Flies Directly Into Pickup As Its Prospective Buyer Arrives
Deer Flies Directly Into Pickup As Its Prospective Buyer Arrives
No square inch of the Northeast is safe from deer, as video out of New Jersey shows. A deer, tearing through the suburbs, managed to leap over a Pontiac Vibe and Honda CR-V before landing on the bedside of a 2007 Chevy Silverado — just as a prospective buyer arrived...
Oct 29, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved