Nothing soothes the soul like mountain air with a tinge of diesel. So here I am at the feet of the skyline they put on Coors cans, in a brand-new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 4x4 that’s been converted to a badass off-road domicile by the overland RV experts at Sportsmobile.
The river we’re parked down by would be the West Dolores, specifically at Dunton Hot Springs. Which is a ghost town converted to a luxury wilderness resort. I’m here because Mercedes dragged my ass all the way from New York so I could see their vans in the wild, so while other journalists were getting fly fishing lessons and horseback rides I was swapping stories with Sportsmobile’s owner Alan Feld.
Feld has been building unstoppable RVs since 1988, and the Sportsmobile company’s actually been operating since 1965. Ask him about the time Jimmy Buffett got Ford to factory-paint a Transit van “Margaritaville Green” before sending it to Feld for a full extreme-camper upfitting.
Tonight’s my first night in this demo machine inexplicably dubbed “Tiny Tim,” but so far I can tell you the build quality’s exceptional and it looks every bit the business.
So what do you want to know about this beautiful beast?
#VanLife
Andrew P. Collins is Jalopnik’s off-road and adventure guy. Shoot him an email at andrew@jalopnik.com or hit him up on Twitter @andr3wcollins to talk trucks.