Michal sent around some pictures of candidate cars for TDP (Team Desert Patrol) 2 and made me insanely jealous. Alloy wheels, sliding roofs, automatic transmission, air conditioning, one of them even got a wooden steering wheel! Scandal!

What can Baby Beast offer in response to all that luxury? 

Here we go, the results of a few hours of pimping over the weekend:

* bolstered up the driving seat, it almost feels like a big fat leather armchair now, only the leather is missing

* put black tint film on the rear windows, looks great and protects the mess inside from curious eyes

The list of obvious problems was long already when I bought Baby Beast, but the more areas I touched, the more and bigger issues arose.The first task was to fix the safety relevant problems: rust, rust, and once again rust. Baby Beast got new dampers, new brake lines, lots of rust holes had to be welded.

Finally in June Baby Beast passed the general inspection and received its number plate.

The following tasks were less critical but even more cumbersome: the 5th speed of the gearbox was broken, only a small part worth 10 Euros, but its replacement required to remove and to disassemble the gearbox:

Lots of worn out rubber buffers in the front suspension, oil in the engine, gearbox, reduction gear, differential have been changed.

Currently the steering gear is being overhauled (the backlash in the steering was around 20°), but I hope to get it back next week.

I first saw that Daihatsu Rocky 2.8TD more than a year ago as it was clearing the snow in the streets of my home town.  At the end of winter its owner parked it right in front of my house, where it stood all year long. I saw it every morning and every evening, rusting away and with a spill spreading under the engine.

Built like a truck with a massive frame, leaf springs and part-time four-wheel drive it seemed perfectly suited for our next trip to Africa.  Its box design reminded me of the Beast, our Nissan Patrol of 2011. Only smaller. Much smaller. Baby Beast.

Of course I couldn’t resist.

It was a bargain at 500 Euros, the brand new tires alone were worth more than the price.