When the Lights Go Out, You Can Still Serve Matcha From This Mitsubishi Truck
Primarily a tea house, Micah Spear’s $325K overlander is equipped with robust solar, an induction cooktop, and speakers by a friend known for his coveted hi-fi systems.
Primarily a tea house, Micah Spear’s $325K overlander is equipped with robust solar, an induction cooktop, and speakers by a friend known for his coveted hi-fi systems.
Leave it to a friend to talk you into a new toy. Early in the pandemic, entrepreneur and artist Micah Spear was looking for his next project. But he may have never purchased a truck to turn into a camper if his long-time pal, Devon Turnbull, hadn’t given him a push.
To unplug, Turnbull, a highly sought-after hi-fi sound system designer who goes by Ojas, sometimes heads off on weeks-long trips in a Mercedes he customized, speaker setup included. Recently, he set down the soldering iron to take his 4x4 from Morocco, to Germany, and then to Iceland before bringing it back to the U.S. on a container ship, naturally.
During the pandemic, entrepreneur and artist Micah Spear purchased a flat-bed Mitsubishi Fuso truck that had 4,000 miles and turned it into a highly customized off-grid camper.
Photo by Micah Spear
When Covid brought life to a halt, Turnbull’s tuned-up truck spoke to Spear. "I was thinking about mobility, and I wanted to be comfortable anywhere," he says, also mentioning a desire for a remote workspace, and a place to host friends outdoors. "Devon is very talented at this kind of thing, and he definitely inspired me to think about building [an overlander]—he made the push for me."
The ability to go anywhere and do anything is the appeal, it seems, of #vanlife’s super-buff bigger sibling, overlanding: By nature of a vehicle’s four-wheel-drive mechanics, a lifted chassis that can be rigged up with off-grid gear, and, ideally, an engine that runs on diesel—a more readily available fuel source the world over—they can take you as far as you’re willing to push it.
The camper’s shell is made of flat-pack fiberglass panels assembled by a team of shop workers. Spear sanded down the panels’ high-gloss coating and applied semi-gloss house paint. "You have a really warm natural environment because of the new finish," he says.
Photo by Micah Spear
Spear’s friend, drummer and woodworker Adam Christgau, assisted in building out the interior. They favored durable materials like laminate counters and cabinet fronts from Wilsonart and Maharam fabric for the dinette. The cabinets feature Bowman pulls from Rejuvenation. "I actually used home hardware so I didn’t have to use low quality plastic ones that I find to to be offensively designed," says Spear.
Photo by Micah Spear
See the full story on Dwell.com: When the Lights Go Out, You Can Still Serve Matcha From This Mitsubishi Truck
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