Automophoto.com
Suite Rides
June 1, 2007
"I’ve been preaching to the wrong
choir," says Avi Meyers, CEO of Unicat Americas, as we head out of Las Vegas en
route to Valley of Fire. Meyers is behind the wheel of his Unicat Amerigo
International, a towering 4x4 expedition vehicle that resembles an RV after an
Incredible Hulk moment, morphing from a road-bound retiree cruiser into an
imposing quasi-military off-roader. The choir in question is the traditional
recreational vehicle audience, who can’t seem to get their minds around the idea
that you might want to overnight in a place far beyond paved roads, let alone
Domino’s delivery range.
Meyers fell into his role as Unicat executive/evangelist by
accident. He bought a truck for personal use, and, as there was no U.S. arm for
the German company, took it upon himself to start one. "I decided that there
must be other maniacs out there who’d want something like this," he says.; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
The cab and chassis are not askew; the Unicat’s
living quarters are mounted on a pivot to allow chassis articulation
off-road. (Click image to enlarge)
Meyers thinks that the nautical crowd is more that type of maniac—people with
the requisite money and a healthy wanderlust. "People at RV shows have said,
‘What can I possibly do with that?’" he says. "They can’t even conceive of
global travel. That’s why I’m going to start taking it to boat shows. Boat
people have the right mentality for a vehicle like this, because they want adventure, but
can’t get inland."
Unicat vehicles are designed to take you inland, overland,
wherever, with or without the luxury of roads. Built atop a heavy-duty
four-wheel-drive International 7400 commercial chassis, the Amerigo
International sports a 5.7-liter 6-cylinder diesel that sends 310 hp and 950 ft
lbs of torque down to 4-foot-tall off-road tires. Behind the cab are the living
quarters, which resemble an elegant yacht’s cabin, right down to the teak
flooring. That isn’t the usual payload for an International 7400. When I remark
that the front end of the chassis looks familiar, Meyers replies, "You see it
used a lot on cement mixers."
The desert landscape presented its share of
obstacles, and the Unicat left with a battle scar (bottom), demonstrating the
purpose of bumpers. (Click images to enlarge) ; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
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A cement mixer chassis for an RV? As we roll west into the
desert at 70 mph, our seats at eye-level with those in passing semis, Meyers
discusses a recent trip he made with this truck. He shipped it to Africa and set
out to drive across the Sahara desert. I ask him an obvious question that must
cross the mind of most guys looking to buy a $600,000 adventure toy: What did
the wife think of that idea, and really of the Unicat in general? "She was
skeptical at first," he says. "But one night in the Sahara, we met a Touareg
tribe, and ended up having dinner with them, out there in the desert, under the
stars. At that point, she looked at me and said, ‘OK, I understand the appeal of
this now.’"
A few miles down the two-lane road that winds into Valley of
Fire, the pavement takes a hard left turn. We keep going straight, onto a trail
through the scrub brush. On the choppy washboard road, the front axle begins
drumming a staccato backbeat on the bump stops. Meyers explains that before you
air the tires down, the front springs don’t have enough travel for this
particular situation—high-speed washboard. He’s installing uprated springs and
new progressive bump-stops to address the problem, both for himself and future
customers.
We pull over to put the Unicat in off-road mode—airing down the
tires and folding the rear bumper under the body, to improve the departure angle
(in its lowered position, the bumper allows the truck to meet on-road bumper
height regulations). Then we’re off to see what this thing can do.
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