Sportsmobile Fuso

[EarthCruiser]

Congratulations and welcome!
As an Aussie living in Bend Or (just got my season ski pass :wings and owner of EarthCruiser. It is a great privilege to introduce and manufacture the EarthCruiser range in United States.
Are the parts made in Aus or the here?

 

[whatcharterboat]

Congratulations and welcome!
As an Aussie living in Bend Or (just got my season ski pass :wings and owner of EarthCruiser. It is a great privilege to introduce and manufacture the EarthCruiser range in United States

Are all those trucks Right Hand Drive?

 

[Ford Prefect]

Congratulations and welcome!
As an Aussie living in Bend Or (just got my season ski pass :wings and owner of EarthCruiser. It is a great privilege to introduce and manufacture the EarthCruiser range in United States.
Are the parts made in Aus or the here?
View attachment 190250

HEY COOL, Nothing like a guy going into the thread of a business to post up all about how cool his competing business is, while simultaneously spitting in their eye further by saying "congratulations". Very cool stuff EC. A real class act!

Now back to the SMB Fuso work, and the great innovations they have.

 

[EarthCruiser]

Ah sorry, no spitting here.
When I say congratulations I mean it, no interpreting necessary.
It is not easy to get started from scratch in a new country with a new product, we know.

The End

 

[pugslyyy]

Congratulations and welcome!
As an Aussie living in Bend Or (just got my season ski pass :wings and owner of EarthCruiser. It is a great privilege to introduce and manufacture the EarthCruiser range in United States.
Are the parts made in Aus or the here?
View attachment 190250

I'm pretty sure that they are importing the boxes and then mounting them on a locally sourced NA spec chassis.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Some progress pics....still plentyof hardware, plumbing and electrical to go but it is well on its way to becoming a reality. The top two pics looking aft. The bottom two phone pics taken today show the prototype Alumness front bar and rear bumper with Warn winch and spare wheel cradle.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Do you have any kind of price point for the completed Alpha box? Would the box fit on a four door American Fuso?I mean, I guess the frame can always be lengthened, but just from the factory, if I buy a used one, will your shell likely fit it? Thanks

 

[whatcharterboat]

Do you have any kind of price point for the completed Alpha box? Would the box fit on a four door American Fuso?I mean, I guess the frame can always be lengthened, but just from the factory, if I buy a used one, will your shell likely fit it? Thanks

Hey Brian.......Mate, pricing is a question for Sportsmobile and I think they must be close to working that out seeing how much of the first they've assembled. As for fitting the module onto a FG Crewcab , well that should be feasible but again a question for them. Sorry.

I really hope you guys get the Crewcab there. They're are really starting to gain popularity with families here.

Stay safe.

Regards John.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Yes, that would be nice. We can get the two wheel drive, but so far not the 4x4. Then again I suppose one could easily enough convert the 2wd into a 4wd with stock parts etc, and a little time and money.

Thanks a lot for your response John. It is a very interesting looking vehicle, and sure would make a very nice ready made expo truck.

Regards, Brian

 

[dlh62c]

John
There appears to be a design change between units regarding the rear storage door, can you explain?

Thanx!
Daryl

View attachment 190131

 

[whatcharterboat]

Hi Daryl.

We have made four major evolutionary changes in the moulds that differ to the original CAD design.

1) the recessed area in the floor was doubled to allow for a second large hatch and underfloor well.....we use the new well on the Isuzu here for a 20 litre hot water tank rather than have that tank and plumbing under the truck. The floor and well are of course insulated.

2) you can't see it but we engaged a composite engineering firm and completely re-engineered the underfloor "spider" frames...one for the FUSO S-shaped 750mm-spaced rails and the other for the more common straight 850mm-spaced rails...Isuzu, MAN, etc.......We had an idea that it was strong before but now we really know it .....if you get my meaning.

The last few RHD Global Warriors have had these changes above.

3) the front locker doors are now shorter, lighter and easier to fit locks into. You should be able to notice this in the photos too.

4) the 2m long rear locker doors which double as drop-down tables have been deleted saving plenty of weight, simplifying the latching, and providing more ventilation and much needed room behind the fridge.......The tables were a good idea at the time and looked great on the computer screen but a little high in reality and therefore not as practical as we'd hoped. Not really too high (if you're tall) on the FUSO but imagine on a Mog so we decided that we would be better without them in the long run.

The first LHD units and all RHD units from now on have all 4 of these changes. GW-008 will be completed in a couple of weeks and I'll post some more pics to show the new changes.

Regards
John.

 

[Keyne]

I see what you are saying about the tables, but too bad it didn't work out. I thought that was a great idea that showed the nice attention to detail. Also, like the "recovery" equipment door with the water hose to clean off gear. Nice detail. Overall I really like how the design is so well thought out.

Couple more questions, is there a reason why the interior design changed to wood louvered doors instead of the smooth fiberglass. Would there be interior options to choose one over the other or interior colors other than white?

Cant wait to see the final product!

 

[whatcharterboat]

I see what you are saying about the tables, but too bad it didn't work out. I thought that was a great idea that showed the nice attention to detail. Also, like the "recovery" equipment door with the water hose to clean off gear. Nice detail. Overall I really like how the design is so well thought out.

Couple more questions, is there a reason why the interior design changed to wood louvered doors instead of the smooth fiberglass. Would there be interior options to choose one over the other or interior colors other than white?

Cant wait to see the final product!

Hi Keyne.

I am sure there are plenty of questions regarding the pricing, final specification and options available but we are leaving much of these decisions to SMB. They obviously know the North American market and we have a lot of faith in their decision making. Truth is at this point I don't know too much about the final spec so you will have to ask SMB/ATW USA for updates....but to answer your question re: the doors..... this information is from SMB a couple of days ago>>>


I should have explained that we are not putting door and draw handles on the cabinets, all the doors have pressure flush mount latches, not knobs or handles to grab you as you pass through the isle. If your hands are full, you can open any of the doors with your foot or knee, just press the door in, and it automatically releases the latch, very nice feature.

We also like the louvered cabinet doors, this allow air flow into the cabinets which in very cold weather camping, will allow the heat into the cabinet and keep food or other items from freezing. With solid doors, it is necessary to prop open the doors to allow the air in. The teak matches the trim and really adds to the interior look and feel of the conversion. Warms up the interior a little and add some color to the interior.


Re: interior colours...I doubt we will offer colour options for the fibreglass panels we produce here. Please let me explain. We made the first set of interior panel in a cream colour with sandstone-look bench tops and floor. Out of maybe 100 people I showed through only one liked it and some really, really, really disliked it. With the black benchtops, neutral grey floor and bright white interior panels that we offer now, any colur you introduce pops out...so by simply changing the colours of the seat cushions, soft trim and bedding you completely change the look and feel of the interior....and even if you get sick of the colours later on (or are considering resale) its an easy change.

Kind regards John.

 

[dlh62c]

Re: interior colours...I doubt we will offer colour options for the fibreglass panels we produce here. Please let me explain. We made the first set of interior panel in a cream colur with sandstone-look bench tops and floor. Out of maybe 100 people I showed through only one liked it and some really really disliked it. With the black benchtops, neutral grey floor and bright white interior panels that we offer now, any colur you introduce pops out...so by simply changing the colours of the seat cushions, soft trim and bedding you completely change the look and feel of the interior....and even if you get sick of the colours later on (or are considering resale) its an easy change.

There's always the possibility of using Wall Decals to spruce up the interior a little'

Daryl

 

[canter tourer]

There's always the possibility of using Wall Decals to spruce up the interior a little'

Daryl

That stuff is cool, cheap way of tarting up any space!