Andrew St.Pierre White is leaving South Africa

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The recession has hit everyone I guess. Far and wide, old and poor, rich and young. For me, young and poor, I’ve relied on the participation of corporate sponsors for making my 4x4 adventure TV shows for years now. I’ve managed five 13-part series and I have been told, and don’t need reminding, that I have the best job in the world. When I am not sitting editing and writing my shows, (Which I love) I am out in wild places shooting them. (Which I love even more) But there is a snag. About a third of my time is less glamorous than it sounds. That’s the third of a year when am I in the dreaded GP with my begging bowl. Finding sponsors has never been easy. I am better known in the country now that I have ever been. I get stopped almost every day if I go out – in shopping malls, the petrol pumps, in a crowd and even once getting my hair cut. And yet getting the funding for each series gets tougher and tougher.

Last year was the turn of Four-Wheel Drive, the combination travel and technical 4x4 show. I do think that every time I do one of these series, my work gets better, and this is by far the best of all the Four-Wheel Drive series. This year it’s the turn of 4WD-Take A Deep Breath. I’m driving an especially built Land Cruiser across Africa to the UK, in 13 shows, while my brother-in-law rides his bicycle the same route. But the normal sponsorship channels have dried up altogether. One large sponsor who agreed earlier in the year, pulled out despite me securing national newspapers, magazine and radio to supplement the TV. They decided that TV wasn’t the best channel this year – so I was left to find other means to procure the funding. This all sounds like a sob story – but it isn’t. My fans have come to my rescue in a huge way. Of these, right now, the only corporate is Toyota. They made the most significant contribution and Alu-Cab, the company with whom I worked to design and build the vehicle, have come in too.

Albert Einstein said, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So, like any sane man, things have changed and the cheese has moved. And so must I. Unfortunately the cheese has moved overseas.

So I will be leaving this wonderful country to find pastures new. There are a few reasons, and putting the more obvious ones aside: South Africa’s broadcast industry is unlike most others, in that I have to pay large sums for my shows to be flighted. Last year’s series, one third of the entire budget went to the broadcaster, one third went to production costs (why I can’t take a proper crew on my shoots) and one third goes to pay for my kid’s education and a roof over their heads.  I’m simply not making ends meet.

In the UK there are networks that will pay for the shows, and in 2005/6 my first two series were broadcast there, and I was paid – not a lot, but money did change hands, and in the right direction. The UK is also the centre of the world’s non-fiction film industry and with my experience there is lots of freelance work with networks like Discovery and Nat Geo, to mention just two.

I also decided to move to the UK because I was not about to give up on my drive across Africa. I was also not about to give up on my future plans; I want to follow in the tracks of the 1972 Trans-Americas Expedition from Alaska to Cape Horn - driving the very same Range Rovers that did it then. I want to go to Burma, find two pre-'70s Land Rovers, rebuild them and drive back to where they were built in Solihull, England. And what about the USA? I simply cannot do this based in South Africa. Will I miss South Africa? I don’t even want to think about how much. And as far as my South African followers are concerned, I will do everything to get my future shows broadcast here.

So what now? For my fans in South Africa and subscribers of 4xforum.com, this is the route I must take if I am to continue to provide the shows that are already so popular. But the route to funding with be different. One route is Kickstarter. (Google it)  In their own words, ‘It’s a funding platform for creative projects. Kickstarter is full of ambitious, innovative, and imaginative projects that are brought to life through the direct support of others.'

Keep a watch here. My Kickstarter project is about to be launched.

best as always
Andrew 

 

What keeps 4x4 businesses in SA alive?

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It's their customers dreaming. And what makes them dream? It's the magazine articles, Internet sites and TV shows like mine and Johan's. People react to them by deciding on doing a trip or even buying a new 4x4 and equipping it. Then they arrive at the Safari Centres and LA Sport's and R&D Off-Road and then they buy stuff! And of these medias, which is by far the most powerful? TV! Nothing compares to TV, especially if it is entertaining and inspiring. So, without good 4x4 TV shows - this industry will shrink and there are many 4x4 businesses that will not survive this recession. Johan [Voetspore] is paid by the SABC. I have to pay a commercial broadcaster because I cannot speak Afrikaans and nor do I have a black man travelling with me. I have to have sponsorship, either from large companies, or from the viewers.

But why should you support me you may ask? 4x4 businesses that still waste money on old-school magazine advertising need to wake up to the reality that it doesn't work. The Internet has changed everything fundamentally. Magazine advertising is the least effective way of attracting customers in this market but remains by far the most expensive. What works? TV, and a powerful YouTube channel and the Internet. Here is proof: A 3-page Leisure Wheels article on my Cruiser attracted one email. Just ONE!!! Within 24 hours of a 8 minute YouTube clip, we had over a dozen calls. That video has now attracted over 52 000 views to the most highly-targeted audience imaginable. (Alu-Cab have seven such cruisers in the workshop and have many orders for more. That business is thriving!) And tomorrow, when you read this, that viewer number will be higher. It never stops. 20 days after the magazine is read, it is tossed away. But the Internet never sleeps. Think about it and call me if you want me to make another TV show that brings people into your workshops. Think about it and call me if you want another Andrew St.Pierre White TV show.

4x4 industry players need to feed the players that support it.
Check out www.4xforum.com/trans-africa

Are spectacular Unimog camper giants all they seem to be?

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Right now my mind is so focused on my impending trans-Africa journey that little else seems to matter. I’ve been spending weekends working on the Cruiser, and never have I ever had so much fun preparing a vehicle. During this period I’ve digested inspiration from many overland vehicles, including the Isuzu N-series 4x4 and some spectacular Unimogs. And I have decided that these vehicles, as grand as they are, are trying to take the outdoor experience inside. In reality, how much of an overland trip is spend inside the vehicle. Quite a lot, but of that, 99% is when the vehicle is moving. Otherwise, unless the weather is truly lousy, time is spent outside. So why are these grand vehicles so appealing?

When it comes down to it, large vehicle are a hindrance most of the time that are used – when driving. Many game parks won’t permit entrance to trucks, and they are mostly slow and cumbersome. And they are thirstier (a major factor in any ones’ language), although not by much, as the Unimog and Isuzus have modern diesels that are much more economical given the weights they are pushing. Here’s a thought: Have you ever had to change a wheel on a Mog? I haven’t, but I imagine doing it on my own is a physical impossibility. I have enough trouble getting the wheel back onto the rear carrier on the Cruiser, and that’s one reason why I fitted alloy rims. (I reckon they may be have reduced as much as 30% of the weight of each wheel)  And what if a Mog bogs down? Only a bulldozer will be capable of pulling it free, especially if it’s mud – and while a Mog stuck in sand is a rarity, they do bog in mud. The vast space inside these vehicles is very appealing; but there is a trap; because the result is what happens to many trailer-pullers. There is so much space that it attracts stuff and weight that is not needed.

So where do these mammoths shine? Off-road they are for the most part not as agile as smaller vehicles, although the massive clearance and high body do provide significant advantage in central-Africa rainy season situations, where the roads are flooded and the ruts are huge. Yes, a Mog will get through and the Cruiser won’t. I have avoided the worst of the rainy season, so I am not anticipating needing that kind of advantage. If I were to live in one spot for months at a time, then I would prefer the larger ‘home’ of the Mog. No doubt about it.

My approach is to take the concept of the Unimog camper and make it fit on a ‘compact’, tough, basic chassis. As a result my Land Cruiser can also be ‘lived in’. The Troopy is huge inside and as far as packing space is concerned, I have never had such luxury. The conversion means that I can live inside if the weather turns foul, and when driving it is maneuverable, easy in town and good on the open road (I can reach the speed limit). While the Troopy is roomy, I have spent time chucking out the not-needed and carefully creating packing spaces, some that are easily accessible and others less so. Spares I am carrying include fuel and oil filters, oil for one oil engine change, fan belts, bulbs and fuses and a set of shock absorbers. And that’s it. They are not particularly easy to access, so I using up all the packing space wisely.  I begin by packing the items needed less often, all the way to those needed on the road. It’s common sense.

Next week I shall list all the many people and companies that have assisted and contributed to the Trans-Africa expedition. And the list is long! Check out www.4xforum.com/trans-africa.

Andrew

PS. Oh, and it appears I guessed right. The V8s are coming, but the 78-Troopy will not be part of Toyota SA’s V8 offerings. 

Dreams of adventure

What began as an idle thought while sitting under a tree in the wilderness has become the thing of dreams.

In 2010 I was sitting under a tree in the Hoanib River in Namibia (while looking for desert elephant), all on my own and I began to think. It was hot - about 35°C. I hadn’t had a shower for a couple of days and I thought, ‘How nice it would be right now to have a shower’. But it being so hot, the effort to set one up seemed too much. So instead, I pulled an ice-cold coke from the fridge, sat and began dreaming.

The vehicle I was driving was a Toyota Land Cruiser 105 Station-wagon. This vehicle is a 100 series, but with an 80-series chassis – to my mind, one of the most brilliant vehicles ever produced by Toyota. But being a station-wagon meant it has its limitations in terms of living out of for extended periods. So my mind drifted toward the Land Cruiser 78-series wagon, known in Australia and some other countries, as the Troopy. This reliable light truck with its cavernous rear load bay would make the perfect basis for a live-in camper style vehicle, while still being small enough to be used as an overland transport that could reach places larger trucks simply cannot go. This would be my 11^th 4x4. To cap all this dreaming, I thought, why not design, build and then market such a vehicle?

Jump forward two years.

I have started AutoGraph4x4. (www.autograph4x4.com) My Troopy is complete and I’ve already taken it to the Richtersveld for ‘builder’s trials’.  And now I have the ultimate trip planned – to drive from Cape Agulhas, Africa’s Southernmost tip, to John o Groats, Scotland’s Northernmost tip. And I am to do it in my Troopy and make a TV series about the adventure. So here I am, three months from departure and I have orders for four similar such vehicles for clients.

The vehicle began as a South African-spec Land Cruiser-78, with a 1HZ normally aspirated, 6-cylinder engine and four-speed manual gearbox and auto-locking front hubs. As standard equipment it came with double 90L fuel tanks and front and rear differential locks.

Work began about six months after receiving the vehicle, when I handed the vehicle over to Alu-Cab, a Cape Town company doing very nice custom work. They were one of very few companies who were genuinely interested in my ideas, as opposed to some who were hell-bent on letting me know how good their deigns were and wanted to push them on me. While I respect them for pride in their own designs, I wanted it built to my specifications, not theirs. Alu-Cab on the other hand were excited about what we both as a team could bring to the project. And the results are, I think, superb. My design ideas were not complex and I wanted it simple and efficient with a mandate that I should be able to erect my tent, have the bed made, have the 270° Ezi-Awn shade awning out, a fire going and a cold one in the hand all within five minutes. And, packing away everything should not take any longer than 10 minutes. Proving camps in the Richtersveld showed that this set-up easily betters these times.

Pain

First, the interior was stripped and then the roof was cut open like a can of beans. It was very painful to watch. An inner steel chassis to strengthen the roof was then build, rust-proofed and inserted, glued and bolted in place. The tent unit was then built to fit. It makes one of the roomiest roof-top tents I have yet seen, and requires very little effort to erect or pack away. Inside the back, the tent lifts up, increasing headroom so that one can stand and walk around. The load-bay benches permit me to use the interior for anything other than aerobics; writing, editing or to watch a movie in the evening should the weather turn foul. Access to stuff is via two slide-out drawers. I have not fitted a kitchen because I want to be able to choose to cook inside or out. There are two Snomaster fridges: a 70L fridge-freezer combo in the back and a small, cool-drink fridge between the front seats that doubles as an arm-rest. Two 70-AH Blue-top Orbital batteries run things. A CTek charger handles the current and a 180W Sanyo HIT solar panel on the flip-up roof helps keep them going. There is a 1000W pure-sin wave inverter and 220v plugs in the front and back. I can charge camera batteries without having to find chargers etc., as they are all in place, as is the power supply for the computer.

Going mad

There were no limitations to what I could do with this vehicle and never before had I been given so such opportunity to go mad. So I did.

A gas geyser and water tank and pump feed a simple shower device, that provides hot water in about 30 seconds. Takla, a South African company making superb seat covers provided those, as well as helped me develop a sound insulation flooring cover. The standard flooring is ugly and the cab can be quite noisy, and this did the trick. While we were at it we developed the same product for LR Defender, Jeep Wrangler and Mercedes 290GD Pro. Underside protection is minimal, but includes Goby-X side step rock sliders and a steering protection plate.

I upgraded the springs and shocks, but found that the standard product I was considering was too firm at the back, and so I removed one of the eight rear leaves. Now the ride is pliant and very nice on the open road, while also not too soft for rough tracks and a heavy load.  I added Firestone Air-springs. This is for when I am particularly heavy and acts as a great help to the springs during very rough going, and goes some way to prevent rear spring breakages.

I changed the wheel rims from the very heavy split rims, to wider rims originally supplied with the 105 series. But they are also extremely heavy, so I have decided on a set of alloys. These are still to be fitted, but will be KMC XD series with BF Goodrich AT tyres. I carry two spares on a replacement rear bumper. The alloys don’t just look nice, but are proper off-road rims.  Combined, they will reduce unsprung weight quite considerably and, more importantly, may make the difference between me being able to lift one of them onto the wheel carrier – or not. The expanded wheel arches are made by a company called Onka, and while not quite the quality of the Australian equivalent, do the job just as well.

I’ve enjoyed my summer break with my kids, and in between have been tinkering in my workshop, preparing the Cruiser for the huge undertaking ahead of me. I’ve mounted torches, easy-access boxes for my camera gear, fire extinguishers, pepper-spray cans, an extra light or two, a back-up inverter, and a decent sound system. I up-rated engine performance by a low-pressure turbo charger fitted by SAC. I elected to upgrade the exhaust to a wider bore, but in an effort to keep things as simple as possible, did not fit an intercooler. Small Hella HID spot lamps were selected because of their size. A turbo-charger is going to need all the cooling it can get and large lights are out of the question. These Hella units produce an unbelievably bright, white light, more than enough for my needs. They stand on a TJM winch bar in which is a TJM 9000lb plasma-rope winch in mounted. Lastly, I upgraded the brakes by replacing the front discs and pads with those made by Powerbrake. It’s made a remarkable difference.

And now it’s mid January and this big trip is looming, but with still so much to do!

The last bits and pieces include auto-armour anti-smash-and-grab window tint, a Baillies Offroad 180L tank at the back (To extend range from 1000kms to 1500 kms) a secret, diesel anti-theft cut-off switch, and some security measure to prevent the rear slider windows being forced open. And I think that is it!

The vehicle will be on show at the Beeld Holiday Show,  15-17 February at the Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand. See you there.

After this, I’m gone!

Amarok – Any good?

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I have just completed over 5000 kms in one of these through Namibia. I hit lots of tar, gravel and even some reasonably challenging off-road bits. So it is any good?

There is no point in doing a test on any pick-up without comparing it to the others. For this, I must divide the offerings in two categories: not worth considering and, difficult to choose between them. In the first are all the Nissans, all the Chinese buckets of bolts, the funny looking Indian things and even the Isuzu. Right now, only the Hilux and the brilliant new Ranger fit into the second. So, the question is, in which category does the Amarok fit?

Let’s see. On the open tar, the 2.0L pulls extremely well. Seats didn’t give me backache during three full days in the vehicle, almost without a break. The cab is extremely wide and a nice place to be. The gear lever is very notchy and it took me a while to like it. The instruments and layout are fine. No medals, but nothing wrong either. But I couldn’t play my iPod music because there is no connection or Bluetooth. Bad VW!! Don’t you know that not many people use CDs any more?

Cruise control is faultless and the motor pulls up and down hills at 120 kph, and overtakes are easy. Economy was outstanding.

In town it’s a big car with poor rear visibility. My wife did not enjoy driving it at all. And the worst part of all, the engine produces very low torque at low revs so stalling is a regular occurrence, especially in reverse (reverse gear is a higher ratio than first). It was very annoying and frustrating. I did get used to it, but it took quite some time. I found myself slipping the clutch quite often, which I hate to do.

Rough expedition tracks. The ride is good and the loadbay is huge. The canopy supplied (SA-Canopy Carryboy) was as useful as a chocolate kettle. It let in huge amounts of dust, the catches broke several times and each time we spend a good hour trying to get them to latch properly.

Off-road. The four-wheel drive and low range engagement was quick and painless. Low range is nice and low, and the hill climbs were tackled easily. It has a rear diff-lock, which I avoided using, as I wanted to find out what it could do without it - and it did well. Clearance looks to me to be average. On down hill compression descents the Amarok drove truly brilliantly. The hill-descent-control works extremely well and the speed limit setting is just right.

Conclusion. After getting used to the stalling on pull off, my Namibia experience was only made better by this very enjoyable vehicle. I like the Amarok very much, and it easily fits into category two. Would I prefer a larger engine? Sure, but at what price in economy? So would I choose the Amarok over a Hilux or Ranger? I honestly don’t know. I would have to jump back into those two, to remind myself just how good they are.

Brand new TV show

Hi All

My new TV series is about to go out on DSTV, Ch 265 (Ignition TV) Watch the promo here. I still haven't completed the shoots, having a last one to do with the Arctic Trucks' Hilux, in Knysna. The show's on every weekend from November 17th, 8.30 pm Saturday and Sunday. I hope you enjoy the show. It's some of my best work! Cheers for now, Andrew.

Video Blog and some personal stuff

I'm going to take a bit of a liberty this week and not write my normal blog. Instead I've recorded one while driving from my home near Cape Town to Gauteng. This written blog is of a more personal nature.

It's been a memorable few months, both for good and bad reasons. My wife Gwynn has finally released her first novel, after an exhausting, four-month blog tour. We've had the nastiest winter I can remember here in the Cape and some shooting of the video trailer for Gwynn's book was a real battle against the weather. Then the process was interrupted with me having to rush off to assist my parents when my Dad fell critically ill. I finally completed the shooting and editing of the trailer just before having to rush back to my father's side. He passed away on Tuesday at a little after 7pm. He was one of the greatest people I ever new. His compassion for others, unbridled generosity and wicked sense of humour are irreplaceable. We never had a normal conversation. We always laughed.

The picture shows me and my Dad doing what we both really loved - flying in my plane.

My 4x4 video blog:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4FY1CXq1_c&feature=share&list=UULL44RCPuw8XIslZBB8jf6A

Gwynn's book blog:

http://todayinshenaya.blogspot.com/

The book video trailer:

http://youtu.be/yFA-p6Xq01s