Off-Road Adventure Rigs Keep Us Together Pt. 1

WORDS | Mercedes Lilienthal PHOTOS | Mercedes and Andy Lilienthal & Tina Rahn

It never used to be this way. We were bound by office chairs and mundane-colored cubicles for decades. However, my husband, Andy Lilienthal, and I willingly “jumped” off a cliff. We dove face-first into a freelance writing/marketing world filled with zero benefits, no security, and little certainty. Why change from secure jobs and steady paychecks to all things unknown? 

Adventure and living for the now. 

The Impetus

Both our fathers died at the age of 66. They didn’t have the chance to travel or do things they wanted to after they retired. Heck, they weren’t even really retired when we lost them. 

Time is finite. We realized we couldn’t wait to do things we wanted to do. There was so much to see and so many things to do, all while trying to make an impact. So, we carefully planned and saved money over the ensuing years. Through that process, we forged a path towards adventure and freedom, while trying to make meaningful impressions along the way. 

Our First 4x4

Our first foray into four-wheel-drives and adventure travel was a teal two-door 1995 Suzuki Sidekick. It had a hyperextended driver’s door and kindling sticks holding up both crank windows. It was stock—and it was ours after we paid $1,800 for it. 

We purchased it shortly after Andy started his job at Warn Industries. Warn is a premium manufacturer of electric vehicle winches, off-road bumpers, hubs, and more for four-wheel-drive rides. We came from the lowered tuner scene. So, working for a company whose customers customize 4x4s was a new world for us. Andy wanted to understand “his people” as one of the company’s marketing managers. So, we bought the Sidekick, and dubbed it the Teal Terror.

Andy was resourceful. He bought used parts and bartered for others. We started building our little trucklet up with the little money we had being fairly fresh out of college. 

What was an initial purchase to understand Andy’s clientele quickly became more. This 30-year-old banged up piece of sheet metal was our impetus for adventure travel. The Teal Terror took us all over Moab, crested Colorado’s famed Imogene Pass at 13,114 feet above sea level, skimmed across Oregon’s sand dunes, and more.  

We Wanted More

Since we were little, we loved to travel with our families. We liked to experience new things, cars, and when we were older, writing. We found a way to marry those things together and it’s brought us to where—and who—we are today. Andy and I are freelance journalists, photographers, and content creators.

Although we no longer have the Teal Terror, we since exponentially expanded our fleet. It included a domestic marque as well as right-hand-drive Japanese Domestic Market imports. Our eccentric taste also led to creating our brand exactly 10 years ago, Crankshaft Culture, which focuses on adventure travel, vehicles, gear, and all things rally. 

To date, we’ve owned (or still own) the following 4x4s in the order of acquisition. Each of these were attentively cared for and customized to enhance their capability, looks, and overall comfort. 

Initial Successors to The Teal Terror

The 2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport was Andy’s late father Jim’s mountain 4x4. I remember many times taking it to Mt. Hood Meadows near Portland, Oregon. They skied and I snowboarded. His Cherokee was maintained but remained almost bone stock until his passing. Andy received it later and built it up into an incredible off roader. However, it broke down multiple times during our duration with it. We ultimately sold it. 

During our 2016 trip visiting my cousin in New Zealand, Andy drove her well-used Mitsubishi Delica Star Wagon van. We had to have one. We bought a white 1989 Mitsubishi Star Wagon and tried #vanlife and “living life on the right.” It was our first right-hand-drive vehicle (RHD), living in a left-hand country. It was weird and slow. We were hooked. 

Owning our rusty-but-mechanically solid Star Wagon, aka The Space Tractor, was interesting, challenging, and fun. We loved life with it. We slept out of it via a makeshift sleeping platform we artfully crafted from repurposed lumber. 

We needed to investigate RHD rigs further. We bought two more JDM 4x4s, Mitsubishi Pajeros. We even drove one of them to the Arctic Ocean in the dead of winter. Why? Because we could.

The first was a 1992 white-and-silver two-toned Pajero XR-II, the Ralli Tractor. It was our first sight unseen fly-and-buy purchase (of three). It had that quintessential Dakar Rally-style, complete with Ralliart livery. We flew to Houston, TX, bought it, and drove it home. After we owned it for a while, I wanted one to call myself. 

Our Second Mitsubishi Pajero 4x4: The #TerraTractor

Falling deeper into the JDM realm, we purchased a 1991 Mitsubishi Pajero XP. It cost just over $4,000. It was also from Texas. We bought it in 2018, the same year I quit my job and leapt into an unknown abyss. It had cheap highway tires and a “new” slipping clutch, but we drove it home in anticipation of his-and-her adventure 4x4s. 

This purchase spawned my new-found love of off-road driving and discovering time-speed-distance (TSD) rallies. I started competing in off-road competitions as a driver/journalist/photographer. And we, as a couple, started testing our chops in road rallies—competitions based on precision on-route and on-time instructions. 

The Alcan 5000 Rally

Not long after, we found out about North America’s longest TSD rally and had to do it. The Alcan 5000 Rally started in 1984 and runs like the Olympics, summer then winter, then summer and so on. This competition starts near Seattle but has varying routes in Canada and Alaska. Many times, teams travel above Arctic Circles to the tune of 5,000+ miles in just 10 days.  

What better adventure than piloting a 30-year-old right-hand-drive turbo diesel up to the Arctic Ocean and above two Arctic Circles in temps of -43 degrees and colder?! We had never been to Alaska and Canada’s far north before. This was our chance.

What’s Next?

Our next article dishes about the challenges and extreme measures we took to survive the Alcan 5000 Rally and beyond. The 2020 Alcan 5000 Rally was tip of the iceberg regarding road rally and our adventures with vehicles, stamina, and travel. Rally is like the “choose your own ending” books you read when we were kids. However, we’re living that fantasy in actuality and are documenting it along the way as journalists, photographers, and content creators. 

We’re delving deeper into road rally adventures, overlanding, and our adventurous lifestyle. It’s a big decision to start from ground zero with a new life. But we’ve never looked back. We’re using past careers and experiences to propel us forward. Our many transferable skills have helped us in our new venture. Past experiences can help future ones: You just need to trust the process.  

We have many more adventures to share, in addition to the 2020 Alcan 5000 Rally, two more 4x4 purchases, and more. For us, 2018 and our first Arctic rally were pivot points in our lives—for the better. We learned a lot and pushed beyond boundaries. Andy and I embraced the “what if’s” and tackled challenges head-on. We brave uncertainty and adversity in search of quality of life and fulfillment. 

Older vehicles can provide ample adventure and experience if you take a chance and buy them. But our eclectic choices in vehicles would prove fantastic and hard … stay tuned as part two of this article series dishes on how we’ve adapted, learned, failed, and grown along the way. We promise you it’s worth the read.

To date, we’ve owned (or still own) the following 4x4s in the order of acquisition. Each of these were attentively cared for and customized to enhance their capability, looks, and overall comfort. 

1. 1995 Suzuki Sidekick
2. 2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport
3. JDM 1989 Mitsubishi Delica Star Wagon
4. JDM 1992 Mitsubishi Pajero XR-II
5. JDM 1991 Mitsubishi Pajero XP (still own)
6. JDM 1994 Mitsubishi Delica Space Gear (still own)
7. JDM 1998 Suzuki Jimny Wide (still own)