Taking It To The Next level

THE TEAM AT PATRIOT CAMPERS CRANKED THE WILD DIAL TO 11 WHEN IT PIECED THIS 6X6 LAND CRUISER TOGETHER.

- Matt Raudonikis

THERE’S no denying Justin Montesalvo and his team at Patriot Campers continue to raise the bar, not only with their trailers but also with their Super Tourer 4x4 builds. The company is little more than four years old and has built a long list of happy camper customers here in Australia, and now it’s taking that service and quality to international markets, with exports to the USA and elsewhere around the globe.

The Super Tourers are top-shelf builds of current model Land Cruisers, and they’ve found their way to customers in the Middle East, Mongolia and back home in Australia. Justin’s own ‘Black Truck’ LC79 is currently on tour in the USA, where it’s getting plenty of attention in a market that doesn’t get 70 Series Toyotas, and it will be at the SEMA Show.

When we heard the Patriot team was preparing something special for the Melbourne 4x4 Show back in August, we wondered what they might come up with to top anything they have shown to date. From the time photos of the build first started leaking online, and then pictures of it on the road heading to Melbourne, it was obvious Justin had delivered on his promise for something special.

The custom Land Cruiser 79 stole the show, with thousands of onlookers crowding around it over the weekend. Patriot worked with some of the leading businesses in the Australian 4x4 industry to create a 70 Series like no one had seen before – and, just one week later, we were thrown the keys to it.

THE BUILD

PATRIOT started the build with a brand-new 2017 Land Cruiser 79 GXL. When the car rolled off the truck in Melbourne it had less than 100km on the clock, and when we met the guys for our drive it had done just 400 kays.