Nimble toy hauler for off-roaders

Getting your 4WD to a remote area is one thing; getting comfortable accommodation there, with all the ‘toys’ you want to play with is another.

Melbourne Land-Rover service specialists Ritter Australia have come up with an elegant, lightweight solution dubbed the ‘Quokka’ that will make its public debut at the Victorian 4WD Show at Wandin, Victoria on February 16.

Part pop-top caravan, part slide-out camper trailer and part toy hauler, the Quokka features an all-aluminium body and measures 2.0m wide, 2.1m tall and 3.5m body-length.

Lightweight and nimble -- like the cat-sized marsupial it's named after -- the Quokka weighs just one tonne, yet can carry a quad bike or a couple of trail bikes and sleep four in comfort. Other toy haulers currently available weigh considerably more.

While the Quokka can carry 800kg in its box-shaped body and is designed to take rough track punishment, it’s not meant for extreme off-road travel, such as through ‘Gunshot’ on Cape York’s Telegraph Track.

However Ritter Australia director Andrew Kovach, who has developed the Quokka with a friend from the Land-Rover Club who specialises in aircraft and trailer fabrication, says less extreme destinations like Wonnangatta Station in the Victorian High Country are very much within its capabilities.

By the time it goes on display at Wandin, it will be fitted with taller 16-inch wheels for additional ground clearance.

To achieve its light Tare weight, yet allow it to follow a 4WD with minimum stress on its aluminium composite-walled body, the Quokka employs a simple beam axle with adjustable twin air bag suspension. The resulting ride is so compliant that Kovach says a dozen eggs left in a bag inside the Quokka all survived a 4WD trek into the Barmah State Forest during testing!

Once on site and the toys are unloaded, the Quokka becomes a home base for up to six adults.

The roof pops up on gas struts, and the large awning folds out to join the open rear hatch, providing 270 degrees of shade.

The queen-size bed concertinas out above the A-frame like a camper trailer, with its canvas tent shielded by a hard lid and twin bunks drop down from the walls of the load bay to provide lounge seating or additional accommodation.

A separate optional tent attached to the rear hatch can provide additional room for sleeping room for two more people.

A 240v/12v power system with a 100 Amp/hr AGM battery, an impact-shielded, 100 litre water tank, a slide-out stainless steel two-burner gas kitchen and six water and dust-proof storage lockers allow the Quokka to pass as a comfortable remote area ‘home’.

Ritter plans to build the Quokka to order and depending on the specification chosen expects it to sell for around $48,000.

For further information contact Andrew Kovach at Ritter Australia on (03) 9834 3500.