Overland vehicle builds are the star attractions at the annual Overland Expo events. The original event of the now-five-a-year series across the country is Overland Expo West, which I’ve now attended every year since 2012.
This year, I battled big winds, 20mph steady with gusts over 50, for 3 days, scouring the show to find the truly new and interesting vehicles on display. I’ve shown you many overland builds on display in my past coverage from past Overland Expos and other automotive events, like SEMA.
But, this year, I uncovered eight award-worthy vehicles to give GearJunkie Overland Expo West 2025 Top Vehicle awards.
Top 8 New Builds: Overland Expo West 2025
And the GearJunkie Overland Expo West 2025 Top Vehicle award winners are …
Sand Ship Discovery II
The Sand Ship Discovery II is a rad, high-quality build that honors overland greatness and history, as well as female pioneers in the industry. The Jeep build pays homage to the first vehicle to do an all-land crossing of the Darién Gap.
This AEV-built Jeep is specifically for the 2025 Rebelle Rally and team “Tried and True.” The team consists of Patty Upton and Connie Rodman. Upton is the navigator for the team and was the navigator of the original Sand Ship Discovery. Rodman is the team’s driver. She has taught classes at every Overland Expo since its inaugural event in 2009 and has extensive overland travel around the globe on her resume, such as London to Cape Town in a Land Rover Defender.
Basil’s Garage 80 Pop-Top
Basil Lynch is an experienced overland traveler who now runs a southern California vehicle customization shop, Basil’s Garage. He recently finished up his latest personal build, and showed it off at Overland Expo West 2025 for the first time.
Lynch took an 80 Series Land Cruiser, chopped the top off, added a custom GFC pop-top camper, and built the vehicle up for serious off-road capability and camp comfort. Think of this as a troopy pop-top style build, but on the super-solid — and much more modern than a 70 Series — 80 Series Land Cruiser.
AT Overland AFS
Mario Donovan at AT Overland Equipment continues to bring innovative and refined products to the overland market. His latest, which debuted at Overland Expo West 2025, is the Advanced Flatbed System (AFS). This is a powder-coated aluminum flatbed system for Ram cab-chassis vehicles that mounts in about a day, utilizing factory mount points. It also utilizes captive fasteners throughout its construction.
The system has an optional garage setup, which offers tons of aircraft tracking to hold everything down and make it super-configurable. As seen here, it can be a huge garage. The garage section of the system also flexes separately from the rest of the flatbed.
The AT Overland AFS for Ram cab axle 84 chassis, as pictured here, will run about $29,000. The build pictured here, with the AEV build, Attera XLF camper, and AFS will set you back about $250K.
Pop-Top Bronco
This Bronco has a prototype URSA Minor Vehicles pop-top camper on it. Well known for camper tops for Jeep Wranglers, as well as Honda Elements and Ford Transit Connects, the company is expanding its range to cover the ever-popular new Ford Bronco.
Inside the now pop-top SUV is an all-new GooseGear Lowpro Stealth Sleep Package. This setup offers a flat floor, a lower sleeping platform, a camp kitchen, and a tailgate table.
The URSA Minor Bronco top will cost $10,500, while the GooseGear interior setup will set you back about $5K. Both will be available very soon and can be ordered now.
ADV Mobil F600 ADV 13
ADV Mobil builds one-off custom-build expedition trucks, something nearly no one in the U.S. does anymore. They do both vans as well as builds on commercial truck chassis utilizing BOX Manufacturing camper boxes. The company is based outside Detroit, Mich.
ADV Mobil’s latest build is this Ford F600-based show rig. It has a ton of bells and whistles to show off the company’s capabilities. In the camper, the cabinets are all made from aluminum and faced with wood, for a super-strong, light, and homey feel.
This monster overland build comes in at $575,000.
Storyteller GXV Epic 2.0
The Storyteller GXV Epic 2.0 made its public debut at Overland Expo West this year. This monster is built on a Kenworth chassis and is built from scratch in Missouri. It costs $800K.
I got to take it out into the wild for some on- and off-road driving as well as a night of camping a few weeks before the show. Be sure to read my full review.
Land Cruiser Bliss Mobil 8’ Lifting Roof
The smallest Bliss Mobil camper to date, this 8-foot hard-sided lifting roof model is just hitting the U.S. market. It has all the amenities you might expect in an expedition camper, but in a tiny box.
It has a drop-down bed from the ceiling and a lower dinette, so it can sleep four. Its 62-gallon freshwater capacity hints at its off-grid capabilities. And, it weighs in at about 2,000 pounds.
And no, you can’t get the diesel Land Cruiser 70 Series this one is attached to in North America. This particular build is a Euro build and was brought in for the show to turn heads.
While this is the sixth unit made, it is a refined build that is now available to U.S. customers. It costs about $160K for the camper, and about $5K for the subframe to mount it — or you can mount it on a flatbed.
KRUG Series Module
While there are already 200 KRUG Series Module campers roaming the world, KRUG Expedition is just getting going in the North American market.
The company’s latest North American build is a 16-foot camper box mounted to an Acela Monterra GL 4×4. This build comes in at $565K. If you want to buy just the camper, that comes in at about $395K.
Read the full article here