The Liberte Battle Van – Going Nomadic

It's not exactly the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle and not precisely the A-Team van, but it's getting close.

RECOIL guest contributor Sara Liberte has been updating and “upgunning” her as-yet-unnamed 2017 GMC Savana. She'll be using to conduct not even remotely clandestine, high-speed-low-drag special video-photographic operations across the country. Her previous vehicle, the Dodge Mahal (a 2003 Dodge Ram) was beginning to show the wear of traveling from East coast to West coast, from Canada to Mexico, and all the side jaunts between.

Our partners at OFFGRID reported on this not too long ago here, probably because they (like we) are going to be helping her out.

From a shooting deck on top to its grid-down comms, the Liberte Battle Van (a temporary name only) is going to be one hell of a ride.

The rebuild began with a window tint job (black, to deter peeping perverts) by West Virginia's Pro Tint, then moved to Clever Crow Fab in Stillwater, Oklahoma (Go ‘Pokes!) to sort the interior. CCF's David Adams is currently working emplacing a complete Design Engineering Boom Mat interior to improve interior sound quality (it absorbs unwanted noise and soundwaves). This will drastically improve audio performance during production efforts (and travel) by eliminating road noise, mitigating engine sounds, and dampening vibrations that tunnel and surround audio output.

Says Liberte,

“The DEI mat will aid in filtering the distortion caused by audio waves from both low and high decibel frequencies or from bass vibrations, road rattle and engine noise that can disrupt the sound waves we would rather hear, ya know like some Hank 3 as I'm tearin' ass down the road.  Speakers? Oh, we we'll get to that!”

Some other companies involved in the build:

• Aluminess – Off-road bumpers, roof racks, ladders
• Design Engineering – Insulation and noise-dampening
• Norcold – Mobile refrigeration
• ShotLock – Locking gun storage
• Truck Vault – Storage for valuable photo equipment and other gear
• Zamp Solar – Power for Sara’s laptop, cameras, and electronics

We'll keep you to date as our build progresses (as will OFFGRID) but you can follow her progress on Instagram if you'd care to, @saralibertephotography. There's a lot left to do, including the sourcing and installation of an exterior awning for when she goes firm at a location, LED lighting, closed system wench, a water purifier, backup generator, weapon storage, and maybe a 4 x 4 conversion…plus whatever other ideas we can scrounge up watching Garage Monkey TV, Dirt Every Day, and the WARN channel, or just stalking Joe on Instagram.

At this point there are no plans for hillbilly armor or a crew-served weapon cupola (since we're not entirely sure we need to make it apocalypse-proof), but the build is young!

More as we get it.

Cover image by Jens Fielder.