Paul Taylor likes to do things his own way; hence his choice of a Daihatsu Rocky as the basis of a tough, go-anywhere/do-anything Overland build. 4x4Explorer’s Richard Soult has the story.

I first met Paul Taylor and his family, partner Eunice and son Ryan, at the Reefton Motor Camp whilst guiding my first 4x4Explorer Adventures trip in January 2020. They had a really good set up with an immaculate Mazda BT-50 and large caravan.

One day, after returning from a trip, I noticed that they had a new vehicle. A Daihatsu Rocky, the same colour as the 4x4Explorer Prado had started out. Purple and silver…

Paul had always done a lot of 4WDing but didn’t want to use the BT-50 out on the trails. Ryan, his son, calls it the “Pavement Princess” and had been trying to persuade him to buy something else that he could take out and get dirty.

Paul had seen the Rocky on TradeMe before leaving home in the Mackenzie Country, and had organised to go and see it in Motueka while they were in Reefton. The Rocky is a 1997 model, with 175,000kms (on the clock when Paul, who is just the third owner from new, bought it).

Apart from a couple of car park door dents, the vehicle was immaculate and the deal was done. Paul had done quite a lot of investigation before buying and discovered that the original owner had paid $65K, when it was bought new in 1997! That’s a lot of money these days, but was a lot more back then! I haven’t verified that, but it seems like an awful lot of money to pay.

Why a Rocky?

So why did he buy a Rocky? Paul says he wanted something “not mainstream” and had always liked the look of them. Being a reasonably small 4WD and having a 2.8l diesel turbo engine, it’s also pretty powerful and the short wheelbase makes it very good off-road.

So, starting with a stock standard vehicle, Paul got to work turning the Rocky into his fun 4WD vehicle.

Liking to get out with mates, a hard-mounted UHF was added, to make sure that comms were maintained in the convoy. This is great for me, as I’m forever “lending” people my small handheld 0.5W radios and never getting them back.

High’ n mighty

As we mention in our “Building an Overlanding Vehicle” article series on www.4x4explorer.co.nz (which you can read at https://www.4x4explorer.co.nz/?aff+2818) the first things to look at are suspension and tyres.

Paul gave the Rocky a 50mm (2”) suspension plus a 50mm (2”) body lift to accommodate the 32” inch tyres that he fitted. With the new tyres, he was getting some body rub, so lifted the body.

To make sure that he was going to be safe on the trails, Paul bought a full set of recovery gear. Again, there is an article on what you need on the 4x4Explorer website.

He wanted to keep the look “clean”, so the winch was incorporated into a steel front bumper. The side steps were removed and set of rock sliders were added.

By now, the Rocky was changing its look and Paul was happy with the results. Next came a roof rack based on the Rhino Rack gutter mount system, to which was attached a light bar. To help with the lighting, a couple of large spots were added to the front bumper.

A few other modifications were also done. He had a stainless steel 2.5” exhaust fitted, which sounds great, but not too intrusive.

Diff locks? From Greece?

The next modification is probably the most interesting. The 4x4Explorer Toyota Prado, despite its look, is basically a “sheep in wolf’s clothing”. Sure, we have a lift, a bull bar etc, but really the only things that gives it better off road performance are the Maxxis RAZR MTs. Paul wanted to fit diff locks and being such an unusual vehicle in New Zealand, ended up having to go to a company in Greece to get some. The manufacture and shipping wasn’t cheap and the delay in having them delivered was about four months. They’re in now though and Paul is happy knowing that the has that security when out alone.

So what next? The obvious thing that the truck doesn’t have is a snorkel and Paul is looking at having a stainless steel snorkel fabricated along with a custom airbox. I’m sure that this has largely been encouraged by his son Ryan.

And a camper trailer from SA?

Ever a willing victim of an internet bargain, Paul has also bought himself a South African camper trailer to make the whole Rocky set up complete.

So there you have it. Not a common vehicle in New Zealand, but a very clean example. With everything that Paul has done, this vehicle is now extremely capable despite maintaining its factory good looks.

If you ever meet Paul out on the tracks, or in a campsite, be sure to wander over for a yarn. He’s a great guy and will be happy to show you both the Rocky and the camping trailer.