Truck & 4×4

BaT member expeditionportal and his wife recently completed the Alcan 5000 rally in the 2011 BMW X5 xDrive35i that he won from StyleCars in a May 2025 BaT auction, and he wrote to us all about his experience:
Like most car enthusiasts (and even non-car enthusiasts) will tell you, buying a late-model German luxury machine sight-unseen is not exactly the most brilliant idea. And planning to take such an unknown vehicle on a 5k-mile grueling TSD (Time/Speed/Distance) rally—the longest of its type in North America—was starting to sound a bit on the bonkers side.

Our latest Success Story comes from BaT member Richard55, whose wife and her teammate recently completed the 2025 Rebelle Rally in the 1993 Land Rover Defender 110 NAS that he won from GTBoy in a September 2024 BaT auction. Richard55 wrote to tell us about it:
I have owned a few Range Rover Classics and was looking for a different experience. I also wanted to teach my son how to drive a manual transmission. We had gotten more into off-roading in recent years. I was looking for a NAS 110, and when this truck came up in my BaT notifications, it was an unrepeatable opportunity. Finding a lifetime California truck in great condition, with low miles, and located close to home—especially with so few of these made—was unlikely to happen again. I met the seller during the auction to look at the truck, expecting to be disappointed once I saw it in person and had a chance to crawl underneath. I called my wife afterward and told her it was in better condition than expected from the listing. No rust to be found. The A/C wasn’t working, and it needed a new headliner—as described. We discussed how much we were willing to spend and which truck we would sell if we won the auction.