There are plenty of hardcore off-road motorhomes, along with customized Mercedes-Benz Unimogs – but not many combined. The company responsible for this RV upfit is Stone Offroad Design (SOD) based in Germany, just south of Munich. It’s called the SOD Rise 4×4.
Using a beefy Unimog as the platform means SOD doesn’t need to worry about upgrading mechanicals. Instead, the company focuses on that big living module mounted to the Merc’s back, which can be removed and used independently of the truck if desired. From the outside, it looks all business in its menacing shade of gray. Step inside, however, and you enter a completely different world.
White, black, and gray meld together to create something more akin to a posh New York apartment. The lounge space at the rear contains a large wraparound sofa with a small table in the middle. A chandelier hangs overhead, mounted on the base of a bed that lowers down over the sofa to create a second bedroom. A full kitchen next to the sofa contains a four-burner induction stove with an oven and a modest sink, all set into a marble-themed stone surface. Naturally there’s a refrigerator, but instead of a small unit, there’s a full-size stand-alone refrigerator-freezer positioned opposite the countertop.
The angled door toward the front of the living space contains the full bathroom. An odd pyramid-shaped toilet grabs your eye, mounted next to a small sink with a large vanity mirror on the wall and a showerhead reaching down from the ceiling. Stepping out of the bathroom, the main bedroom has a fixed bed in the alcove overtop the cab.
As for power, the SOD Rise 4×4 packs a 400-Ah lithium-ion battery pack and is equipped with up to 840 watts of solar. It carries 106 gallons of fresh water and 40 gallons of gray water, and it’s also four-season ready with heat and air conditioning.
Of course, such a combination of luxury, capability and off-road prowess does come at a price. The 400-horsepower (294-kilowatt) version lists in Germany for €899,900. In U.S. currency, that’s just more than $1 million, though it’s not available for US buyers anyway.
For those that can get it, the SOD Rise 4×4 will be available in June 2022.
