Patrick's 88 Pajero was like any other, until one fateful day when he got into a "sheetmetal showdown" with a dumptruck. Needless to say, the dumptruck won the battle: it was a frontend collision, but the roof was pulled back, and even the rear door was deformed.

This could have been the end of the story for this 88 Pajero, but Patrick did not take the normal post accident route, and let go his faithful truck.   Instead he saw an opportunity to build the ultimate trail buggy.

Lightness was one of his goals, so he swapped in a 4G63 engine from a pickup, along with the gearbox. A side benefit of this swap was a lower gear ratio.

The body structure is tubular with a plywood "minitray", covered by a body of handlaid fibreglass. In keeping with the buggy look,  Patrick put the radiator in the stern, along with some custom plumbing and some electric fans to keep things cool. To continue shaving weight off the project, the windshield is Plexiglas, and the seats are plastic. Patrick feels these details are important for his "all-wet" ride. Additionally, the elimination of front and rear bumpers has vastly improved his approach and departure angles.

Keeping things moving are 31" tires, which Patrick controls with dual handbrakes when things start to spin. If the unthinkable happens (and Patrick assures us this is rare) and the buggy gets stuck, dual winches will soon extract him! The front is a 6000lb Warn, and the rear is a smaller winch, used as an anchor. The vehicle's low center of gravity usually makes the anchor unnecessary, since the vehicle "will slide before it rolls".