Global Expedition Wolf with Mattracks

History

The Land Rover Global Expedition was to be led by Sir Ranulph Fiennes over some 23,000 miles from London through Russia and across the Bering Strait to Alaska and New York in 1997-98. For it, Land Rover's Special Vehicles department at Solihull prepared a small batch of left-hand-drive military-specification Wolf Defender 110 300 Tdis — sources cite six or seven vehicles — with the reinforced XD chassis and axles, 24-volt electrics, roll cages, winches and expedition equipment.

For ice and swamp the wheels could be exchanged for Mattracks: individual rubber track units from the US company of that name, each bolting to the standard hub via a driving cog with small jockey wheels and torsion bars — a principle dating back to 1950s track conversions. Early trials in Wales exposed weaknesses, with torsion bars heavily loaded and jockey wheels breaking regularly. For open water each vehicle could be mounted on an LRPC — Land Rover Powered Catamaran — a two-tonne Kevlar catamaran whose twin stern paddle wheels were driven hydraulically from the vehicle's rear power take-off, steerable from the driving seat.

A reconnaissance in Alaska in early 1997 successfully tested the Bering Strait crossing concept, but Land Rover's management changed and the company withdrew sponsorship, cancelling the expedition at the last minute and leaving some of the most comprehensively equipped overland Land Rovers ever built without a job. The vehicles dispersed; one, on its Mattracks, is held in the permanent collection of the British Motor Museum at Gaydon (accession 2015-13-7), which records the 2,495 cc, 111 bhp engine and a top speed of 80 mph.

Imagery

Registry record

Manufacturer

Land Rover (Special Vehicles)

Manufactured

1994 base vehicle (museum dating); expedition conversions c.1996-97

Engine type

2.5 L (2,495 cc) inline-four (Wolf 300 Tdi specification, c.111 bhp; the museum record lists the fuel as petrol, but expedition sources describe the vehicles as 300 Tdi diesels)

Production run

6-7 expedition vehicles (sources differ)

Current owner

British Motor Museum (British Motor Industry Heritage Trust) ↗

Country of origin

United Kingdom

Status

preserved (British Motor Museum, Gaydon)

Catalogue data

Record kind

Named model

Model line

Defender

Wheels

0

Base catalogue fields are exported from the Difflocked game. In-game physics values are arcade tuning, not certified historical measurements, and are deliberately not shown as specifications here.

Sources & citations

Researched sources

• Land Rover Defender 110 Global Expedition Mattracks, 1994 (accession 2015-13-7) ↗ — British Motor Museum (accessed 2026-09-09)
• Land Rover Global Expedition ↗ — Max Adventure (accessed 2026-09-09)
• Land Rover Defender 'Wolf' 110 WD Expedition Vehicle (R651 BAC, Global Expedition history) ↗ — Expedition Vehicles For Sale (accessed 2026-09-09)
• Land Rover Wolf ↗ — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09-09)

Catalogue references

• https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/online-collections/details-page?row_id=76417441888 https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/online-collections/details-page?row_id=76417441888 ↗

Development reference notes

• Global Expedition Wolf with Mattracks · HERITAGE-FLEET-REFERENCES.md

  Four individual rubber track units; expedition fittings; amphibious equipment. Reference: https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/online-collections/details-page?row_id=76417441888