If there’s a vehicle that will make you want to explore the great outdoors again, it’s this Indiana Jones-on-the-outside, refined-traveler-on-the-inside SUV. It’s from an automotive brand called Rimor Adventure which identifies itself as a bespoke builder of adventure vehicles. “Rimor in Latin means a sense of adventure and a sense of exploration,” says Monchet Diokno Olives, the brand’s creative design consultant.
Rimor Adventure's first SUV exemplifies those two pursuits. The LX1 is perfect for off-road adventures. It’s designed to take on the role of a city-to-country estate car, says Monchet, known as one of Manila’s most stylish men. It’s luxurious enough to be driven around the city, he says, and is also well-built for long drives—like a trip to a Calatagan beach house perhaps, or a date in Antonio’s Tagaytay.
“It’s like a safari on wheels,” he tells Raul Manzano who recently featured the car in his EIC on the Move’s holiday gift guide. (Watch the episode below. Start on the 46:20 mark). Of course it’s a gift that will set you back at least P4.5 to P5 million, but let’s just say from the way Monchet talks about it, the recipient will not be disappointed in this upgraded, masterfully spruced-up Toyota Megacruiser.
To help Monchet achieve the look he had in mind, Rimor engaged Matthew Brill, owner and visionary behind the fantastic The River House in Pampanga and the impeccable design house Prizmic and Brill. The latter is known for its campaign style furniture, called as such as they are made to be folded for ease of travel. “My inspiration for this is Alexander Kraft’s classic Range Rover, which has a bar at the back,” Monchet tells ANCX, referring to the incredibly stylish owner of Sotheby’s realty France.
The prototype LX1 is in light camo. On top of the vehicle are four multi-purpose, removable baskets, that can also be used as seats. It has a latchable coffee table at the center of the vehicle, which can be pulled out and placed at the center. “There’s a sense of retro to it,” offers Monchet.
He and Matthew are figuring out the tweaks that will be made in each car. “We are going to play with it and see where we can upgrade,” he says, assuring that there will be little touches that are sure to excite potential buyers. The second one will have a picnic table built into the car. The third, which will be an homage to Daniel Craig, will be in black.
It will take around two months for Rimor to customize a car to client preferences, according to the man behind the brand, Daniel Lhuillier Miranda, who is also Rimor’s operations manager. But that shouldn’t be a long wait, if the LX1’s looks is to be one’s basis. To hear Monchet say it, it’s a vehicle for the times. “I think after 600 days of being locked up, people are looking for ways and means to get out,” he says. And how else would it be best to go out but in style.