In Shanghai on an early spring night in April, the breeze is blowing.

Our interview subjects Yu Xuebing and Gao Wei arrived as scheduled. These two capable-looking men are known as the "Fathers of Chinese Off-Road RVs" in the circle of off-road RV enthusiasts. After a brief exchange of greetings, we quickly moved on to the topic of the interview:

The origin of China’s most expensive off-road RV worth 13 million:

In 2003, Yu Xuebing, Gao Wei, and a group of outdoor enthusiasts who loved the outdoors went off-roading in no-man's land. However, due to the lack of campsites and limited space for off-road vehicles, food, equipment supply and shelter became the biggest problems. Facing the harsh living environment in the wild, the two people thought how great it would be if they could have a RV with off-road performance, which could not be constrained by the environment, go through obstacles and travel to every corner of the world without fear of danger, and see the most beautiful scenery!

"Layman" has become the pioneer of high-end off-road RVs in China:

Due to the small RV market, high cost, long production cycle, and high performance requirements, there were very few RV brands in the domestic and foreign markets at that time, and there was even no off-road RV category with off-road performance and extremely high failure rate requirements. In 2005, Mr. Yu and Mr. Gao decided to start designing and building off-road RVs on their own. However, although they loved off-roading and knew a lot about RVs, they were not majoring in vehicle design, and they did not have mature production lines and products for reference. As a parts supplier, you can imagine how difficult it is to create a new category that is not available on the market - off-road RVs.

But the difficulty inspired the two people's creative enthusiasm. They spent day and night learning professional knowledge about off-road and RV, consulting domestic and foreign professionals, starting from heavy trucks with strong load capacity and good stability, and personally selected the appropriate chassis. , designing and polishing various accessories, and after countless tests, two years later, the first high-end off-road RV in China - the Armadillo Conqueror was launched!

Armadillo’s surprise appearance at the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show:

At the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show, the two excitedly brought their "Armadillo Conqueror" to the exhibition. As soon as they arrived at the scene, their "chariot" was surrounded by everyone. Many off-road enthusiasts marveled at this car. The design and quality of the car were all deeply shocked when they learned that it was designed by two off-road enthusiasts over a period of two years out of love.

Everyone gathered around the "Conqueror", marveling at this majestic moving castle, dreaming of driving it and galloping in the back garden of the world's beautiful scenery. Standing in front of this big guy who must be looked up to, it is like a human being in nature, small and harmonious.

Although some parts of the "Conqueror" exhibited at this exhibition have not yet been completed, they have been deeply recognized by everyone. There were even three people on site who wanted to place custom orders. The two of them were happy but also had a headache. What they were happy about was that they did not expect that their work would be recognized by the circle as soon as it came out. What was worrying was that they received the order first without even calculating the price. What should they do? 

2007 Armadillo Conqueror debuts

The Armadillo brand was born:

The two discussed how meaningful it would be to help more people who love off-roading and RVs realize their dreams, so that they can embrace the beauty of the world without worry and comfort. So they hit it off immediately, put aside their main business for the time being, and began to work hard to build Armadillo. China's first high-end off-road RV brand was officially born.

Armadillo is taken from the ancient mythical beast "Armadillo" recorded in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas". It is covered in armor and crawls across all difficult terrains in nature without any obstacles or being unstoppable. This is exactly what they want to pass on to all off-road RV enthusiasts, hoping that they can enjoy off-roading without fear of obstacles and enjoy the spiritual shock brought by the natural beauty.

The two people who have experienced the peak of their debut still have the same love and original intention. They adhere to the spirit of craftsmanship, insist on personal design and personal selection of materials. Each whole car accessory is individually customized and polished according to hand-drawn drawings. Every Armadillo (Armadillo) On average, it requires more than 10 types of work, more than 30 people work together, and the overall process requires 40,000 to 50,000 man-hours to complete. Before a car leaves the factory, it must go through thousands of real-world and extreme tests to ensure its stability and minimum failure rate. During the trial and error period in the past one or two years, they could only produce 1-2 cars a year. Faced with huge pressure, they still resisted because of their love and belief.

Manufacturing with the spirit of craftsman brings scarcity of production capacity, but it is therefore particularly favored by top circles. Currently, there are only 102 people in the world who own their own Armadillo, including many great directors, stars and famous entrepreneurs.

Armadillo China’s first high-end off-road RV brand

The ultimate doomsday tank, Armadillo’s product matrix is ​​mature

Amodiro represents the highest level of global off-road RV design and manufacturing. Currently, it mainly uses imported Mercedes-Benz and MAN special off-road truck chassis and Ford F550 chassis for modification, so that the RV has super off-road performance. The main models include climbing C (Unimog), Challenger C (MAN 4*4), Edge (Ford F550) and the flagship model Conqueror F (MAN 8*8), covering everything from part-time four-wheel drive to full-time eight-wheel drive . The performance of large-scale off-road RVs exceeds: endurance capacity of 2500-3000 kilometers, adaptability to extreme climate conditions of -40 to 60C0, 100% climbing ability, and 30-day wilderness survivability. Mr. Gao and Mr. Yu led the team to independently develop a 3-point KINE-FIX dynamic connection mechanism to couple the rigid carriage and flexible chassis girder structure. It uses a high-strength aluminum alloy carriage frame and an outer skin made of glass fiber reinforced plastic imported from Germany, and is equipped with a unique generator installation method. And location, good noise reduction and sound insulation. At the same time, Amodiro also has excellent water wading ability, larger oil and water carrying capacity under the same weight, more complete living facilities and equipment, and lighter weight. In terms of performance, it retains the off-road performance design of the original chassis as much as possible to meet the core off-road needs. need.

After 16 years of ups and downs and development, Armadillo has not only been recognized in the Chinese market, but has also been borrowed and developed by the United States and Germany as the "predecessors" of off-road RVs. With the rise of the off-road touring car market in recent years, more and more competitors have joined the track. They imitate or directly copy, hoping to gain greater profits from overtaking in corners, but Armadillo knows well that precipitation and quality will never be the same. It cannot be replaced by money, their goal is always the stars and the sea. In 2025, Amodiro plans to enter the U.S. market and, as China's top independent off-road RV brand, continue to advance into the global market!

postscript:

When everyone drives cars and shuttles through the reinforced concrete city every day, they forget how to get along with nature and themselves. Maybe we should all try to slow down, go to nature, and feel the gifts of nature. Maybe walking slowly will be faster.
At the end of the interview, we asked the two of them a question: After 16 years, is it worth it to pursue this dream and love? The two looked at each other and said firmly together with a tacit understanding: "It's worth it!" For more than ten years, whether it is a product They have never given up on difficulties in the research and development process, production delays caused by national policies and procedures, or vicious competition from rivals. This is not only their love, but also the "Noah's Ark" that makes the dreams of all off-road enthusiasts come true!
Looking forward to the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show, Amodiro's latest "Ride Walker" will allow more people to see it Go to the most beautiful scenery in the world! The harder you work, the more you conquer the boundless world! Salute to all those who keep moving forward for love!