Digital Nomads

Mercedes and Andy Lilienthal are back, two of our favorite guests and they give use preview of the Summer Alcan 5000 Rally they'll be running durning late August/September. 

Andy Lilienthal (Driver) is a die-hard gearhead. He's written about cars professionally since 1999 and has worked in the automotive aftermarket for 16 years, mostly at Warn Industries, the leader in vehicle recovery winches. Andy is an advanced off-road driver, teaches vehicle recovery classes, and writes about outdoor, off-road, and automotive topics for outlets like TREAD Magazine, Petersen's 4Wheel & Off-Road, Gear Junkie, The Truth About Cars, and more. He's also appeared in the New York Times, APM Marketplace, and other publications. In addition, Andy piloted the 5,120-mile 2020 winter Alcan 5000 Rally in the couple’s 1991 right-hand-drive diesel Pajero 4x4, has competed in Pacific Northwest time-speed-distance rallies as well as autocross races, and even did the Gambler 500. When not competing or writing, Andy works on his 4x4s and daily driver subcompact. When not wrenching, he and his wife, Mercedes, can be found exploring off-road trails across the world.

Mercedes Lilienthal (navigator) is the Editor-At-Large of TREAD Magazine and contributor to The New York Times, Car and Driver, Forbes Wheels, Autoblog, and several other automotive outlets, Mercedes creates award-winning content involving vehicular adventure travel, the automotive industry, and women within it. In addition to auto journalism, Mercedes offers PR/marketing services to a variety of automotive-related clients. Aside from her work, she’s competed in several rallies, like the 2018 and 2021 Rebelle Rally. In '21, Mercedes partnered with Volkswagen of America to drive the newly released all-electric AWD ID.4. Her team made history as the first EV crossover to complete it. She covered the event solely as media in 2019/2020, too. Mercedes also partnered with Andy as his navigator for the 2020 Alcan 5000 Rally. They were the tribute 4x4 to legendary racer Rod Hall, placing 2nd in the Historical Class and achieving Finisher/Arctic awards, as well as the coveted Go Farther award.

Andy and Mercedes are partnering with Subaru of America with an Outback Wilderness for this year's summer Alcan 5000 Rally. This Outback Wilderness will be slightly customized to enhance its already capable OEM AWD "softroading" platform. 5,000+ miles, 10 days, 30% or so gravel/dirt. This year’s Alcan 5000 Rally will take competitors from Washington state through Canada’s most remote surroundings. This includes Quesnel, Telegraph Creek, Whitehorse, Dawson City, Skagway, Yellowknife, with a finish in Jasper, Alberta. The Alcan 5000 Rally is in August/early Sept. 

They have competed in the winter Alcan 5000 Rally in Feb./March of 2020 with our Mitsubishi Pajero right-hand-drive diesel, in temps to -43 and beyond. A wide array of other customized 4x4s also competed in winter 2020, with lots of challenges for all competitors.

Andy and Mercedes have had a long-standing relationship with Subaru as well as Subaru Motorsports, covering the Oregon Trail Rally races (on the ground and once even via their helicopter photographing Travis Pastrana and David Higgins as they rallies the event), reviewing their vehicles for various publications, and owning a few Subarus ourselves (we actually picked up a 2022 Crosstrek w/ manual transmission). This Subie will complement three customized RHD Mitsubishi turbo-diesel 4x4s we own (or primary project vehicles), as well as a subcompact car.

 

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