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RV sneak peek: Toro Bravo Silver Spear, work, play, overlanding beast

Tony Barthel

Today’s RV review looks at a concept from a new company, the Toro Bravo 4X4 PROTOTYP3 Silver Spear. Whew. I really like this concept for a number of reasons, but chief among those is the flexibility of the use case. The design of this vehicle is intended to provide functionality as both a camper and a work truck. 

What that could mean, and I’ve advised you against getting tax information from me before, but it’s possible that you could buy this vehicle as a write-off for work but then also enjoy the functionality of it for weekend recreation. 

Toro Bravo 4X4 PROTOTYP3 Silver Spear

Based on a one-ton four-wheel-drive truck chassis, the Silver Spear concept is sort of a smaller box truck with integrated tracks in the floor and sides of the rear area. There’s also a wet bath built in. A cabover section features a bed. 

When you’re talking to the IRS you would show them that the kitchen assembly can be removed and there is a provision for a peg wall or other systems for managing the tools you need to get work done. This quite legitimately would be a great truck for those making things. 

There’s also space on the road side for a very large tool box which could be anchored down by the tracks in the floor and walls of this rig. Getting that tool box in would be a matter of lowering the large rear ramp and simply pushing it up there and into place. 

You quite literally would have the interior space as a good place to work and, bonus, there’s a bathroom for when nature calls and a bed for when it’s been a long work day. 

Becoming an RV

When the work week is finished this can easily be converted to RV duty. Since the majority of the interior components are easily attached and removed from tracks, you could simply swap the work-related items for camping-related ones. 

There’s a sink on the road side as well and this rig comes with a 12 volt cooler similar to the Dometic cooler that I wrote a review of. 

There are also cabinets, bunk beds and other RV-specific items that can be easily swapped in and out and mounted to the tracks and rails. The company wasn’t too specific about this, but did mention that they would be crafting these items using a 3D printer. That means they would be less susceptible to damage by water or other things that can often ruin components that might typically made of wood in an RV. 

I had mentioned the rear ramp for getting the tool box in, but this could also serve the purpose of getting toys in like an eBike, or even snowmobile or an ATV. 

Further, the ramp is an unusual design in that it has a hinge in the middle so you can either use it as a ramp, of course, or have it do double duty as a patio deck. While this functionality isn’t that unusual, the way they’ve done it with the hinge is. 

In fact a lot of the thinking that went into this shows little experience in the RV industry and that’s a really, really good thing. 

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Boondocking and off-grid capability

The Silver Spear is quite well equipped for going places that are barely places. Boondocking is absolutely a strong suit starting with all the available models including four-wheel-drive and serious off-road tires. 

On the roof of the RV are five solar panels which produce 900 watts of solar. This charges an 810 amp hour lithium battery system. 

This kind of power could also serve someone well who is using this for work as you could operate a wide range of tools and systems. Further, you could say that you’re a green company to a certain extent considering that the household power you use could be derived from a solar system. Of course there’s the pesky huge heavy vehicle under it but, still, using one vehicle for two purposes has some green value too. 

The bathroom in this unit does feature a composting toilet according to the company and that toilet is located in a shower enclosure, so it’s a wet bath. Well, but you don’t wanna get water down that composting toilet so make sure it’s closed when it’s time to shower. There will also be the choice of a cartridge toilet instead.

Design and company

Toro Bravo is the vision of two graduates of the Art Center College of Design. This is the school to go to if you want to get into the design of vehicles and is where I wanted to go when I wished to be a car designer. The company was founded in 2020 by MJ Mayo and Ian Backstrom during their capstone year together at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, CA. Jeff Roher is also a founding member of the team and might best be known as a football player. 

“The mission of Toro Bravo 4x4 is to design an approachable and affordable multi-purpose overlander vehicle that can serve a myriad of functions” said Toro Bravo co-founder Jeff Rohrer. “With the introduction of our first model, the Silver Spear, owners have the unique ability to swap out their work tools in minutes for their favorite outdoor weekend toys and hit the road. Where the road ends for most RVs is where the road begins for Silver Spear. This 4x4 RV is designed to go deeper and further into our beautiful nation’s wonders and, hopefully, out of cell service. With our price point and significant tax advantages, we are looking to democratize and expand the customer base in the RV market.”

Building these RVs includes a unique wall structure called CoCure Metal Hybrid Composite panels. These are a sandwich that features an aluminum outer skin laminated to a 1.75 inch thick wall structure that is both relatively light weight but also strong. It also results in an R14 rating for insulation. 

One of the other very unique features of this vehicle is that the company plans to offer it on Ram, GM or Ford chassis. So if you’re a Ram person, you could get a Ram 5500 as the base. If you’re into Fords, Chevrolets or GMCs there are options to go that way, too. Good idea. 

Whatever your chassis of choice, know that it would be equipped with four-wheel-drive and shod with 40-inch tires. 

Overall the price of the vehicle is anticipated to be in the low $200,000 range which isn’t out of line for something of this caliber. There may also be tax advantages to this considering that a business could justify it but then you have all that camping functionality too. 

Conclusions

The idea of one vehicle that serves both work and play is brilliant. I also really like the idea that you can swap in pieces based on your current need. For example, if you and your partner are just getting away for the weekend you could put in a few kitchen items and some cabinetry. 

If you’re bringing the kids, you could plug in a couple of bunks. I would imagine that the company will also eventually add other components as they see needs or demand changing and the fact that they’re creating much of the pieces with 3D printers means that offering new items doesn’t involve a ridiculous amount of tooling. 

I saw the seeds of an idea like this in the Exo-Hauler but this is that done even better, in some ways. Using the 5500-type chassis means that you do have the ability to bring things with you or just reconfigure the camper portion based on whatever trip you have planned. 

While the execution remains to be seen, the idea is a solid one. Presently the company is taking orders with a $100 deposit. 

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