Michael Alpha, general manager of Land Yacht Motor Werks, said he started the business because of his family. Alpha said during long road trips, suburban vehicles were not big enough to suit the needs of his eight-member family. Alpha said he has worked in car dealerships—including at Mercedes-Benz of Houston North—for about 25 years and has been a long-time fan of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Van. He said he turned his Sprinter into a luxury van, calling it the Tank 77, and his friends started asking about it. “My friends saw my van and asked me if I’d make them one, and now here we are,” Alpha said. “I didn’t intend for this to be a business, but it’s fun, it’s creative and it’s constantly changing. There’s no monotony to this job at all.” Land Yacht Motor Werks, which opened its Tamina Road location in early 2018 after two years of working out of an air hangar, creates fully customized multipurpose vehicles for clients at its in-house workshop, Alpha said. No two vehicles look exactly alike because no two people are exactly alike, he said. “The people we cater to, they want attention to detail. They want it to reflect their personality,” Alpha said. “We don’t have cookie-cutter designs.” Alpha said the business has added benches that attach to the vehicle’s hitch, luggage racks, ladder and roof decks, awnings, tables, refrigerators, sinks and other appliances to the vehicles it has converted. Flat-screen TVs and speakers can also be added. Land Yacht also does more than just converting Mercedes-Benz Sprinters; the business can redo the interior of cars and boats and offers custom cup holders and leather couches. “This product deserves to be out there, especially at the quality that it’s at,” Alpha said. “It’s tough to see [the handmade quality] in photos, but when clients see it in person, it really invigorates me. They get so excited about what we do.” Land Yacht Motor Werks 32319 Tamina Road, Ste. C, Magnolia 936-483-8600 www.landyachtmw.com Hours: Mon.- Fri. 8 a.m.- 5 p.m., closed Sat.-Sun.