Blanco Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Had a lazy day at the office, ...... some days are slower than others! This morning something started me off on amphibious cars, and that led me to Dutton (remember them when I was at school, and thats not recent!) and the Surf model. Well from there I got back onto lightweight 4x4's and rust, from there I looked at frp bodyshells from South Africa and the USA and from there I found a company called Aqualu and stumbled across this. So relax lads the future of the old defender is safe in American hands! ....err.... maybe.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanuki Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Fascinating... but if I was wanting to do that I wouldn't use any kind of metal - I'd go for stressed cellular--honeycomb and weave-reinforced (Kevlar) plastic. Lighter, much stronger, corrosion-resistant, safer in a crash (because of controlled energy absorption), much easier to repair, and probably cheaper too. Think F1 cars and modern aircraft - or even 1960s Lotus road-cars! [They kinda give the game away when that boast about their panels being thicker: that's old-style last-century thinking. These days the game is all about efficient use of materials - meaning **thinner** and **lighter** for the same, or greater, strength]. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Yeah Funny this, as I've noticed a couple of there bodies being sold off on ebay recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 Wow! They’ll need HD suspension, and still won’t be able to load up the vehicle as it’ll hit the MGVW limits empty! It’s a terrible idea from any engineering or commercial perspective. Only the US or Russia could do it! 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dailysleaze Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 Lawsuit, anyone? 😁 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 Dare I say typical american attitude of adding material = stronger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 It will be stronger, but the vehicle will be so heavy that performance, economy and handling will be noticeably affected. It’s just not a reasonable thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy996 Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 5 hours ago, Snagger said: It will be stronger, but the vehicle will be so heavy that performance, economy and handling will be noticeably affected. It’s just not a reasonable thing to do. But it doesn't require too much in the way of design talent. Hopefully, JLRs corporate solicitors will have a go; I've heard they are rather fierce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 I don’t see a need for legal issues, as I can’t see it endangering safety. If people want to waste money on such overdone panels, that should be their choice. I can say I like the idea of manufacturers jealously guarding patents on products they chose to abandon, leaving prior customers unsupported. If the Defender was still in production, that’d be a different matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martyn668 Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Why make it thicker at all? It will still be mounted on the chassis, which provides the strength and rigidity. You don’t need the body panels to be stronger. It won’t have been designed to crumple safely, etc., do I can’t seem it being any more than VERY moderately safer in a crash situation. Doesn’t make any sense to me. It may have to be 3x thicker just because they’re building it as a single piece? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 I don’t think the originals were designed to crumple safely either! Strong panels may be liked by those who tend to dent standard panels frequently, like rock crawlers, but would they be willing to take the extra weight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 By the time you have removed the weight of the steel reinforcements they won't be much heavier. Yanks like to swap bodies out on their jeeps all the time, either longer wheel base, high arches or something else. They can be made from steel, Ali, fibreglass or even carbon fibre... So I guess, this has come off the back of this. Equally, if you bashed up a panel on this body you will likely be able to bash it back out, a composite material and you have no chance. Different market, different product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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