Aqualu Industries LR Hardbody

brdhmltn

Well-known member
Interesting. For those that might not have seen it...


July 2020: Our Land Rover bodies are now in production! Contact us for more information at info@aqualu.com or 1-888-765-6714

We’ve had a great response to our new aluminum LAND ROVER'S! Here are just a few things to go over to help answer some of the questions that have been coming in.

We are currently working through the R & D on two prototype bodies. This first body was based off the Land Rover series 2 body style, however once in production we will be modeling them after the Land Rover Defender 90 and 110 series. We plan to offer the Defender 90 in a 2 door and the Defender 110 in a 4 door version.

The body, bulkhead and cowl will be a solid one piece unit and will NOT be made to accept the original components. We plan to offer the body, fenders, grill, windshield frame, half doors and a storage tailgate. The accessories we will be offering will NOT work on the stock bodies. We will NOT be offering replacement panels for the original bodies, only a complete replacement body.

The aluminum Land Rover bodies will be approximately 3x thicker than the original bodies and therefore will be significantly stronger. The bodies will be made from the same material that we use in our Jeep, Land Cruiser and Samurai bodies (.156 or 5/32" thick) 5052 aluminum alloy. We have been producing aluminum replacement bodies and accessories for 30 years and are very confident in the strength and durability of our products.

The R & D has been going smoothly and we are eager to start production! More details will be released as they become available. We are looking to have the 4 door Defender 110 assembled by next weekend. In the meantime, please like and share! Help us to spread the word to the Land Rover community that we are HERE!
 

Landy_Andy

Well-known member
Manufactured a couple of hours from me, gotta remember they are built onto a Jeep frame and not a LR one...well, that’s what the prototype was built on.... doesn’t say now. I’d be surprised if that has changed as LR frames without a body are not common here but finding a rolled/write off JK shouldn’t be that hard.
 
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mgreenspan

Founding Member
The real question is if the body cappings fit correctly and if you can fit a stock windscreen frame on the aluminum bulkhead and door tops, too. I think a hardtop 110 on a JK frame would be a fun project, but not a soft top only always and forever. Also if their half doors can fit a regular Defender, that could be a game changer based on pricing.
 

acheck

Well-known member
Such a missed opportunity. I tried to advise them at the beginning of their R&D to make exact replica parts, but they did not seem to understand why that was a good idea over making it "better".
 

JimC

Super Moderator
Staff member
Such a missed opportunity. I tried to advise them at the beginning of their R&D to make exact replica parts, but they did not seem to understand why that was a good idea over making it "better".

Yeah, I don’t get the appeal at. all. Not just a missed opportunity, a deeply flawed concept and the answer to a question nobody asked. After you‘re done custom fitting so many bits of hardware and discovering unexpected incompatibilities, you‘ll end up with something unfixable without buying custom body panels. So so bad.
 

rocky

NAS-ROW Addict
So you buy a Wrangler with salvage title. Pray the chassis is straight, drop this on and hope that it passes inspection.....
I suspect these bodies will be very expensive. Not all insurers will want to insure a say $60,000 Five year old Jeep on a rebuilt title.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I think the Wrangler’s Pentastar engine would make a good modern power plant for our trucks in place of the V8. )
 
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JimC

Super Moderator
Staff member
FFS, you can’t use your interior. It gets dumber every time I look at it. This belongs in kit car magazine.
 

mgreenspan

Founding Member
After looking into it more I recant my statement that I think it would be a cool project. It would not be a cool project. It would be frustrating to have something that looks like a Land Rover but cannot use any parts that aren’t hacked into and onto it.
 

Landy_Andy

Well-known member
After looking into it more I recant my statement that I think it would be a cool project. It would not be a cool project. It would be frustrating to have something that looks like a Land Rover but cannot use any parts that aren’t hacked into and onto it.

I'd sort of come to the same conclusion, a missed opportunity to make a body that dropped onto a D1 frame & running gear, instant 100" Defender. Maybe a custom dash or use a https://www.facebook.com/ministryofdefender one.

A good thread on building a 100” based on a D1 donor.

D100” conversion
 
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hillstrubl

Founding Member
I'm so confused by this company. LR wouldn't let Ineos buy the defender's tooling but this endeavor isn't being sued?
 

Landy_Andy

Well-known member
I'm so confused by this company. LR wouldn't let Ineos buy the defender's tooling but this endeavor isn't being sued?

Would you sell the tooling to the competition & let them build the vehicle everyone wants.. when you said it wasn’t possible ?
 

The Dro

Illustrious

hillstrubl

Founding Member
I don't see the kit on their site... Maybe they sued. 🤷‍♂️
it looks like it, the wayback machine version from Nov 2020 still has it -> https://web.archive.org/web/20201125114514/https://www.hardbody4x4.com/
 

Wolf Fabrication

Founding Member
I may have missed it if someone hasn't mentioned it already, but Ian from Four Wheeler TV on Motortrend is building an Aqualu D110 body on a JK chassis. Pretty slick so far...
 
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