Hey, I'm new here, and posted a similar thread to this in the Defender section. I am an Indstrial Design student at Virginia Tech, and for my senior design thesis I am going to design something for Land Rover Defenders (most likely the 110) as they are used in medical relief and recovery efforts in remote areas. I was wondering if anyone had any info. or statistics about how many land rovers are used by organizations for relief, or what countries use them. Also, if I could find out what supplies are transported to these areas, that would be great. I need to research this type of stuff to pose a case for how this could be a socially responsible design. In reality, I just want to design something for Land Rovers cuz I have always liked them, but I need a good cause for the design project. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks guys.

Dan

 

i do know that a lot of missionaries world wide use them because they are smaller than a hummer and a great 4x4.

 

Your best bet is to contact Land Rover direct in the UK, and also companies like Foleys, who specialise in providing vehicles for these uses.

http://www.foleyspecialistvehicles.co.uk/

The reasons why charities etc use landies are
Easy to maintain by bush mechanics
Easy to obtain parts
Easy to adapt for a particular function, without creating problems with regard to the spares or repairs.
Even though used by the military, when painted in other colours they do not look like a military vehicle, and unlikely to be targeted.
Likewise who can get a well armoured landie without it looking as though it is armoured, these are often used by the press, but some aid agencies use them as well, I know the red cross have a few of them.

If you need more info, just shout

 

Thanks for the replies. I will try contacting Foley and Land rover about such things. The main thing I am trying to narrow down is what problems I need to solve. Like if a particular storage unit or bumper attachment is not ideal. We plan to make full scale functional prototypes from square tubing and sheet metal and actually mount them on a Defender. The problem is finding a willing Rover owner in Virginia, United States...they are hard to find, much less to also have the owner being willing to let us mount things to the vehicle.

 

remember, you don't need to use a 110 or even a 90 defender, but could use a series landie as well. Some aid organisations still use the older vehicles, simple as they are so much cheaper to buy.

With regard to what can be done or not, have a look through some of the equipment manufacturers in the UK, basically, any thing can be done, just a question of whether it is sensible.

 

Hey everybody,

It's been a while, and the project I am working on is coming along pretty well. What I have decided to go with is a design that makes a pull-out drawer for the rear cargo area of the Defender between the two wheel well areas where the jump seats are normally located. This will allow things on the bottom to be accessed without unpacking everything above. I realize there is a similar product manufactured by African Outback I believe, but the difference is that my design will reconfigure the door by splitting it in half, below the window. The upper portion with the window will go up much like a hatch to allow access from either side of the opening, while the lower portion will be essentially the outside of the drawer. This will allow access to the hatch area or the drawer area independently of each other. We are at the point that we need to decide what the whole thing will look like from outside the vehicle, so I have posted a link below with 3 pages of our ideas for the outside appearance, with numbers by each. Please look at the pages and let me know which numbers are your favorites. I appreciate your time [sm=thanx.gif]

Form Development