Adrian's Tomcat 100"

Land Rover Body - Shortened Range Rover Chassis

I could take the Range Rover body off and replace it with a Landrover body. This is how you build a Hybrid. A popular option is to cut down the Range Rover chassis from 100 inches to about 88 inches so that it can have a nearly standard Land Rover body added. I could use either a standard 88” (short wheel base) Series II or III Land Rover or an ex-military Lightweight.

This would give the classic appearance of a Land Rover with the off road performance of a coil sprung chassis. It could also mean the retention of the V8 engine which was not available in the Series Three Land Rover. A more modern option is to use body parts of a Defender 90, but as they become cheaper second hand, it would be just as easy to buy a whole Landrover Defender 90 as it would already have a coil sprung chassis as standard!

A shorter wheelbase performs better in slower speed off-road activities such as trials or playing at a ‘pay and play’ off road sites where maneuverability is important.

This hybrid Series 3 Land Rover - Range Rover is not yet finished but the builder has some ideas so that it will look even more like a Series 3 Land Rover. For a long time I thought the only thing special about this Landrover was how it had Range Rover wheels fitted as they do not normally go onto Series axles. I then realised it also had coil springs etc and asked the driver.

Front Front axle Rear axle Side
Front and side Side Rear and side Rear

The hybrid below was built by Scott from Pittsburgh in what looks like a temporary garage. In his own words

"This is mostly an '84 RR with a mix of SII, SIII, and D90 body parts. Took about 16 months to build and around $7000 USD. She goes like stink and really throws the mud! Great fun owning the hybrid, as it takes care of the three lacking areas of a stock Landie: Brakes, engine HP, and suspension. Gas mileage really sucks but that's not what I built her for, she's a toy for the weekends and my work commuter when it snows."

It looks very nice and Scott appears to want the same sort of things from his vehicle as I do. For more details try the Fort Pitt Land Rover Group (FPLRG).

Below are photos of various other hybrids built on shortened Range Rovers that I have seen on my travels.

Front and side Front and side Rear and side Rear and side
Front Front and side Side Rear and side
Front and side Front, stuck in the mud Side Rear axle
Side Front Side Coil sprung axle
Front and side Front Front Front and side
Side Rear suspension Side bar Side bar
Rear and side Front and side Front and side Front and side
Back
Top

Home    Tomcats    Other Options    Off Road Racers   

Other Donor Vehicles    Paper Models    Military Buggies   

Support Vehicle    Music    Site Map