Yahoo Autos This 6x6 Land Rover Defender Is Ready for the End of the World
If there's one state in the U.S. that you'd expect a six-wheel-drive Land Rover Defender to hail from, it would probably be Florida. Still, Pompano Beach-based custom shop Apocalypse Manufacturing's Defender 6x6 — which the company claims is the first such six-wheel-drive build off the 21st Century unibody Defender — is even more boisterous than you might have imagined.
The rig is bombastically named the "Apocalypse World Ender," and company founder and CEO Joseph Ghattas makes no bones about its macho demeanor. “This vehicle represents the culmination of our expertise in creating durable, high-performance, ultra-luxury machines designed to eat the legendary Mercedes G-Wagon 6x6’s lunch," he said in a release. (In a video from the company, Ghattas even emits a Tim Allen-style man-chortle when he fires up the truck.)
This isn’t the first six-wheel-drive vehicle Apocalypse has built, but it was designed to be the most luxurious. The team wanted to keep all three rows of seats and didn’t want to shorten the cabin. However, a pickup bed was on the must-have list, which meant they had to figure out how to blend it seamlessly into the unibody construction.
The first order of business was to widen the SUV by a full two feet, using custom fabricated parts. All the parking sensors had to be relocated and re-calibrated, and the front end was fitted with a wicked-looking orange brushguard called the "Cow Killer" — presumably on account of its pointed tips.
Underneath the vehicle, Apocalypse had to make sure the truck's function matches it form. “No one makes a lift kit for this thing,” Ghattas says in a walkaround video, “so we fabricated our own complete suspension. We made it so it works like it did from the factory, but it’s a lot taller.”
Power comes from a supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 making 518 horsepower — presumably, the unit found in the stock Defender V8. While the World Ender 6x6 operates in four-wheel drive by default, the driver can opt to switch to rear-wheel-drive as needed. A custom tandem axle supports the rear, and the whole suspension sits on airbags; Apocalypse added an extra set in the middle to help support the fabricated steel box for cargo. Additional sensors are programmed into the CPU to detect ride height — helpful since the SUV is set up to raise and lower by up to eight inches.
The Defender 6x6 rides on 38-inch Atlas tires, and carries a full-size spare in case one of the six wheels gets a flat. A roll cage spans the width and attaches to the new back end, and a roof rack stands ready for supplies to escape zombies or whatever you’re doing at the end of the world. Owners will also get a “slightly larger” fuel tank than stock, Ghattas says.
Finished in a satin gray that stirs up memories of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, the World Ender 6x6 boasts black accents, a visible white skid plate that protects the front underbelly, and white panels adorning the hood. If you'd like to bring one home, Apocalypse says it's taking orders at a starting price of $374,999 at its website.
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