The thing that personally got me sold on Defender hardtops and eventually the 110 Utility models was the massive amount of potential for mounting and organising equipment and kit....
Sadly the reality was the trim panels had window cutouts for non existent windows and that just didn't make sense to me. What I found is that it made the back vulnerable, if stuff fell over it would dent the skin.....and yes it DID!
Anyway we've seen solutions to this from others, plastic inserts look really good and factory and could be fitted with elasticated pockets to store loads of things.
The difference was I wanted to be able to securely mount fuse panels, inverters, chargers, charging docks, power outlets, battery charger for power tools and we've also got some awesome torches with charging stations that would be handy.
So the idea was to have a panel that had a void behind it for wiring and also so things could be screwed or bolted to the panel without affecting the body panels.
We went for marine hardwood plywood in the end, this gave us a durable material which would resist rot and corrosion, we then CNC cut this to patterns we have developed for the side and rear quarter openings. We then chamfer the edges to match the interior trim for a much more fitted finish.
We finish the panels with high quality automotive carpet which is moisture resistant.
Our panels are stood off of the body panels with lasercut and CNC folded aluminium brackets which are bonded to the body panels with a specialist adhesive which is resistant to heat, vibration, moisture....etc and can hold a ridiculous amount of weight for the surface area of our brackets.
Soundproofing on these vehicles is an important subject and is also part of the reason we have designed our panels this way, the body panels can be treated with soundproofing sheets and a further level of soundproofing is provided by the carpetted plywood.
The panels can be quickly and easily removed for fitting new equipment, accessing wiring....etc.