The Aerover Is How You Beautifully Combine Two Icons: The Land Rover and an Airstream

The Aerover does both because it’s both a Land Rover and an Airstream, with an added dose of military aircraft inspiration, plenty of style, and the promise of being the perfect overlander for the modern traveler and digital nomad. It is, if you will, the perfect combination of the two icons, taking the best from each to create a brand new, visually striking but equally competent vehicle. A Frankenstein-like combo, but an impressive one.

The Aerover is how you upgrade an icon to suit the demands of modern travelers.

At this point, the Aerover exists in prototype form, and not even that one is completed. It is the work of UK-based maker Duckworth Overland (hat tip to New Atlas), a new company made up of founder Thomas Duckworth and engineer and CAD designer Michael Gerrard. Prior to this project, Duckworth worked on the tiny house-like rig The Lorry Life, which sits on a 1982 Bedford MJ ex-army truck and ended up serving as inspiration for the Aerover.

Put it differently, Duckworth got into building overlanding rigs while working on his own, and now he’s looking to deliver the same kind of quality to others. The Aerover aims to bring something more to the table than just quality, as it’s a rig designed for complete freedom, wrapped in a package that is still easy to operate and store, has good fuel efficiency, and is reliable.

The basis for this highly unusual rig is a Land Rover Defender TD5 130 that’s been taken apart and put back together with fully restored or replaced parts, from the engine to the brakes and the cabin interior. It has a new, galvanized chassis with air suspension, which hosts what Duckworth describes as a “habitation pod” – a ‘30s-style Airstream camper with very strong aircraft styling and the instantly recognizable silver-bullet skin.

To build the pod, the duo first created a CNC-cut wood buck that was used to form the aluminum frame with hand-modeled panels. Once the frame and the panels were in place, the wooden frame was removed with the panels riveted in. For the time being, the interior is unfinished and incomplete, with the aluminum frame showing and two crude wooden benches placed inside to offer an idea of available space.

Duckworth brought the rig to the Goodwood Revival Festival in September, and he left the interior bare on purpose: he wants the future customer to have the final say in how it’s furnished and finished.

That said, the idea is that this home on wheels would be a complete one, even for extended stays out in the wild and away from civilization. It will feature a dinette that converts into a two-person bed and a kitchen, with the over the cab space designed for storage or another, smaller bed. A second kitchen could be integrated in the rear, for outdoor use.

A portable cassette toilet is one of the options, but Duckworth notes that they could build a full bathroom inside if there was a demand for it. Every traveler’s bathroom needs are different, and he is willing to work with each to make sure they are met.

Appliances would run on electric power, thus eliminating the need for LPG tanks. A 200-Ah lithium battery would be charged by a 22-watt solar array on the roof, and there would also be the option to plug the rig into the mains at camp. “We are building something that looks vintage, but is thoroughly modern,” the team says.

This modern touch crosses over to the finishes: this is no place for cheap plastic, and customers will have options like wood, leather, and bare metal for the finishes, depending on individual needs and budgets. “We wanted to create something that is both incredibly practical and of a unique and seamless style,” the builders say.

Now that it’s made its official debut, the Aerover is waiting for an owner at the Somerset factory. Once the build is completed and delivered, Ducksworth Overland plans to take the model into limited production.