Having custom parts on an off-roader like a 2021 Land Rover Defender is extremely common. In fact, it might even be considered standard at this point. Niels van Roij Design is a European coachbuilding company known for all types of wild and creative conversions like the Ferrari station wagon. Its newest idea is offering custom parts for 2021 Land Rover Defenders, including rusty panels and trim pieces. 

Would you pay to have someone rust your 2021 Land Rover Defender? 

“Relicing” or distressing has become an increasingly popular aesthetic from jeans to guitars, and now even cars. The rad rod builders spent decades using rusty salvaged parts without bothering to paint them out of practicality and budgetary reasons. 

Like most style things, this necessity became a desirable aesthetic. As a result, people eventually began intentionally rusting good metal and sealing it to give the impression of a “ratty” build. 

Although rust isn’t exactly what you might think of when you think of coachbuilders, NVRD isn’t just rusting trim pieces – well, they are, but they do more than that. According to The Drive, NVRD will put nearly any metallic finish you want on your 2021 Land Rover Defender trim pieces. 

The coachbuilding company offers to coat the plastic trim pieces in aluminium, brass, bronze, titanium, zinc, or even gold.

If the Defender trim is plastic, how is it rusting?

Although the trim is made of plastic, the folks at NVRD have been quite clever with their transformation of these bits. Although rust is still a strange choice to pay for, NVRD’s method is pretty cool. 

To get that Mad Max apocalypse vibe, they are essentially coating the plastic pieces in powdered metal.

The NVRD site describes the process as, “Through spraying a thin layer of aluminum, brass, bronze, titanium, zinc or even gold is applied, which then assumes the same flexibility as the parent material and will hold its qualities for 20 years. Following application, the studio for carchitecture can brush, polish, sand, and oxidize (rust) the material – generating an even more outspoken look.” 

Even though rust isn’t the pinnacle of custom luxury, the process is still very upper crust. If you choose to coat your 2021 Land Rover Defender in rust, NVRD will ask you to specify how much you would like the pieces to oxidize. 

How much does it cost to get rust added to a 2021 Land Rover Defender? 

For NVRD to add their rat rod custom job to your Defender, it will run about $1,700. Now you may be thinking that sounds like an awful lot for someone to make your truck look rusty, and you’d be right. The type of metal chosen will affect the cost of the custom job. However, gold is the only truly precious metal option.

Not only can NVRD coat these exterior trim pieces, but they will also do several interior items or even the wheels. This can take your brand new Land Rover and make it look straight out of Mad Max. It may seem like a strange desire to distress a new truck but to each their own. 

To be fair, NVRD didn’t just rust this Defender up. It also put on the 20-inch black wheels and slathered the interior with a mix of brown and black leather accents. The overall look is pretty undeniably tough-looking, but will anyone choose to do it?