The Defender has spent a decade as the sensible Can-Am ATV. It’s the machine you buy to haul feed, drag a trailer, and reach the back forty without walking. It’s a workhorse for sure, but nobody has ever really daydreamed about one. Until now, that is.
Say hello to the Defender Prerunner 6×6, and to its glowing counterpart, the Maverick R XRay.
Six Wheels and a Rolling Toolbox
The Prerunner starts from the already established Defender 6×6 platform. Can-Am decided to aim at perhaps the least glamorous corner of desert racing, the remote support work.
So it rides on 35-inch tires, carries a trophy-truck-flavored LinQ bed built to keep spares and tools where you access them quickly, and four Sparco bucket seats. A pair of winches (front and rear), a bank of aux lights, fuel jugs, and shovels round out the affair.
Unfortunately, Can-Am has decided not to release power, weight, or suspension figures. So, we’ll assume it’s probably close the stock 82-horsepower V-twin.
The Dunes Get a Nightlight
Now for the opposite end of the spectrum. The Maverick R XRay is Can-Am building something for the Glamis culture. The place where whips and lightbars run rampant.
Rather than bolting lights onto bodywork, Can-Am decided to build the bodywork out of light. Translucent panels wrap what the brand bills as an industry-first exoskeleton. This means the whole car flashes red under braking, and the patterns are programmable, which will allow riders to communicate with each other in the desert dunes.
Underneath sits a Maverick R (240 horsepower from that turbo Rotax triple) converted to two-wheel drive and paddle tires, plus an active roof spoiler.
Spec Sheet
Models: Can-Am Defender Prerunner, Can-Am Maverick R XRay
Model Year: 2027 (concept)
Prerunner Platform: Defender 6×6
Prerunner Drivetrain: 6×6
Prerunner Tires: 35-inch
Prerunner Seating: Four-seat cab, Sparco seats
Prerunner Cargo: Trophy-truck-inspired LinQ bed
Prerunner Extras: Front and rear winches, aux lighting, fuel jugs, shovels, front skid plate
XRay Platform: Maverick R
XRay Drivetrain: Custom 2WD
XRay Tires: Paddle
XRay Bodywork: Exoskeleton structure with translucent backlit panels
XRay Aero: Active roof spoiler
XRay Seating: Sparco seats with four-point harnesses
Production Status: None. Concepts only
Pricing & Availability
Unfortunately, Can-Am has no plans to actually build either one of these. Both builds are display pieces with no price.
Recap
2027 Can-Am Defender Prerunner and Maverick R XRay Concepts
Can-Am stretched its farm-duty Defender into a six-wheeled desert chase rig and turned the Maverick R into a glowing dune machine, then confirmed you can’t buy either one.
