Isuzu Moments

A DECADE IN DEEP

Isuzu UTE Australia’s 15th birthday also marks 10 years’ partnership with Australia’s favourite fishing show, Hook, Line & Sinker.

“IT WAS AROUND 2012 when we got wind from a local car dealer that a new model Isuzu Ute was coming out. He was about to start selling them and he said they were going to be the next big thing. He kindly helped set up a meeting and soon after we walked into Isuzu Ute Australia’s ‘head office’ and had a meeting with the ‘marketing team’ …

At the time head office was a tiny building near the Brisbane fuel refinery, and the marketing team was Dave. How times have changed!

The first time we got our hands on the new D-MAX was a road trip towing a 6.7-metre Bar Crusher boat from Melbourne to Exmouth in Western Australia. The idea was to escape the approaching winter by leaving the southern part of the country behind and heading north.

As far as the fishing went, it was insane. Particularly the Exmouth component, which included many, many sailfish, which for us was a real highlight!

As for the drive, it was a great chance to get to know the new generation of ute! It towed the Bar Crusher with ease, was amazing on fuel, and had more go than anything else we’d used before.

Of course, that was a 2013 model, and boy have they improved since then— especially in terms of suspension and in-car tech.

Following a few years of using both the D-MAX and MU-X we decided to embark on the most epic adventure we could think of: a lap of the country towing a fantastic 7.8-metre Bar Crusher boat. We certainly put that D-MAX through its paces with trips in the northern part of the country around Cape York and the Kimberly proving to be highlights.

We’ve also been fortunate enough to be hosted on several I-Venture Club trips. It’s fair to say the car industry does this kind of event very well indeed— much better than the fishing and boating industry! They are full-on, full-day, fully offroad adventures. And try as we might, we never did get our D-MAX bogged!

The I-Venture Club was a great way to push the limits of what the vehicles can do—without the instructors and other club members we wouldn’t usually be so brave! But it also showed the capacity of the car and it was extremely impressive.

As a family we’ve had a couple of D-MAXs and now an MU-X. I have a wife, two kids (eight and nine years old), a rabbit, a dog and three horses. Plus a couple of boats. I live in Tasmania where we have a place on the East Coast, as well as a place in the Central Highlands. Our lifestyle demands a car that can cart the family around, tow the horse float or the boat, and have capacity to explore off-the-track places. It’s fair to say the current MU-X is a very important part of the family, allowing for memories to be made!”