4X4 Magazine - November 2023

4x4

NEWS • VIEWS • KIT • EXPEDITIONS • MODIFIED VEHICLES • GREEN LANING PLUS New Volkswagen Amarok on test

THE UK’S ONLY 4X4 AND PICK-UP MAGAZINE

DOUBLE TOP

How do you fit two roof tents on one Nissan Navara?

Top-class Ultra4 action on the 2023 King of Britain

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Ford-filled laning route at the top end of England

NOV 2023

Chevy power for a stunning restified Land Cruiser 4x4 Cover Oct 23 with sarah.indd 1

21/09/2023 18:29

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SUBARU SOLTERRA WLTP Pure Electric Energy Consumption and Driving Range: Combined 180Wh/km, 257 mile range in Subaru Solterra Touring. Figures shown are combined WLTP (indicative) and can vary significantly depending on factors such as selected grade, accessories fitted, driving style, weather conditions, speed or vehicle load. These figures may not reflect your real-life driving results. *Example based on 8,000 miles per annum, non-maintained. Subject to status. UK residents 18+. Rental amounts shown are on the specific model stated plus VAT @ 20%. This offer excludes fleet and Members Affinity scheme sales, is only available through participating Subaru dealers and is not available in conjunction with any other offers unless specified. Crystal white special paint finish free of charge across all models. This offer is only available through Blackhorse Contract Hire a trading name of Lex Autolease. Registered office Heathside Park, Heathside Park Road, Stockport, SK3 0RB. Offers may be varied or withdrawn at any time. Offer ends 31.12.23. Vehicle must be returned in a good condition to avoid further charges. You will not own the vehicle. If the vehicle has exceeded the maximum permitted mileage then a charge of 16.5p on Touring + VAT @20% per excess mile will apply. ^The Electric Battery is covered by an 8-year/100,000 mile warranty (whichever comes first).

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26/09/2023 12:14

THE WORLDS BEST ACCESSORIES FOR LAND ROVER

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11/04/2023 12:32

N O I T I D E P EX

Whether your idea of an expedition is an afternoon driving some local trails, a weekend off road and wild camping or a full-on trip across Africa, Terrafirma has all the accessories you will need.

From roof racks and ladders to spare wheel carriers and snorkels, from jerry cans and sand tracks to fridges we have it covered with this extensive range of expedition accessories.

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ROOF TENTS AND AWNINGS ROOF RACKS AND LADDERS SPARE WHEEL CARRIERS RAISED AIR INTAKES EXPEDITION ACCESSORIES For more information visit www.terrafirma4x4.com email sales@terrafirma4x4.com

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November 2023

CONTENTS

38

'It calls itself the toughest off-road discipline in the take a brave man to argue otherwise'

48

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4x4 25/09/2023 20:21

64 75% OFF THE PRICE OF 4X4!

Six issues for the price of 12 sounds like half-price – but when you subscribe to 4x4 for a year, you actually end up getting 75% off the price on the cover 4x4 Scene: News, Products and More…

6 8 10 10 12 12 14 15 15

Oshe New resto-mod option available to the loadsamoney Defender set Ford Ranger Plug-in hybrid available to buy in 2025 Toyota British-built fuel cell prototype unveiled Munro Latest MK_1 variant is a fully equipped for mountain rescue vehicle Old Man Emu New MT64 shocks specced with overland use in mind Osram Plug and play LED headlamp bulbs here in time for winter Terrafirma Maltings 4x4 offers bundle deal on Terradactyl awning kit Thunderpole Latest T-X model is 'most veratile CB radio ever' Safety Devices Seat belt mounting bar for clasic Land Rovers

Every Month 4 64 66 80

Alan Kidd It's up to today's explorers not to behave like their forerunners Subscribe Get 75% off the cover price of Britain's only 4x4 magazine Roadbook Loads of water crossings in the hills of North Northumberland Next Month It's time to reveal 2024's Pick Up of the Year

Driven 18 20

Jeep Avenger First experience of the boss brand's first all-electric SUV VW Amarok Second incarnation of Britain's only premium double-cab

Features 24 30 38 48

Navara Camper Sorted D40 with not one but two roof tents up top Everyday Lightweight Restored ex-Army classic used as an off-road toy King of Britain Hard-hitting action as Ultra4 Europe rolls into Wales Restified Cruiser Chevy power and more as a 40-Series comes back to life

Travel 56

Croisiere Noire The remarkable tale of the first motorised crossing of Africa

66 Great North Roadbook are sharp rock Caution – there as you climb the steps to negotiate hillside

Step

Step 40: Turn left off the main embankment track, dropping then plunging down the straight into a water trough (right)

37

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Strata Florida

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track to the left Take the rocky track the main Cat A

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followed by a long

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It’s a steep, sharp climb up and over a bigger track – you can’t see ahead over your bonnet to start with

Caution over a steps as you short set of rocky drop down the hill

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There’s a couple of huge water troughs after the junction

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world, and it would

More rock steps, water trough

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Look out for you cross the the waymarker as ford

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Join the Cat A

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You may find yourself driving a river bed along for a while…

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track Drop off the main the gate and immediately before trough water into yet another

14.7 Step

to clear these axleneed a bit of momentum right is much bigger to the Step 37: You might warned, the drop-off twisters – but be than it looks here

4x4

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2020 | 89

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25/09/2023 20:21

4x4 Tel: 01283 742969

Alan Kidd Editor

I

n this column last month, I spoke about the importance to expedition travel of being bold and just going for it. It’s a very relevant theme, because interest in overlanding is growing out of all proportion at the moment – it might not always be in the desert-crossing sense, but vehicle dependent travel is currently bigger than it has ever been before.

So it’s quite appropriate that this month’s issue contains a feature about the first ever trans-Africa expedition. The first in motor vehicles, at least, which took place a bit more than a century ago and involved a convoy of modified Citroën half-tracks blazing a trail from Algeria to Madagascar at the behest of the French government.

This was a point in history when the colonial era was still to come to an end.

Nonetheless, there are those of us whose parents were alive at the time, so no way is it buried safely in the depths of the past.

And to quote George Santayana (yes, alright, I had to Google it), those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

So as we read about the way those early overlanders behaved, we should turn the focus on our own actions when we take our turn to discover the world.

Make no mistake, being the guy from abroad puts you in a very responsible position when you visit other countries.

This is especially the case in lands where the value of money is very different from your own, but just as a general rule you must always remember how conspicuous you are – and how much power you hold to leave a lasting impression. For better or, God forbid, for worse.

Let’s consider what went on during the Croisiere Noire, as the Citroën expedition was known. Western civilisation (you can decide how loosely the term is used) was still to figure out that there was something wrong with killing animals for fun; the expedition team arrived back in France with ‘samples’ of around 300 mammals, 800 birds and 1500 insects, which can perhaps be justified on scientific grounds, but during the course of the journey its members also got their thrills by gunning down lions, buffalos, hippopotami, elephants, giraffes and antelopes. And as if stalking

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History is to be learned from, not repeated the animals near water-holes wasn’t foul enough, they also hunted by lighting brush fires to drive them into sight.

It’s easy to say that this was accepted behaviour back then. But it’s an example of the kind of behaviour that made western powers so hated in their colonies.

Following their animal-killing rampage, the convoy was aided by a 40,000-strong Congolese workforce who were enlisted to build a road in the belief that it was on the orders of the British explorer Henry Stanley. The official memoir says that ‘for these people, Stanley was considered to be nothing less than a prophet’; he also happened to be known for shooting Africans without a second thought, plundering their lands and selling them into slavery. A prophet? More like a tyrant.

Back home, Conservative MP Sir Robert Fowler wrote that Stanley’s ‘heartless butchery of unfortunate natives has brought dishonour on the British flag and must have rendered the course of future travellers more perilous and difficult.’ Even then (this was in the 1870s), people were understanding that crass behaviour could do long-term harm.

It’s abundantly clear that during these times, European travellers believed their African hosts were beneath them. Things have changed a lot today – though at times I’ve still heard comments from overlanders that make me shudder.

With more and more of us thinking about expedition travel, it’s more important than ever to respect the lands, and their people, you’re going to be visiting. If there’s going to be an upsurge in the amount of 4x4s wandering around the world, there had better be an upsurge in responsible behaviour to go with it.

I’m not going to lecture anyone on the specifics of what you should and shouldn’t do. But it’s obvious that acting the modernday colonial big shot, whether by trashing wildlife, flashing your wealth around or treating your hosts like subordinates, will only result in a worse overlanding experience – both for yourself and those who follow. Those who do not learn from history, remember, are doomed to repeat it.

Email: enquiries@assignment-media.co.uk Web: www.totaloffroad.co.uk www.4x4i.com Online Shop: www.toronline.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/totaloffroad www.facebook.com/4x4Mag Editor Alan Kidd Design WW Magazines Tel: 01283 742970 Contributors Graham Scott, Mike Trott, Olly Sack, Gary Noskill, Dan Fenn, Paul Looe, Tom Alderney Photographers Steve Taylor, Richard Hair, Harry Hamm, Vic Peel, Nicolas Stèvenin, Tiana Walton Advertising Sales Tandem Media Tel: 01233 555735 Faye Littlewood-Tribe Tel: 01233 220245 faye@tandemmedia.co.uk Advertising Production Colin Swaffer: 01233 220246 Jonathan Graham: 01233 220247 Jemma Heslop: 01233 555736 Subscriptions Agency WW Magazines, 151 Station Street, Burton on Trent, DE14 1BG Tel: 01283 742970 Publisher and Head of Marketing Sarah Moss Email: sarah.moss@assignment-media.co.uk To subscribe to 4x4, or renew a subscription, call 01283 742970. Prices for 12 issues: UK £42 (24 issues £76); Europe Airmail/ROW Surface £54; ROW Airmail £78 Distributed by Marketforce; www.marketforce.co.uk Every effort is made to ensure the contents of 4x4 are accurate, but Assignment Media accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions nor the consequences of actions made as a result of these.

When responding to any advert in 4x4, you should make appropriate enquiries before sending money or entering into a contract. The publishers take reasonable care to ensure advertisers’ probity, but will not be liable for loss or damage incurred from responding to adverts Where a photo credit includes the note ‘CC BY 2.0’ or similar, the image is made available under that Creative Commons licence: details at www.creativecommons.org 4x4 is published by Assignment Media Ltd, PO Box 8632, Burton on Trent DE14 9PR

© Assignment Media Ltd, 2023

4x4 24/09/2023 05:28

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19/09/2023 15:07

NEW 4X4S

Oshe introduces thunderous take on Land Rover Defender Boutique restification programme • V8 engine, auto gearbox, semi-active suspension • Luxury interior • Production limited to four vehicles per year • Priced from £225,000

T

his quite took me back.

Not to South Africa, which I motorbiked to in the 1980s. But that quote: ‘The last thing you want to do is break down; if the heat doesn’t get you, the wildlife might.’ Those summer nights in The Projects in South London, ah yes.

David Lane, heading up Oshe Automotive, probably doesn’t go to that part of town. His Land Rover certainly wouldn’t. It looks far more comfortable in the surroundings of the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, further north in London than in Sarf Lunnun.

When we looked there were only a couple of properties for sale in Pall Mall, both of them just one-bedroomed apartments, both of them with price tags of over one million pounds. To be fair, one of them had a tiny balcony and if you leaned out (assuming you weren’t a Russian who would never now do such a thing) you could see the RAC Club.

And there, inside, not outside, you would have found the Okavango.

Fortunately not the African river, but the latest in a long line of Defenders that have been upgraded into the stratosphere but with a price tag that means, if you didn’t buy the

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NEW 4x4S

apartment, you could afford about four of these vehicles.

Which would be tricky as production is planned at four vehicles a year. With just a handful coming on stream (sorry), the Okavango is the beginning of a range that will add the 110 model to the 90 you see here. Further projects will be called Zambezi, Sabie and Limpopo.

(Or ‘the great grey-green greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever trees’ as the Just So Stories so eloquently put it. There’s a wraparound graphic that needs doing.)

So what’s with all the Africa vibe?

(Not exactly channelling Rudyard

4x4 News Nov 23 AWAITING TEXT.indd 7

Kipling I’ll admit.) To be fair, this is a programme based on heart and life and experience, as well as pampering the one percent. Owner David Lane grew up on a South African wildlife reserve, and that’s where you learn how important a reliable vehicle is when you’re out in the bush.

In those early days there were Land Rovers and old Willys Jeeps and that’s when he made that quote at the beginning of this story. True enough. After adventures around the world, he settled in London and started a company with the name of an African thunder god. Oshe Automotive therefore is based on some solid, real-world experience although it’s quite hard to see how sweating round a game reserve in this open-top Land Rover 90 would end well. Perhaps the red interior is to disguise all the blood that might get spilled.

The idea is that this is what Land Rover might have been or might have been developed into. Hardly a novel idea, as it’s a rich seam several companies are currently mining. This is ‘a clean, historically respectful, modern interpretation of the Land Rover legend.’ Ain’t they all.

However, hurrah, they haven’t gone down the electric vehicle route – it’s doubtful the founder’s past involved finding many electric recharging points amid the rondavels. Instead there’s a ‘beating V8 heart’, in this case a 3.5-litre but the long-wheelbase versions will have an LT1 6.2-litre V8 to make the heart beat a little faster.

Feeding through an auto box, this should give decent grunt whether deep in the Serengeti or deep in Sloane Square traffic. And while it may look like all the effort has gone into the shiny, fancy bits, there’s a

really solid underpinning that should engender confidence whether tackling a rocky slope in the Cape or driving over one of the hated ULEZ camera cars in Bexleyheath.

In this Adventure spec the Oshe Land Rover has semi-active suspension, with the five mappable settings electronically controlled, assisted by a G-sensor to further smooth out the handling. Add in AP Racing brakes and even a bespoke wiring loom. There’s attention to detail here – even the bulbs in the headlights have ‘Oshe’ tags.

Much of that remains unnoticed at rest, but the interior, sometimes covered with a bikini hood, is all about being noticed. You will notice the Muirhead red leather seats and red German woven carpet, with accents of both mahogany and acacia wood – very African of course.

The dash has been reworked extensively so now features more retro dials, an Audison and Moreli audio system feeding through Burmester speakers, Bluetooth audio, wireless charging and all the other modern

necessities. I’m not sure I’d want to have a crash with that mahogany steering wheel in front of me but maybe owners will employ a driver so they won’t worry too much.

OF course, it’s still a 90 and no amount of magic is going to make the interior a truly comfortable place to lounge. But they’ve done their best, with reprofiling of the heated seats, and different pedal and handbrake arrangements to try to make more room. You can’t say that Oshe Automotive hasn’t had a really good, thoughtful and thorough go at converting a 90 into a luxury automobile, yet one that is still capable of tackling some serious outdoors.

Which is good as prices start at £225,000 but we all know the end point will be nowhere near that as owners never can resist adding more. David Lane puts the appeal like this: ‘For the connoisseur, the improvements will be very noticeable and are a dramatic improvement.’ If that connoisseur is you, you can find the company at www.osheautomotive.com

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NEWS

Plug-In hybrid Ranger not just a truck but an ‘ecosystem of solutions’

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hat’s what you’re looking at here, your ecosystem of solutions. A truck which will allow you to ‘step forward into an electrified future, with more confidence and capability than ever before’. Man, you’re going to be unbeatable, unconquerable, unbebloodylievable.

Do you have to go on many courses, workshops and retreats to achieve this? Why no, you just need to do one thing: buy the Ford Ranger Plug-in Hybrid. But if you do there are actually some serious benefits to be factored in here.

As we’ve seen, various elected suits around the UK have decided to declare war on the people they don’t like, which seems to be most people, and most of those people drive cars or vans or 4x4s or trucks or bikes or pick-ups. Meaning that sane people should be fleeing the cities in droves, but even so that will leave a lot who need the services of professional people in vans, trucks and pick-ups.

And the new Ranger will be able to drive into the wasteland that is London to help them thanks to its electric drive. Or it can get to a

remote part of Wales thanks to its four-wheel drive. Plus of course the 2.3-litre EcoBoost petrol engine – which really ought to be able to manage driving at less than 20mph for much of the route.

The mid-size pick-up market is full-size that’s for sure, and this new entry has some really practical benefits. Not the least of which is the Pro Power Onboard, which makes the most of the electrification system by allowing operators to simply plug in power tools and equipment.

Power outlets in both the cabin and the loadbed will run the kit, which means there may not be a need to lug around generators. Perfect if

you were in London and needed, oh I don’t know, an angle grinder after dark, for example.

Drivers will have more control of when to bring in the electric driving mode or make it a hybrid drive or whatever, meaning it can go from country depot to city and back again without incurring extra costs. At the same time it’s still a Ford Ranger, so it’s a proven practical pick-up now with even more flexibility.

Interested? Well there’s a catch.

You can’t have one until 2025. And who knows what Britain’s cities and political and social landscapes will look like by then. Most probably demanding hydrogen.

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24/09/2023 07:41

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NEWS

Toyota lifts lid on British-built fuel cell Hilux WE REPORTED EARLIER THIS YEAR on Toyota’s project to build a prototype fuel cell Hilux, and in the twinkling of an eye the vehicle is now up and running.

Supported by the government’s Advanced Propulsion Centre, the vehicle has been developed by a consortium led by Toyota Manufacturing UK at its Burnaston vehicle plant near Derby – whose brief was to deliver a new zero-carbon powertrain while retaining the durability for which the Hilux is known.

The beauty of a fuel cell is that it produces no tailpipe emissions other than pure water. The Hilux uses core elements from Toyota’s Mirai fuel cell saloon car, which has been in production for almost ten years. It’s equipped with three high-pressure fuel tanks, giving it an expected range of more than 365 miles.

Electricity produced by the fuel cell is stored in a battery pack positioned in the rear load bay.

‘The project team have accomplished an incredible job in a very short space of time, from creating the prototype build area to completion of the first vehicle,’ commented TMUK boss Richard Kenworthy. ‘The UK Government funding has enabled us not only to develop a new vehicle in record time, but also to upskill our teams to work on hydrogen-related technologies, something we hope to build on in the future.

‘This is a great vote of confidence in UK manufacturing and its potential to deliver carbon-free vehicles to meet future targets.’

Munro MK_1 goes into mountain rescue mode

ANYONE WHO’S OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER THUNDERBIRDS will understand when I say this would have been Thunderbird 6. It’s just so tough, so single-minded, so perfectly focused on its mission of saving people from various disasters.

And if you’re old enough to remember Thunderbirds then it’s quite possible you’re going to be a future ‘customer’ of this vehicle. Because it’s designed to work with Mountain Rescue teams, so when you go for a hike in the hills, complete with rustling cagoule and small pack with a flask of tea and some cake, and you ‘have a fall’ or get confused or otherwise end up being a total liability, this is what you’re going to hope to see approaching you.

We all know about the Mk 1 Munro by now, made by Scotland’s only light-vehicle manufacturer. The most cursory glance tells you this is a no-nonsense vehicle that isn’t a 4x4 built for town and country, nor one

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built to take High Net Worth individuals from their estates to the harbour.

It’d be a brave company that tried to do with the Munro what so many high-end companies have done with Land Rovers.

It’s properly no-strings rugged and minimalist, so it’s perfect for Mountain Rescue where saving lives is the focus, often against time and against weather and terrain. This ultra-capable 4x4 is designed to last half a century, minimum, so it could be something that rescues people over several generations.

There are roof-mounted blue lights and space to carry a stretcher with body inside in safety. And of course it can do it without polluting the atmosphere where it is, given the massively torquey electric motor whining out 516lbf.ft of heave. With a fully charged battery you’ve got 190 miles of range, more than enough to search, find and retrieve anyone from pretty much anywhere in the UK.

4x4 24/09/2023 07:41

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13/02/2023 16:31 26/11/2020 09:29:52

PRODUCTS

New MT64 dampers from Old Man Emu promise all-round excellence for on and off-road use

‘THE ULTIMATE ALL-ROUND SHOCK ABSORBER’? Ho hum. ‘The ultimate all-round shock absorber’ and it’s from Old Man Emu? Okay, let’s talk.

It’s called the MT64, and it’s intended specifically for off-road expedition travel. Sitting in between OME’s existing Nitrocharger and ultra-high performance BP-51 ranges, it’s a monotube shock engineered to handle heavy loads, long distances, rough roads and heat – resulting in ‘excellent responsiveness, whether towing on the pavement or tackling technical terrain off-road.’

With a 22mm shaft thickness, 72mm body diameter and 64mm internal bore, the MT64 features the same 6061 aluminium construction as the BP-51. The size of the bore allows the shock to hold more oil, allowing greater heat dissipation in punishing conditions. A set of snap-ring grooves in the shock’s body provide different positions for the forged aluminium

spring seat, allowing a range of height adjustability from 0-76mm.

Old Man Emu says the MT64’s final specification was arrived at through an exhaustive test regime beginning with Finite Element computer analysis, which pointed to potentially weak areas which could then be re-engineered for greater strength. Following this, the field testing phase saw vehicles run through millions of suspension cycles to simulate real world conditions.

The MT64 will be available with light, medium, and heavy-duty spring options, giving customers

more options to help them achieve the ideal set-up for their vehicles – whether they’re towing, carrying heavy loads, travelling the world or using their trucks in every kind of on and off-road situation. At launch, the shocks are available to fit the latest Ford Ranger and VW Amarok as well as the current Toyota Hi-Lux (2015-on), Land Cruiser 70-Series and 150-Series (2010-on), FJ Cruiser, Tacoma and 4Runner. The range is promised to grow quickly, with many more applications to become available once the full line-up is in production.

Osram launches new plug-and-play LED headlamp bulbs OSRAM HAS LAUNCHED A NEW RANGE OF PLUG-AND-PLAY LED HEADLAMP BULBS. Called LEDriving HL EASY, these are designed for use in applications with a high and low beam function – in which they will operate with no need for adapters or caps.

To make the bulbs as easy as possible to use, especially for drivers upgrading halogen bulbs to LED for the first time, Osram made them socket-based. This means there’s no need for an external driver – you can just remove your 4x4’s old halogen bulbs and replace them with these new LEDs. The ultra-compact replacement bulbs provide a cool white LED light with superior brightness to go with its stylish look, while an optimised highspeed fan ensures efficient cooling and heat dissipation.

The LEDriving HL EASY has a colour temperature of up to 6500 K, creating a daylight effect with reduced glare that means better visibility and a longer field of vision. Osram does point out, however, that the bulbs are not road legal and can therefore be fitted for off-road use only.

The bulbs are backed up by smart CAN-BUS accessories to cancel out error messages which may come up when using them on some newer vehicles. You can check compatibility with your own particular vehicle by visiting www.osram.com/ledcheck.

12 | NOVEMBER 2023

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4x4 25/09/2023 20:28

www.osram.co.uk/ledriving-lights

Light is Adventure OSRAM LEDriving® Working and Driving Lights The OSRAM range of intense LED lights are built to step up to the challenge when the going gets tough. Leave the tarmac behind and see clearly what lies ahead of you off the beat track. The LEDriving ® range of robust and stylish spotlights, reversing lights and lightbars can improve near- and far-field vision whilst enhancing driving performance, even under the most extreme conditions.

Don’t let the darkness spoil your next adventure.

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4x4 Magazine_2023_July_Ring Automotive (Osram)_FP.indd 1

24/05/2023 16:02

PRODUCTS

Bundle deal pricing for Terrafirma’s awning and side room Price: £731.22 inc VAT From: maltings4x4store.co.uk WHEN YOU’RE CAMPED UP AMID GLORIOUS SURROUNDINGS AT THE END OF A LONG DAY’S OFF-ROADING on the lower slopes of the Andes or the red sand of the Outback, or you’ve stopped en route to your game lodge to gaze in awe at the wildlife of the Serengeti, an awning will let you do it without being battered by the elements. Or possibly eaten by the wildlife of the Serengeti. Other cliches are available, of course; you might just want to be able to go to a Land Rover show without getting rained on. But either way, the bigger the awning, the more you’ll be able to stretch out and relax while doing it.

The Terradactyl 2.5-metre, 270-degree awning from Terrafirma definitely fits the bill for that. Mounting to the left-hand side of your vehicle, it opens to provide a huge area of shade or shelter which also stretches round to protect the area behind it, meaning you can use the back door (aka the kitchen) without getting roasted by the sun or soaked by the rain.

Self-supporting in moderate weather conditions, the Terradactyl has four sturdy triangulated 2.5-metre aluminium arms and includes an integrated drop-down twist and lock leg and guy rope to secure it to the ground. You’re shaded beneath a 400D ripstop fabric canvas and each wing has a tie down loop, allowing water to run off to prevent puddling.

The awning is mounted to the vehicle via an integral T-slot extruded aluminium back plate. When stowed away, it fits along with its poles into its own built-in heavy-duty PVC coated nylon cover.

The Terradactyl can be used on its own, but right now Maltings 4x4 Store is offering it bundled with a matching ‘room’ which attaches to it with a full-length velcro strip to provide all-round shelter. Each section includes a large roll-up external canvas window as well as a mosquito net, and one of these doubles as a Top– Gear Advert 124x98 JULY 2023 .pdf 1as 04/05/2023 full-size entrance door. Additional internal zip-opening panels allow access to side and rear ofWheel the Covers vehicle making the whole set-up flexible 17:17:30 as it is expansive. Leaving you with the not unpleasant task of driving somewhere to enjoy the view from your self-propelled mansion.

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14 | NOVEMBER 2023

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PRODUCTS

Thunderpole introduces ‘most versatile CB radio ever’ with £99.99 T-X handheld Price: £99.99 plus VAT From: thunderpole.co.uk THE LATEST INTRODUCTION FROM RADIO SPECIALIST THUNDERPOLE is the T-X CB 27 MHz AM/FM Handheld Transceiver. A next-generation portable unit, this offers NRC noise reduction technology, a high capacity li-ion battery, USB charging, frequency display and much more.

Further features include FM/AM operation, four display layouts, nightlight buttons, a BNC antenna, a two-pin (Kenwood) accessory socket, a dedicated band button, multi-band operation with access to all European frequencies, auto-squelch, high and low power operation, VOX, Roger beep and dual watch. It measures in at 70 (W) x 154 (H) x 42 (D) mm and weighs just 356g including battery and antenna.

‘This is our most versatile CB radio ever and has accessories for hand-held, mobile (in a vehicle) or even base station use,’ says Thunderpole. ‘Simply add the BNC Male-SO239 Adaptor to attach any external antenna.

The T-X costs £99.99 on its own. But you’ll be interested in the T-X CB Adventure Pack, for use as a base station in a vehicle – in which case the price goes up, though not by much considering what you get, to £139.99.

Seat-belt mounting bar from Safety Devices Price: ca £225 inc VAT Available from: Britpart stockists SAFETY DEVICES’ SEAT BELT ANCHORAGE FRAME is designed to provide a sturdy mounting point for use in soft-top versions of the Land Rover Series II/IIA, III and 90/110/Defender (but not the Series I or Lightweight). It’s made from 38.1mm x 2.64mm seamless tube and provides both upper inertia reel and upper harness mounting points. The frame fits directly over the vehicle’s existing canopy support brackets and has rear stays which mount to the body cappings.

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NOVEMBER 2023 | 17

26/09/2023 13:02

DRIVEN

JEEP AVENGER Jeep’s first all-electric vehicle goes in hard with the authentic image but promises to be more than just a Jeep in name only. First impressions are of a strong new contender in the small E-SUV market IF YOU LIVED IN AMERICA, you could walk into a Jeep dealership and come home with a 6.4-litre V8-engined Wrangler 392. But we live in Yurp, so instead we can come home with an electric thing with two-wheel drive and the same name as a dodgy Hillman saloon from the 17th Century.

Not the best starting point for Jeep’s first EV, then. But if the Wrangler 392 was available in Britain, precisely none of the people who’ll buy the new Avenger would have one. And that’s going to be a lot of people.

Let’s start by confirming that the Avenger will become available in allwheel drive form around a year from now. So by no stretch is it a fake Jeep.

It’s not a rebadged Fiat, either – the companies are part of the same group and they share technology, but it was developed as a Jeep by Jeep people.

Those people want to be absolutely sure that you know what you’re looking at, too. It’s there in the seven-slot grille (not an actual grille in this case, obviously), the trapezoidal wheelarches, the little badges and motifs scattered around the body and cabin… branding ahoy, cap’n!

People who buy vehicles like the Renegade and Compass, and who will soon be buying the Avenger, tend not to be off-roaders but like the idea of owning a Jeep because it’s a cool brand. It’s outdoorsy, adventurous, youthful, all that kind of stuff. At the launch, the press conference started with a video montage of various Jeep products doing their thing and we’re pretty sure every single one of them was speeded up. Sand trails! Rooster tails! Pulsating music! Surfboards! Boom!

Fortunately, these images are in no way clichéd or common to every car maker who ever tried to sell a 4x4. Even more fortunately, this is Jeep and if

18 | NOVEMBER 2023

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anyone can get away with it, Jeep can. It’s a 4x4 brand built on rock-solid authenticity, after all – and one for whom authenticity is still a thing it builds in to its products today, as opposed to just being a word you bray out endlessly.

So the Avenger is a Jeep, and that gives it kudos though it also gives it something to live up to. And so far it doesn’t have four-wheel drive, remember? Well, an eye-popping traction demo during the launch showed us that just with front-wheel drive, it’s capable of keeping going over obstacles even some true 4x4s we could mention would struggle to defeat. It’s using electronics, of course, but for a 4x2 to keep moving forward, uphill, when one of its driving wheels is a foot off the ground does take some doing.

The rest of the launch was on tarmac, albeit in a part of the Cotswolds that’s rife with green lanes. We were tempted like you wouldn’t believe… sensible heads on, though, it’s pouring with rain and we really don’t want to be phoning Jeep’s PR team to tell them we’ve buried their car in a squidgy bit of Gloucestershire.

And the variety of roads on the route was great, anyway. Smooth dual carriageways, sweeping A-roads, athletic B-roads and a good mixture of ye olde Cotswold towns and quaint villages with names like Noshing on the Flange and Spaffing Unexpectedly. And if you want to hate it because it’s electric and All Change Is Bad, sorry: it’s actually really, really good.

We’re hard to please in a lot of ways but complete suckers for it in others, and we’ll admit to having a smile on the dial from the moment we planted the throttle and our Avenger erupted out of the launch HQ like a cork from a bottle. Its electric motor has 156bhp and 192lbf.ft, which sounds like nothing

4x4 25/09/2023 17:21

but boy do you feel it. The initial surge is good, but then it’s followed up by an unrelenting wall of torque that carries you through mid-range like someone riding the aforementioned surfboard who’s just caught a bomb.

Happily, you’ll feel more in control of your own destiny. The Avenger grips very well and handles with predictable steering and reassuring grip and control. Its body is moved around a little by really uneven roads but its ride is never harsh and even under fully committed cornering it remains stable.

It’s remarkably quiet, too. Neither does its suspension assault you with knocks and bangs around town, nor does wind noise amount to much more than a mild swoosh at speed on the motorway. Which all helps add to a cabin atmosphere which starts the moment you get in and admire the sculpted features of what is a very cleverly designed dash.

What’s so clever about it? Simply this: despite being made from what feel like budget materials, it manages to look cool, classy and high-quality.

There’s a body-coloured strip across the dash with the nav screen on top of it, and it does an excellent job of catching your eye – as do the high-resolution digital dashboard and info screen, both of which are excellent.

The overall impression is of something modern, premium and very cool.

It’s a real case of clever design pulling it off, because there’s a lot of hard, scratchy plastic on the dash surfaces and a couple of stowage areas that feel verging on the flimsy.

This includes the lid of the cubby box and a tray that stretches much of the way across the facia. Jeep’s designers made a point of trying to work in as much innovative stowage as possible, and the result is that if you run out of places to put your things you need to have a word with yourself about learning to travel light.

The vehicles available to drive on the launch were all high-speccers with leather seats that support you well both in the base and the back. We’d have welcomed adjustable lumbar support, though. The driver’s seat is spacious enough, though if you need to accommodate someone behind you, you’re going to have to slide forward until your knees are mashed into the dashboard.

One six-footer can fit behind another, just, but neither will be at all happy.

Stowage space is okay but the second row doesn’t fold flat, which is a drag. The boot is reasonably big overall, but for genuine practicality there’s a slope there that will compromise what you can do with it. It’s a decent boot when the seats are up, though, with a nice low floor making it easy to load.

First impressions, then, are very good overall. We see the Avenger as an SUV for bright young things and bright young families, which is exactly who Jeep is aiming for with it, and for them it will hit the bullseye – though at £42,125 as tested, you’re not going to be buying one on a student loan.

That number will go up when the 4xe model comes along, but for now the Avenger is looking like a very strong new option in the electric SUV market.

A game changer? Maybe. It’s a Jeep in a whole lot more than just name – and if, as surely they must, they celebrate the arrival of all-wheel drive by adding a Trailhawk version to the range, you might even find yourself no longer dreaming about that Wrangler 392.

4x4 2pp Avenger.indd 19

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DRIVEN

VW AMAROK 3.0 TDI PANAMERICANA Successor to Britain’s only true premium pick-up combines new market-leading off-road potential with a new level of ride and refinement for the one-tonne market – but it comes at a price

20 | NOVEMBER 2023

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4x4 25/09/2023 19:33

IF YOU WEREN’T PAYING PROPER ATTENTION, you might well have concluded that only one new pick-up had been launched this year. The media has been all over the Ford Ranger – but however good this vehicle may be, there’s another new truck in town too.

Well, there’s another truck in the sense that Ford developed the Ranger alongside Volkswagen, whose new Amarok is based on the same platform, architecture and major mechanicals. As we know, though, two fundamentally similar vehicles can be very different in

character – and with the old Amarok having basically cornered the premium one-tonne market, that’s what it needs to be if it’s to justify what is a fairly adventurous price bracket.

It doesn’t seem long since we were sucking in breath at the idea of a pick-up breaching the forty grand barrier. But that’s where the new Amarok starts – the base-spec 2.0 TDI Life model costs from £40,791 with a manual box. Up top, the Aventura model has a 3.0 TDI lump mated to a 10-speed auto box and lists at £57,591; these prices do include VAT, which will come as a relief, though by the time you’ve put some paint on it and paid your first year’s road tax, you’ll have added a grand to the bill.

Anyway, what we’re testing here is the PanAmericana model. Costing £47,255 plus VAT on the road, this is a bit less plush than the Aventura and comes with an off-road themed spec including a locking rear diff, front bash guard and 18” alloys (as opposed to 21”). It’s not going to blitz the Darien Gap fresh from the showroom, but wrap a set of mud-terrains around those alloys and there’s not a lot of places it shouldn’t be able to go.

Interior and practicality Pick-ups have to tread a fine line between the robustness required for working life and the luxuries expected by people who have them as everyday cars. The old Amarok got this absolutely spot-on; this new one starts very well by looking rock-solid and impressively classy.

4x4 4pp Amarok.indd 21

As can often be the case, there’s an element of smoke and mirrors to the materials around the cabin.

The upper dash, for example, looks more tactile than it really is thanks to a leather-look cladding; the fixtures and fittings are generally very stout, with next to no creaking from around the dash, but the plastics on its lower shell are pretty hard and hollow sounding when you tap them.

Overall, nonetheless, it feels well put together and built to last, and this certainly extends to the controls too.

The seating position is excellent, as are the seats themselves, which have loads of adjustment and allow an excellent view in all directions.

This includes over your shoulder, though when reversing you give all your attention to an excellent reversing camera and surround view display which allow you to position it to the inch. This will be especially valuable for owners whose trucks will be fitted with a rear canopy.

The reversing graphics are displayed on a huge tablet-style screen whose vertical layout adds a definite sense of occasion to the cabin – Tesla-style, or Volvo XC90 style if you prefer. Either way, it looks good, and the media system it displays is as logical and easy to use as you’d expect from Volkswagen. The response time to commands could do with being snappier, though.

Could the same be said, albeit in another sense of the word, about the colour scheme in the cabin?

The dominant shade is dark grey, with a few flashes of plastic among it which are meant to look like polished aluminium, then there’s

NOVEMBER 2023 | 21

25/09/2023 19:34

DRIVEN

The Amarok’s cabin fits the premium bill admirably, with clever use of materials to combine a classy image with the stoutness required of a pick-up. We’re not entirely convinced by the combination of grey, brown, silver and, er, orange, but it’s superbly put together and very comfortable – and the huge tablet-style display that dominates the facia gives it a real sense of occasion chocolate brown leather on the shoulder bolsters and the armrests in the doors. Both shades of leather have the same contrasting orange stitching, then there’s a material on the upper glovebox door and gear selector shroud that wants you to believe it’s carbon fibre. How it all looks, and whether it hangs together as a coherent design, is down to taste; we didn’t particularly warm to it, but by the same token we never once found ourselves sitting aboard the Amarok thinking there was anything offensive about it.

Something we did find offensive in the old model was its rear legroom (lack of), and this has been

completely sorted this time round.

One tall adult can sit behind another with neither feeling short of space; the fronts are adjustable to suit truly giant drivers, and with them all the way back a six-footer will feel kind of cramped in the back, but you can fit a full crew of hefty lads in here no problem. Headroom is decent in the back too, as is the view out, and there’s a 150 watt three-pin outlet in the back of the floor console.

This is also home to a big, deep cubby box and large stowage tray.

Added to two good gloveboxes and a decent set of door pockets, there’s no surprise and delight going on but it’s a good case of doing the simple

things well. Certainly, if you run out of places to put your stuff you’ve got too much stuff.

Driving If there’s one take-away from our week aboard the new Amarok, it’s how extraordinarily refined the vehicle is on the motorway. There’s a touch of wind and road noise in the background, but the peace in the cabin is remarkable, even at high speed – and there’s no vibration at all through the drivetrain or suspension. Our notes say ‘it feels like an executive car, it’s that quiet,’ which is an indication of just how smooth and quiet it really is.

Touareg level, even? Yes, actually – it really is that good.

It’s willing, too. Of course, we’re talking about the top-spec engine here, and its three litres of oilburning goodness chuck out 240bhp and 443lbf.ft, the latter from a usefully low 1750rpm. Good figures, and that 10-speed auto box knows how to make the most of them.

You never really notice it changing, but you certainly notice the engine pulling – it’s one of those which, rather than hoofing you in the back, just keeps up the urge and before you know it you’re bowling along like an express train. It builds pace very, very strongly.

Unlike the old Amarok, having automatic transmission doesn’t mean having to do without low range. The new model offers an all-wheel drive mode for use on tarmac, too. You shouldn’t need hill descent control with low box, but the locking rear diff is a definite game-changer

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We need to acknowledge that this was unladen, and a tonne of pea shingle or a trailer with a omp safari motor on it is always going to make a difference. This is very obviously an engine that was chosen to cope, however – it’s slightly counter intuitive that the higher spec models, which are less likely to be used for heavy work, get the engines best suited to it, but we’ll come to the entry level gear another time. For now, this is the attention-grabbing PanAmericana with the attention-grabbing 3.0 V6 TDI, and it certainly is worthy of all the attention it gets.

It’s not just a hot rod of a thing, either. There’s plenty of steering and handling response when you get it going on a fun B-road, with plenty of grip when you want it to stick like glue and no small amount of lairy tail-out action available when you want to put on a show. The latter means switching off the traction control, though the former doesn’t require four-wheel drive – though there’s an on-road mode available if you want to trade a little rear-bias for a lot of reassurance.

As this all suggests, the suspension is well tuned for agility. It’s nice and taut, keeping the big, tall body

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under comfortable control in corners, and the steering makes sense the way you might expect from a sports SUV rather than a full-house one-tonner. We never once felt that it was getting loose or ragged – but conversely, the superb motorway ride doesn’t fall apart on bumpy or uneven roads.

You do start to feel the rear springs around town, where pot holes and speed bumps can send some fairly hard jolts through the body. Again, this is unladen, and of course you can only push the laws of physics so far before they start to push back – with a decent chunk of weight on top of that live back axle, we’d fully expect it to settle down.

Said axle contains a locking diff in this model, which in a pick-up tends to be the key that releases its capability off-road. And this Amarok is chalk and cheese compared to the old model which, for all its built-in brilliance, was calamitously flawed in one ludicrous way.

This was that on post-facelift models with the 3.0 TDI engine, only those with a manual gearbox (which was next to none of them) had low range – meaning the vast majority of vehicles were unable to make

the most of their impressively agile chassis. Thankfully, Volkswagen didn’t make the same mistake this time and the 10-speeder is mated to an electronically actuated transfer case which, as well as two and fourwheel drive modes for use on tarmac, offers a choice of high and low ratios with the centre diff locked.

Frustratingly, the terrain we had earmarked for the Amarok became unusable at short notice, so all we managed was a few nearby lanes which confirmed that its suspension is very well suited to off-tarmac work too. But its tractability in really extreme situations remains something about which we can only speculate. There’s little doubt in our minds that on the right tyres, it will be prodigious – even without that locking rear diff, though obviously this can be expected to take it to the next level when engaged.

Certainly, the new Amarok picks up where the old one left off in terms of manoeuvrability. It’s remarkably nimble in tight situations, and agile too – its long wheelbase and rear overhang do of course impose limits, but show it a rough, enclosed piece of ground and it will roar with delight.

You might be inclined to groan in horror, though, when confronted with the 22.2mpg we averaged over the course of a bit more than 400 miles behind the wheel. That was on what we’d say is a pretty representative blend of motorways, A/B-roads and urban driving; when the truck was first delivered, the fuel consumption reading over the course of the previous several hundred miles was deep into the teens, so we’ve no idea what someone must have been doing to it, but while that seemed particularly bad we wouldn’t be buying an Amarok with much hope of seeing the combined-cycle 27.3-27.9mpg the official figures say you’ll get.

The Amarok inherits the mantle of a predecessor that had the premium pick-up market to itself. It’s very clear that Volkswagen wants to pull off the same trick again, both from the PanAmericana’s character and equipment and, of course, from its price. £47,255 plus VAT is a lot of money for a pick-up – but when you look at what you’ll have to pay to match the standards it sets with something that’s not one, you’ll find it hard not to conclude that you very much do get what you pay for.

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I

t takes all sorts doesn’t it? There are those who spend their working lives dreaming of heading off out into the wilderness in a properly prepped off-roader, waking up to the dawn over some far distant exotic mountains and smiling into a distant sunset.

But they never do more than dream.

Only last month, we ran a feature about Alex Wilkinson’s Toyota Land Cruiser VX which showed how life doesn’t tend to work out how we plan it. And here we are again. Another demonstration of what John Lennon pointed out: ‘Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.’

His final day was certainly a demonstration of that.

However, as far as we’re aware, this story does not involve weird stalkers or tragic endings. Although, in the words of one of the characters in the story, ‘it did hurt, really hurt’.

The cause of the pain and upset is a rather innocent-looking Nissan Navara. Only three years ago it was a standard pick-up truck, living and working in Lincolnshire. Low mileage, good condition – a blameless life and a good buy. Navaras have always been rather more popular in Europe than in the UK – not least because they were built in Spain, where they’re everywhere. But they have been popular here among those with an eye for a good-value 4x4 that is neither too big nor too small, but just right.

And of course Nissan no longer makes the Navara, with supplies petering out in the last year or two, so it will have increasing rarity value. And this one is rarer still since, as you see, it has been comprehensively worked on to make it into an adventure wagon, a dream-following, far-horizons freedom truck.

Last winter was spent on working it up to that status. The rest of the time was spent doing the day job and dreaming and planning for the European trip that was going to be a great adventure this

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Navara dull moment

Roof tents and 4x4s go together like teenage daughters and, well, anything so long as it’s not a roof tent. Put them together and you have a Nissan Navara with a roof tent for mum and dad and a palace for the family princess Words: Graham Scott Pictures: Vic Peel

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last summer if all worked out. Note the future conditional tense. Or, to cut to the chase, you just know this plan doesn’t have a happy ending.

But the work was done. The Navara had the 2.5-litre diesel with manual gearbox so it was a terrific base for an expedition vehicle. It was already over ten years old at this point with over 80,000 miles on the clocks, but that really wasn’t an issue, it was in great nick.

Even so, it got new tyres, brakes and the usual consumables. It’s for go as well as show. None of the other additions added that much weight so there was no need to start fiddling with more power. After all, the slower you go the more you see – perhaps the marketing team for the M25 could pick that up as their new slogan.

The first thing you notice is that pair of tents.

They’re top-quality items from OEX and the key was that they’re slightly narrower than some roof tents which meant that there was room for the pair upstairs, particularly after Leigh Daykin, who built this, extended the roof bar framework underneath.

The tents in turn sit on a fibreglass canopy back over the pick-up loadbed, and it’s in there that the rest of the goodies are found. But before we go rummaging around in the back, perhaps I can read your mind.

You’re thinking, hmm, two tents. So he and missus don’t get on very well or just like their own space. Fair enough. But actually the answer is a teenage girl (often a very dangerous answer to give).

When you’re a couple wanting to go off exploring with your teenage daughter she has to have her own space. That may not be a legal

requirement but any parent knows the wisdom of it. So a tent for the couple and another for their daughter. Happy days ahead.

Down below the tents there is also a Yakima solar pressurised road shower because – yup, teenage daughter. There’s also a fold-out shower awning which doubles as a toilet because – yup.

Bare minimum to offer if you’re going to get her to go with you.

Of perhaps less interest to her, but more interest to the parents, is a gas hob as part of a slide-out kitchen unit with its own storage area.

And of further interest to the parents is a 12v compressor fridge with its own back-up battery to house vodka, wine, beer and perhaps even some food.

While all these additions make it a viable and realistic vehicle to go off exploring remote places beyond the M25, there’s one item that adds far more value than it appears. And that is the 270-degree awning. They can make all the difference pretty much whatever the weather.

You’re not trying to cook up under a tiny umbrella or canopy while your neck either gets burning sun or dripping rain, and you can sit out in an area that somehow seems to have extended your own personal space that bit further into the outdoors.

That’s the sort of thing that Leigh knew about.

After all, he was no novice to this game. He’s had a grand total of seven Navaras and has been exploring abroad in 4x4s since his first Nissan Patrol when he was in his twenties. His retirement

26 | NOVEMBER 2023

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We thought it was a fantastically groovy design of LED bar at first, but on closer inspection we found that the thing on the front of the roof rack is a Yakima Road Shower. Pressurised and solar powered, if you don’t mind. And definitely one of life’s luxuries – as well as helping convince your teenage daughter that it’ll be okay to go camping with the olds, and family harmony is another of life’s luxuries. Teenage daughter’s tend to demur at the opportunity to shower in full view of the world, so there’s a fold-out awning which doubles as a toilet.

Yet another of life’s luxuries

plan is very obviously to travel in a really sorted 4x4 rig.

It’s just that it won’t be in this one. However, it’s not that he didn’t use it for the purpose it was created. He did get away, into the great outdoors, away from the traffic and the streetlights and the fast-food chicken outlets where you can buy your coke with wings. Yes, away from civilisation.

They made it away for all of three days. In the UK. He used an outfit called Wild With Consent, which sounds like a swingers club but is in fact most definitely not. Everything worked out, the shakedown was done, the kit worked perfectly, now to get the Big Trip planned and embarked on.

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And then – life. It happens, it happened. The summer came and went. And that presented Leigh with a problem. He used his Navara for work, and that meant every single time putting everything on board and attaching it, and then taking it all off again. Okay, so it’s an hour’s labour but that’s a faff when you can’t even get to use all the outward bound stuff.

Time for hard decisions. Maybe he’d sell it. He dipped the Navara’s tyres in the water. And it was sold. And, as he says, that ‘did hurt, really hurt’.

Because that dream was over. Looking back at the recently departed Navara, Leigh says: ‘It’s just freedom, the truck is just freedom. We were going

to get some of the iOverland maps and explore France and elsewhere.’

You can hear the wistful hurt. But the dream still very much lives on for him, and perhaps the chariot of dreams next time, he thinks, will be an Isuzu D-Max. But what of the Nissan Navara, all ready to go to pastures new? Well, that may at last get its chance to shine under a different sun. The new owner also has a teenage daughter and may yet use the Navara as part of a digital nomad lifestyle. Let’s hope it finally gets to see foreign lands and taste foreign diesel. But who knows what life has in store?

4x4 24/09/2023 21:09

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26/09/2023 12:38

Winter is Coming Back in 2009, Trevor Bailey found himself needing a vehicle to see him through a harsh winter. Today, he owns a Land Rover Series III Lightweight that carries its military heritage with pride – and can handle more than a touch of snow Words Mike Trott and Trevor Bailey Pictures: Mike Trott

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B

ack in 1948 when the very first incarnation of Land Rover appeared, the general public were stunned by its no-nonsense, practical and utilitarian attitude. And while it didn’t take long for people to recognise the benefits of the Land Rover in the agricultural and commercial market, the military was already fixated on employing the vehicle for its own missions.

Early military Land Rovers were just tweaked versions of the civilian standard. That’s how good a Land Rover was out of the box. However, as aircrafts developed, so did their transportation ability. By the late Sixties there was a demand for a vehicle that could be flown by fixed-wing

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aircrafts and helicopters – and the Series Land Rover of the day was perfect for the job. Only it was too heavy.

Step in the Lightweight. Officially known as the Half-Ton Land Rover, the Lightweight was built specifically for military duties and is distinguishable from ordinary Land Rovers becuse of its more angular bodywork – a design of Marmite; some love it, some hate it. On Land Rovers of old, though, looks always came second to functionality.

And while the Lightweight was new to the game in 1969, Trevor Bailey was new to the Land Rover game in 2009. Based near Consett in the North East of England, Trevor realised his rear-

wheel-drive Mazda RX-8 wasn’t the ideal machine for tackling the annual snowfall.

‘So, I had the bright idea of getting a second vehicle to use during the bad weather,’ recalls Trevor. ‘But which type? After much thought I decided on a Land Rover. I fixed the budget for my purchase, which pointed me in the Series direction. I did my homework, read all the books and familiarised myself with all the problem areas to look out for when buying.’

It was while he was doing this that Trevor came across a copy of Mark Cook’s book, The Half-Ton Military Land Rover. Trevor continues, ‘I could remember seeing these as a kid and always liked their unusual angular shape. So, that

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Inside, the only modernisation is the sat-nav Trevor uses for laning expeditions. Both up front and in the back, where all the original radio equipment still lives, the Lightweight is still just as it was when it left the Army was it, I was hooked! The Series III Lightweight was for me!’

The hunt and purchase are stories in their own right, but eventually the right vehicle was acquired for a fair sum. The body was quite tatty but the chassis was a peach, having been replaced together with new springs, reconditioned axles and a rebuilt engine prior to being cast in 1997.

Trevor reveals, ‘The recorded mileage showed only 4718 miles, which seemed strange to me, but after checking I discovered that this was the mileage on the new chassis. 4574 miles when it left the army in 1999 and only 244 miles since in ten years! Apparently, the chap I bought it from only used it occasionally to move farm equipment around his smallholding and never had it registered for road use.’

You’ll frequently find surprises when looking back through a vehicle’s history. In fact, the very name, ‘Lightweight’, is deceptive. The vehicle’s other alias is the ‘Air-Portable’. And indeed it was – but only after dismantling it and taking away the doors, tailgate, windscreen, vent panel (below the windscreen), spare wheel, bumpers (front and rear), rear upper body panels, canvas tilt and its support frame. When fully built, it was actually heavier than a standard military Series III CL (Commercial Logistics) Land Rover.

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Still, we’re focused on the history of one particular Lightweight, Trevor’s Half-Ton FFR 24V. He was after a 12V GS initially, but as is often the way, something too good to pass up comes along and then nothing else compares.

Trevor’s Lightweight was originally built in late ’79, before heading into service on New Year’s Day. It’s first home was in the North East serving with C. Company 4 Para between 10/04/1980 and 23/09/1993. It later served with 35 Signals Regiment from 18/05/1994 until 15/10/1997 prior to being decommissioned on 01/08/1999.

Ten years later, the Lightweight found itself with a new owner hungry for a project (and something to drive in the snow). The vehicle itself, meanwhile, was now aged thirty and had become due a restoration.

‘I decided to sympathetically restore it back to the original military spec, but without the radios,’ says Trevor. ‘I worked out an estimated budget for the work (but as we all know, you should multiply this by three!) and got to it.

‘Many pounds and hours were spent during the next three and a half years (stripping, repairing, replacing, rebuilding etc). The list of replacement and rebuilt parts seemed endless…’

Some of these included the rebuilt gearbox, with a high-ratio transfer box, new clutch slave

and master cylinders, propshafts, copper brake lines and a rebuilt master cylinder, starter motor and rear differential.

‘I even needed to replace both fuel tanks as the originals leaked and as you almost sit on them in a Lightweight, I didn’t fancy just having them repaired!’ laughs Trevor.

The original tilt was in a terrible condition and everyone knows how porous a Land Rover can be. Sadly, water had badly affected most of the switchgear, gauges and controls. Much of it was saved, but plenty of items needed replacing including the heater motor.

Trevor’s time (and money) was required on the bodywork, with another problem emerging every time he peeled another panel away. The bulkhead was on the receiving end of professional treatment, however, with the passenger footwell being cut out and replaced, together with various holes being fixed.

‘Other body parts were replaced too, like the galvanised upper vent panel, windscreen, doors and door tops, the tilt, front seat squabs and backs,’ describes Trevor. ‘I also swapped the tub floor with 3mm aluminium plating instead of the standard 2mm stuff for more rigidity.

‘Not being a mechanic but good with my hands, it has been an ‘on the job’ learning experience, but

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The 2.25-litre petrol motor in Trevor’s Lightweight was a ‘preserved’ unit – it was rebuilt in 1980, with the vehicle going on to gain a new chassis in 1997 very enjoyable. There has been the odd occasion when I have hit a problem that made me feel out of my depth. But with the aid of the workshop manuals and the internet I have managed to work my way through them,’ states a proud Trevor.

With the work complete, Trevor can now spend time with his Lightweight doing what he wants more than anything: driving it.

‘It’s a real old-school driving machine with none of the aids you get with a modern car. You must think about what you’re doing all the time: select the right gear for the hills before you run out of chuff, get your speed right before entering a corner and leave plenty of space for braking,’ explains Trevor. ‘It’s sluggish, it rattles and it’s noisy; but get it off-road on the rough stuff… it’s unbelievable what it is capable of.’

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The British Army admired the Lightweight’s capabilities so much that even when helicopters became more powerful and could lift them in fully built form, they remained in production and were used as the standard for years after.

Trevor’s Lightweight may not have to catch a flight anywhere these days, but just as the military called upon Land Rover when they required a vehicle for a specific purpose, Trevor can call upon his very own

Lightweight – whether it’s for a pleasurable drive through Northumberland’s lanes, or for when he needs the ultimate machine for conquering the worst of winters.

NOVEMBER 2023 | 35

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03/08/2023 16:37

Best of British The 2023 King of Britain pitched a strong field of Ultra4 competitors against the rocks of Walters Arena.

And, as befits an event at the height of our British summer, in order to reign the aspiring kings first had to battle through the rain…

Words: Tom Alderney Pictures: Nicolas Stèvenin and Tiana Walton

M

ark Dean, Adam Borrill, Tom Joliffe, Paul Rowlands and Jack Bradshaw are the new Kings of Britain, after three days of intense off-road action at Walters Arena saw them crowed winners in the second round of the 2023 Ultra4 Europe championships. Sponsored by Terrafirma, the event counted towards both the British and European titles, the latter following the Ultra4 discipline’s debut as part of the Rallye Breslau – which we covered in last month’s issue of 4x4.

A combination of time trial and winch challenge, Ultra4 is best described as extreme off-roading against the clock. With a blend of comp safari style fast sections with terrain that can only realistically be covered using a winch, even by competition cars with 40” tyres, locking diffs and vast suspension travel, it’s hugely demanding on cars and crews alike – but also hugely dramatic to watch.

There are currently five classes in Ultra4 Europe. Stock is for near-standard 4x4s, Legend is for more elaborate and well-prepared vehicles and Unlimited is for larger machines on which engines, axles, suspension and everything else can be modified to your heart’s desire.

In addition, there are now classes for SSV (Side by Side performance ATVs) and WRR (Winch Rallye Raid, prototypes built for trial races requiring winching).

Three of the latter lined up for the start of King of Britain, making it the smallest class in the event. In addition there were six competitors in Stock and seven in both Legends and SSV, leaving 13 to battle it out for principal honours in the Unlimited class (which is sometimes known simply as Ultra4).

As usual, the event started with a prologue section, in the form of a 1.5-mile sprint, to determine the running order for when the competition proper started the following day. With sponsorship from Mac Tools, this gave drivers a three-hour session in which they could make repeated efforts to set their best time. In previous years, teams were only allowed one run at the prologue; the change was made with the idea of adding suspense by allowing crews to improve their position right up to the end of the session.

In the event, it was Jim Marsden who led the way in the Unlimited Class, with Andrew Beecroft in Stock and Tom Joliffe in Legend.

Another pair of extremely well known names headed the running order in SVV and WRR, with Rob Tunnah and Allen Sharp respectively setting the best prologue times.

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Left to right: Duncan Smith, Jim Marsden and Ryan Dunn are three drivers who are well used to finishing at or near the top of the leader board. But Ultra4 pays no heed to reputations and on this occasion, all three finished outside the top five Below: If there was a Crowd Pleaser award, Ryan Beresford would have won it for his gung-ho performance in the Super Sprint at the end of Day 1. A ballsier display of the ‘if in doubt, flat out’ principle is yet to be seen… and yet to everyone’s surprise and delight, he neither stacked nor broke his Range Rover in the process Was is worth hammering your vehicle in the prologue? Well, at the start of Day 1 proper competitors were lined up two by two to fight for track position at the start of the lap. And with rain pouring from the sky, each of these dog fights condemned its loser to run in a barrage of mud and stones thrown at them by the tyres of the truck ahead.

The race session lasted five hours, with a 30-miles course to be completed four times. As always with Ultra4, it combined flat-out rolling terrain with narrow forest trails requiring fast but precise driving and extreme rocks which pushed vehicles, drivers and winch operators to the limit.

These highly technical and extremely challenging sections are what make Ultra4 what it is – it calls itself the toughest off-road discipline in the world, and it would take a brave man to argue otherwise.

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Breakdowns and damage are of course part and parcel of Ultra4. If a truck could be repaired where it stood, its time would remain live, however if it needed to be recovered back to pits that lap would be lost. Another reason not to inflict unnecessary punishment early on.

Sure enough, the attrition rate on day one was high. Only eight crews in Unlimited succeeded in completing all four laps – along with one alone in Stock, three in Legend, another three in SSV and none in WRR. Not satisfied with inflicting all this on the competitors, however, the organisers had a twist in the tail at the end of the first day. This was a new feature – a mini race, called Super Sprint, which was similar to the prologue but gave teams just one attempt at a short course with bonus championship points at stake.

And the drivers didn’t let them down. To the delight of the spectators who braved the rain, the sprint became a display of massive skids and drifts and even more massive air, with vehicles launching themselves at times with all four wheels off the ground. In particular, a sharp crest into a steep descent gave drivers the opportunity to make missiles out of their cars – and several grabbed it with both hands. Ryan Beresford, in particular, left the line like a rocket and sent his Stock class Range Rover bouncing in all directions on the way down. Then, arriving at the bottom, he kept his foot in to send it flying into the air – incredible for a basically standard machine, and everyone watching was prepared for the worst when he landed… only for the big, heavy vehicle to continue on its merry way with the gas pedal still pinned firmly to the floor. The

4x4 24/09/2023 21:05

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Paul Rowland (right) was one of two drivers to complete all seven laps in the SSV category. He did it more than two hours ahead of Noah Jaquet, however, to take the class win in emphatic style Peter Jackson (below) posted a much better time than Jacquet, but a dropped lap cost him second place

entertainment level was off the scale as the assembled crowd applauded rapturously.

Beresford’s Range Rover survived but over the whole field, hardly surprisingly breakages were rife. The most notable victim was that man Marsden, who trashed his front diff on a large rock. It says something for his pace, not to mention his team’s efficiency in the pits, that despite this he ended the day leading the Unlimited Class by almost 23 minutes. Duncan Smith was in second, some seven minutes ahead of Axel Bürmann, with Mark Dean in fourth – more than 33 minutes behind Marsden.

Service crews were hard at it into the night, repairing damage and keeping their teams’ vehicles in the best possible shape for the following morning. This saw the rain dry up –

though the course itself stayed wet, with a thick film of mud covering its entire surface. Perfect conditions for another war of attrition in the second special section – but not before the competitors’ kids had had the chance to battle it out in the Terrafirma Mini Monarchs.

This was a short-course race in scaled-down SSVs – and young though they might have been, the drivers gave it everything, jumping and sliding their vehicles across the terrain as their confidence grew with every passing lap. Lily and Harry Reul came first and third respectively, with second place going to Freddie Tunnah – and with it, the dawning of a third generation in an off-road motorsport dynasty.

The day’s special section required teams to complete three laps in four hours. And though

those failing to complete all four laps the previous day were at a clear disadvantage, there was still everything to play for with Jim Marsden, Duncan Smith and Axel Bürmann just three of the stellar names in the hunt for top honours.

But just a few miles in, Marsden suffered another major failure when his front suspension let go. It would be easy to speculate that the impact which smashed his front diff had also weakened his shocks – either way, back in the pits it became apparent that the vehicle’s race was run.

Marsden wasn’t the last big name to succumb early. In fact, the very next lap saw Duncan Smith join him in retiring early from a potentially winning position, with Ryan Dunn and Marc Govaerts following suit soon afterwards.

Jack Bradshaw (below) won the WRR class by dint of being the only driver to complete five laps. Behind him, Johnny Johnson (right) managed four while Allen Sharp (far right), another man who’s more used to winning than losing, came third on one

6 King of Britain.indd 43

24/09/2023 21:05

Full-bodied showroom 4x4s are a bit of a rarity in Ultra4, but thanks to the existence of Stock class they exist. Adam Borrill took the trophy in his Discovery, completing five laps to win by a distance from Richard Hopkins – seen below getting friendly with Darren Brooks in the traditional two-car start line sprint The fastest car on the course at this point was that of Antoine and Benoit Reul brothers, driving aggressively as they sought to make up for lost time after only competing three laps the previous day. Mark Dean, Bernd Schafer and Axel Bürmann were all close behind them, though – winch competition and off-road racing can see big gaps open up between competitors, but these four posted stage times separated by just 16 minutes.

The Reul brothers were indeed the fastest finishers on day two. But with Dean, Schafer and Bürmann hot on their heels, that dropped lap was to cost them. Ultimately, it was Dean who took the prize, completing his seven laps in 4:48:23 to be crowned King of Britain in the Unlimited class.

Bürmann took second place, some eight minutes further back, with Schafer a mere 43 seconds behind him in third. Terry Furlong and James Ayre were the only other drivers to complete seven laps; of the rest, Reul’s time was more than two hours faster than anyone else’s.

In the Stock class, Adam Borrill completed five laps – the only driver to manage this many – to win by a distance from Richard Hopkins in second place and Joseph Lander in third. These were in fact the only three crews to post more than one lap for the whole event – an indication of just how tough Ultra4 competition is on vehicles.

No such trouble in Legends, where Tom Joliffe and Luke Wakelen both completed seven laps, with Joliffe doing so around an hour faster. Third place went to Andrew Beecroft, who posted six laps to distance himself from the rest of the field.

44 | NOVEMBER 2023

6 King of Britain.indd 44

There were two sevens and a six in the SSV class, too. Here, though, Paul Rowlands did it hard and fast, whereas Noah Jacquet took it easy – to finish first, after all, first you have to finish. Make that second in this case, well over two hours behind the class winners – and far slower than third-placed Peter Jackson, whose dropped lap cost him the second step on the podium.

In WRR, winch challenge legend Allen Sharp had one to forget as he finished third with one lap completed. Ahead of him, Johnny Johnson managed four – while Jack Bradshaw went one better with five to take the win.

As this illustrates, Ultra4 is a racing discipline that pays scant regard to its competitors’ reputations. With some of the top names in

4x4 24/09/2023 21:05

Tom Joliffe (right) won the Legends class by posting seven laps – the same as Luke Wakelen (below) but around an hour faster

Bottom: The Unlimited Class was the most closely fought of them all with five crews completing seven laps. Of these, Mark Dean did it quickest – though Axel Burmann (below right) was only around eight minutes further back, with Bernd Schafer (below far right) just 43 seconds behind him the off-road game falling by the wayside, it’s a form of motorsport whose ability to spring surprises runs very deep indeed. And this year’s King of Britain once more lived up to that – a challenging and demanding race, an adrenalinefuelled competition and a suspenseful sporting event with non-stop twists and turns along the way. Mark Dean, Adam Borrill, Tom Joliffe, Paul Rowlands and Jack Bradshaw were each crowned King of their own class – but for everyone connected with it, this latest tale in the Ultra4 success story was a right royal triumph!

4x4 6 King of Britain.indd 45

NOVEMBER 2023 | 45

24/09/2023 21:06

If you’ve got the urge to explore on four wheels, you need the Overland magbook.

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Overland also contains profiles on expedition vehicles, reviews of the products and equipment you might need and advice on planning, packing, preparing your vehicle – and on the art of travel itself.

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17/08/2023 15:53 16:55 21/08/2023

El Macho or Girl Scout?

The Toyota Land Cruiser has a good many nicknames around the world.

‘El Macho’ more or less speaks for itself, but when you translate ‘Bandeirante’ it becomes a little harder to fathom. Whatever you call it, anyway, this beautiful 40-Series by Legacy Overland is an indication of what an old Cruiser can become as it moves beyond mere life and into the realms of immortality Words: Graham Scott Pictures: Legacy Overland

42 | MAY 2023

4pp Legacy Genko 40-Series.indd 48

4x4 24/09/2023 21:29

N

ames matter. Why do you think the famous poet Thomas Eliot (TS Eliot) insisted on having his middle initial, for Stearns, added for every occasion?

Because he knew perfectly well that, without the ‘S’, ‘T Eliot’ would be written backwards by his detractors. True story.

And Toyota is not immune from naming issues.

However the Japanese company is hardly the only one – remember when people realised that the Mitsubishi Pajero means Mitsubishi Masturbator in Spanish? Happier, more innocent days.

But Toyota’s problems started way back in the 1950s with its first decent 4x4, known as the BJ. Now, in our modern, knowing world we might think, hmmm, blow me, maybe we do need to update that title. But actually it was Jeep’s lawyers who decided the title sucked.

They took exception because the title was a mix of B-Series engine and J for Jeep. So they had a point. Toyota decided it was easier to simply change the name and, really, you could say the lawyers did Toyota a favour. Because the new title was Land Cruiser, a name that became as famous as Land Rover.

By 1960 the vehicle was in its third generation, and that was the 40 Series Land Cruiser. And that is what you see here. It stayed in production before a major facelift for the better part of two decades, testament to its success and general ‘rightness’. By 1968 Toyota had made 100,000 and that figure doubled in just four years. During that time, in 1971 in fact, this particular vehicle came off the production line.

Toyota didn’t start importing Land Cruisers to the UK until 1975 and never imported the 40 Series which means that any 40 Series you see in the UK are personal imports, labours of love, and

4x4 4pp Legacy Genko 40-Series.indd 49

a rarity at that. However, they were imported into the USA, with the first 20 Series brought in in 1958. And we mean that literally – one vehicle was officially imported that year. That soon changed.

And part of that rising wave was this FJ40.

Except of course it never looked like this. Not when it rolled off the production line, not when it sat in a dealership, not when it was being used by its owner. This is as much like a normal FJ40 as Bill Gates is to a normal humanoid.

That is because you could argue it was fortunate. Sure, these early Land Cruisers go on for virtually ever. The public was being encouraged to panic about nuclear war when it was built and one can only imagine what we’ll be encouraged to panic about by the time it finally gets sent to the scrapyard in the sky – spoiler alert, it probably won’t be transgender issues or Covid.

But even a Land Cruiser needs some TLC and the folks at Legacy Overland have provided the sort of TLC you’d normally only get at a prestigious private hospital where you had paid for the best of their best for everything. Legacy Overland’s Connecticut premises is the ultimate private hospital for distressed 4x4s. Not that the FJ40 ever looks like it needs help.

The FJ40 was a product of its time. And that time, after the Korean War, during the Vietnam War and the Cold War, was a time of things needing to work. You know that saying: ‘Hard times

create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men.

And weak men create hard times.’

And the FJ40 was built in hard times and it was strong. Leaf springs, no soundproofing, a threespeed transmission, two-speed transfer box, no real padding on the seats. It came with a 3.9-litre straight-six petrol engine (that’s what the F denotes. Later diesel models had H or B titles – and so the FJ still has the J in it but the overall title of Land Cruiser seems to have kept the lawyers quiet for a while.

That straight-six was quite an engine. In its 3B configuration it was known as ‘the million-mile engine’ but although the petrol version was strong, it wasn’t always retained. In Australia a common modification – I don’t know why – was to replace it with a Chevrolet V8. And that’s exactly what has happened with the vehicle you see here.

Under the bonnet is a Chevy 5.7-litre V8. That is undeniably a more modern, powerful engine and it allows a four-speed manual box to be fitted.

NOVEMBER 2023 | 49

24/09/2023 21:29

Still not exactly an eight-speed auto, but that would be wildly beyond the spirit of the FJ40.

It breathes through a massive Holley 600 CFM carburettor, just the one, but this carb, designed for mildly modified vehicles, is from a company that’s been making carburettors for over a century. They’ve probably got the hang of it by now.

Plus it has a manual choke and you’ve got to have one of those to look like you’re in tune with your vehicle on start-up.

Then of course you need to stop. That’s why this rig has upgraded discs all round. Which assumes you’ve been motoring around, and that means the ability to keep going when the going gets runny. Which is why there are Warn freewheeling hubs on the front wheels, a Warn M8000 winch up front and a jack mounted on the front bumper. Crumple zone? That’s you.

To enhance confidence in the go-anywhere vibe, there’s a roll-cage inside. Given the abilities of an entirely stock rig it’s maybe possible you could get into a situation where that might be needed, but man you’d have to be getting extreme.

To help you get extreme, BFGoorich All-Terrains are wrapped around the steel wheels, which have been painted black. But in terms of paint that’s not what you notice. What you notice is the bodywork paintjob. Legacy Overland simply describes it as ‘dark grey metallic paint with black accents’.

That’s positively British. Not just because, for once, they’ve managed to spell ‘grey’ properly, but because it’s quite an understatement.

I feel sorry for the photographer. It’s obvious he found it difficult to get the angles so that he wasn’t in every shot. Although a cursory glance tells us he had short dark hair and was wearing a

red top. This rig absolutely gleams. It has showstopping paintwork, absolutely remarkable, even though Legacy Overland says it’s left some bits of the finish original so we can see the ageing patina. Can you spot that?

The only place you don’t need dark glasses is inside. Where you can sit in the kind of comfort the original version would have considered soft and degenerate. Black leather seats cover really comfortable cushioning, while in the rear two

The cabin still looks pleasingly honest and authentic, but it’s definitely had the treatment.

Those seats are trimmed in good quality black leather, and if you peer through the spokes of the steering wheel you’ll see vents for the air conditioning. The cabin is also home at a premium stereo – and, on a more prosaic level, to a roll cage

50 | NOVEMBER 2023

4pp Legacy Genko 40-Series.indd 50

4x4 24/09/2023 21:30

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279exc.VAT

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135TE

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* WAS £356.39 inc.VAT Model Min/Max Amps exc.VAT PRO90 25-90 £249.00 135TE Turbo* 30-130 £289.98 151TE Turbo 30-150 £345.00

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*Diesel Pressure Engine BAR/Psi HP exc.VAT inc.VAT 110/1595 3 £279.00 £334.80 180/2610 4 £379.00 £454.80 200/2900 6.5 £399.00 £478.80 180/2640 5.5 £499.00 £598.80 230/3335 9 £679.00 £814.80 225/3263 13 £769.00 £922.80 248/3600 13 £998.00 £1197.60 200/2900 8.5 £2399.00 £2878.80

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£

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Model Tiger1800B Tiger2600B Tiger3000B PLS195B PLS220 PLS265B PLS360 DLS200AL*

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Provides essential home, garage and roadside assistance Integral work light 910 /JS1100C include air compressor Long life battery exc.VAT 96 DOUBLE FOOTER £116.39 inc.VAT

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inc.VAT £68.39 £87.59

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Ideal for effective cleaning with a hot jet of up to 80°C

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59

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CMUS3

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HARRY 2

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145 Bar 2103 psi

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INVERTER GENERATORS £

TIGER 16/550 Model Motor CFM Tank exc.VAT inc.VAT Tiger 8/260 2HP 7 24ltr £119.98 £143.98 Tiger 11/550 2.5HP 9.3 50ltr £179.98 £215.98 Tiger 16/550 3HP 14.5 50ltr £249.00 £298.80 Tiger 16/1050 3HP 14.5 100ltr £309.00 £370.80

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WAS Model Description exc.VAT inc.VAT CTC900C 9 dr chest £89.98 CTC500C 5 dr cabinet £149.98 CBB209C 9 dr chest £154.99 £191.98 CTC700C 7 dr cabinet £169.98 CTC1300C 13 dr set £189.98 £239.98 CBB217C 7 dr cabinet £279.00 £346.80

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44

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size (LxWxH) WAS NOW Model m exc.VAT inc.VAT inc.VAT CIG81212 3.6 x 3.6 x 2.5 £249.00 £310.80 £298.80 CIG81015 4.5 x 3 x 2.4 £279.00 £334.80 CIG81216 4.9 x 3.7 x 2.5 £329.00 £394.80 CIG81020 6.1 x 3 x 2.4 £349.00 £418.80 CIG81220 6.1 x 3.7 x 2.5 £399.00 £478.80 CIG81224 7.3 x 3.7 x 2.5 £499.00 £598.80 CIG1432 9.7x4.3x3.65 £1099.00 £1318.80 CIG1640 12x4.9x4.3 £2599.00 £3478.80 £3118.80

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34125 (71) 4x4 (full) Long A.indd 1 4x4 Magazine_2023_November_Machine Mart_FP.indd 1

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Left: This is the closest Legacy Overland came to giving us a picture of the Land Cruiser’s engine. The only time a Chevy V8 will be referred to in the same breath as hiding your light under a bushel Above: The winch is hidden, too, under a protective cover. It’s a Warn M8000, which is enough to be going on with Right: Warn got in on the act with a set of freewheeling hubs, too. In pub bore ammo news, this was actually the company’s first product – it was founded in 1948, when Arthur Warn started making hubs for ex-WWII Jeeps, and didn’t start making winches until 1959 bench seats, also upholstered in sumptuous black leather, sit facing in with the horizontally split rear ‘ambulance doors’ beside them.

There is also air-con and a premium sound system but, to stop it looking too soft, the controls are all tucked away largely out of sight. Legacy Overland appears to take the view that ‘any fool can be uncomfortable’. And perhaps the good folk of Connecticut are correct. Why wear a hair shirt when you can wear a Boss Black Label one?

Overall though, this is a tough rig that really could go through anything. Whether the new owner will want to do anything of the sort is another matter. And it’s hard to say what sort of life it actually had before this restoration-modification. There’s the odd intriguing hint, like some extra gauges on the dash and a ‘8-ball’ topper on the head of the gearshift. What are we to make of that? Whatever our imagination decides I guess.

Because here we are. Okay, it’s been restored with the sort of budget you and I might commit to a small house, but that doesn’t discount the fact that the vehicle was going strong after being driven around for more than half a century. Think of other vehicles of 1971. The Austin Marina.

The Morris Traveller. I’m sorry, I can’t go on. The point is that the Toyota 40 Series Land Cruiser will probably be here long after we’re all gone.

The 40 Series finally stopped production only in 1986. Or at least it did in Japan. The Brazilians then took over production, which went on until 2001. That means a good half century of production of a Land Cruiser that looks roughly like this one did originally. What an achievement.

But it also brings us back to the strangeness of names. In Venezuela this model was known as El Macho. You just know you’d only be allowed to buy one if you had a huge and bristling moustache and a sweaty mat of dark chest hair. But in Brazil it was known as the Bandeirante. Which sounds pretty swashbuckling too.

Well, it would, but for the somewhat inconvenient fact that it translates as Girl Scout.

Names matter, you see. But good, bad or inappropriate, they’ll never matter as much as a good truck. And this Land Cruiser is a very good truck.

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11/01/2023 17:19

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54 | NOVEMBER 2023

4x4_November2023_XXX_Composite Page_FP.indd 54

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4x4 Magazine_2023_November_Maxxis_FP.indd 1

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.uk

The Final Frontier A century ago, space was not the final frontier.

When Georges-Marie Haardt set out to explore strange new worlds, he didn't do it aboard the starship Enterprise: he did it behind the wheel of a Citroën half-track. And his quest was real – his expedition had been sponsored by the French government with the aim of proving the viability of a land route through Africa Words: Alan Kidd Pictures: Citroën

T

he history of overland travel is littered with magnificent achievements by pioneers driving Jeeps, Land Rovers, Land Cruisers and many other kinds of 4x4. But perhaps the most significant expeditions ever made used a very different kind of vehicle.

Ask a thousand people to guess at the first car ever to cross the Sahara, for example, and it’s unlikely that even one of them will tell you it was a Citroën. Yet it was the French manufacturer that pioneered the concept of overland travel when, on 7 January 1923, a quintet of its Kégresse carderived half-tracks arrived in Timbuktu following a twenty-day crossing of the great desert from Touggourt in Algeria.

The expedition was led by Georges-Marie Haardt and Louis Audoin-Dubreuil, who during the ten years that followed were to use the vehicles in blazing trails further around the world than anyone had ever thought possible. Principal among these was what came to be known as the Croisière Noire (‘black cruise’), a hugely ambitious project to create a land link between France’s African colonies and the island of Madagascar.

The seeds of the expedition were sown almost as soon as Haardt and Audoin-Dubreuil had successfully completed their Sahara crossing between Touggourt and the Malian settlement of Timbuktu – which, of course, still remains

a favourite destination among overlanders today, albeit only because of its name. André Citroën, the company’s founder and owner, had been convinced that it was possible to defeat the great desert in twenty days; when Haardt proved him right, President Gaston Doumergue suggested that due to Madagascar’s isolation, demonstrating the feasibility of a cross-continent route linking it to the rest of France’s African interests would be a great strategic coup.

Despite the enthusiasm with which the idea was met, such were the complexities of organising such a mission that it was to be another eighteen months before a convoy of eight Kégresse half-tracks, each fitted with Citroen’s Type B2 four-cylinder engine, set off on a trip that was to cover some 12,500 miles and take eight months to complete.

While Doumergue’s principal aim for the expedition was to reassure French industry that Madagascar was a safe bet, it was much more than simply an exercise in public relations. Haardt and Audoin-Dubreuil took with them a list of assignments from the Ministry of Colonies and the French Natural History Museum, and the make-up of the team crewing the eight vehicles illustrates the importance attached to it as a means of research. As well as Haardt and AudoinDubreuil themselves, members of the expedition

Early on in the expedition, the half-tracks make progress across a sandy section of the Sahara. Haardt and Audouin-Dubreuil had already been here before; the previous year, they had used another set of Citroëns to make what was the first ever motorised crossing of the great desert

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shop.cst-tyres.co.uk This picture: People often don’t realise how much of the Sahara is made of rock rather than sand. This is early in the expedition, near Adrar in what is now Algeria Below: Christmas Eve 1924, and the convoy picks its way across swamplands in Chad using makeshift pontoons

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.uk The teams followed a route across Africa to Kampala, where they split up into four mini-expeditions before reuniting once more for the final push into Madagascar

included zoologist and pathologist Dr Eugene Bergonie, geologist Charles Brull, ethnographic artist Alexandre Jacovleff and film-makers Léon Poirier and Georges Specht. Along with chief navigator Bettembourg and a crew of mechanics led

by Maurice Penaud and Maurice Billy, they were to change the way the continent of Africa and the nature of travel were viewed.

Starting on 28 October 1924 at ColombBechar in Algeria, the convoy made its way across the desert via the oases of BeniAbbes, Adrar, Taourit, Ouallen and Tessalit before reaching Bourem, on the river Niger, on 9 November. But this was just the beginning; next came a long trek through the bush, with never a road nor even a track to be seen, from 19 November to 15 December.

Citroën’s own official record of the trip takes up the story: ‘At Niamey, the expedition was enthusiastically greeted by some 300 horsemen and dromedary riders, who had come in from all the surrounding regions. At Tessaoua, the Sultan, whose harem numbered a hundred wives, allowed the team to shoot films in an ‘Arabian Nights’ setting. The Lord Barmou, of the ancient Haoussi nobility, had kept up the old customs of the orient; the women bowed down before their lord and master and he had his meals alone, for no-one must see him eat!’

There was, however, another story behind the expedition’s encounter here. Barmou, the Sultan of Tessaoua, had 67 daughters, four or five of whom (no-one could remember) were married to Serki Moussa, the Sultan of Maradi. Léon Poirier, the group’s film-maker, was already imagining the movie he could shoot inside the ‘inner sanctum’ of the harem – but Moussa was reticent about allowing him access.

Finally, another sultan proposed a deal.

Moussa had been given a brand new car as a gift, but it wouldn’t start; if Poirier could repair it, he could visit the women’s quarters. The expedition’s team of technicians examined the vehicle, worked out what was wrong… and discreetly pointed out to Moussa that all he needed to do was turn the key in the ignition…

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Following a break for the festive season at Ford Lamy (now N’Djamena, the capital of Chad), the convoy continued on its way towards Fort Archambault through a region where Islamic religion had failed to penetrate and which was therefore dominated by traditional animistic beliefs. ‘This is the country of the thickest bush, of sky scraping trees and naked natives,’ relates Citroën’s record. ‘It is the land of “plate-lipped women” and of “panthermen” whose fetishism (animism) led them to indulge in human sacrifice.’

No doubt the explorers from the west felt very sophisticated alongside such cultures, though they demonstrated a crass vulgarity of their own when they paused near the Sudanese border to entertain themselves by killing lions, buffalos, hippopotami, elephants, giraffes and antelopes.

To make matters worse, as well as stalking the animals near water-holes they hunted using the technique of lighting brush fires; the ‘panthermen’ and ‘plate-lipped women’ of Chad might have looked on and wondered who these backward invaders were.

At least Poirier and Specht were busy with their cameras too at this time, bringing back hours of literally ground-breaking film documenting the migration of African elephants. There was an unexpected enemy to be faced, though, in the shape of another kind of wildlife – swarms of bees which were at times so numerous as to force the camera teams to turn back.

Moving on into the Belgian Congo, the convoy was slowed by a series of river crossings. ‘What few bridges there were being quite unsafe,’ says Citroën’s diary, ‘it often proved necessary to build rafts kept afloat with dug-out canoes and a system of winches with cables stretching from one river bank to the other. On many occasions, a situation which had become critical was restored only thanks to the initiative and courage of the mechanics.’

That’s nothing, however, compared to the work done on the expedition’s behalf by a team of 40,000 Congolese workers co-ordinated by their nation’s Belgian rulers. Aware of the convoy’s impending arrival, the Belgians saw that they

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Above: Take a close look at what the vehicle is actually riding on here, and try guessing how many pairs of fingers were being crossed when this picture was taken…

This picture: N’Guigmi, Chad; another job for mechanics Billy and Penaud – whose heroism later in the expedition was to save the whole team’s lives when the vehicles were caught in a bush fire

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.uk Levy and Perrault aboard their P4T in Niger. This picture shows the layout of the Kégresse half-track system clearly; the rear drive wheel is fixed, while the rest of the unit rides on an articulated bogie

could use it to get a road built through the forest by spreading word among the locals that the Citroën team were envoys of the British explorer Henry Stanley, whose expedition of 1874-1877 had done much to open up the African interior.

‘For these people,’ says Citroën’s memoir, ‘Stanley was considered to be nothing less than a prophet, coming to announce a new age.

No wonder they went about the job with such enthusiasm.’ Given the condemnation Stanley received in the British press and parliament for the savage violence with which his team conducted themselves, indiscriminately murdering those who they encountered en route, it’s possible that the Congolese workforce was motivated by fear rather than respect, but for Haardt’s convoy the results were what mattered – and almost 450 miles of cleared track through the dense jungle made it possible to breeze through what would otherwise have been one of the toughest parts of the whole route.

Happily, despite the disquieting nature of the relationship between the colonials and their ‘hosts’, the Citroën team was well able to appreciate the esoteric skills of the local culture.

‘In the heart of the virgin forest, the members of the expedition had occasion to appreciate the efficacy of the gudu-gudu, a sort of very bass sounding two-toned gong used as a bush telephone over distances up to fourteen miles or so, from one tribe to another. Its rhythms remain a dead secret, known only to the gudugudistes of each village.

‘The mission also came across the pygmies, whose only resource in order to glimpse the sky was to climb to the top of the enormous trees in whose shadow they live stifled. They look like legendary gnomes on account of their short legs; their head is voluminous, and the hue of their skin is a rich coppery red. The natives call them TickTick; they are astonishingly subtle hunters, using bows under two feet long and poisoned arrows.’

The Mangbetou people, too, provided the convoy with a warm welcome. ‘They are a race with a stately mien, fine-drawn joints, small feet and delicate hands,’ notes Citroën’s record. ‘So

much did the Europeans and natives sympathise that one of the tribal chiefs proposed his daughter for wife to one of the expedition’s members… who managed to refuse the offer with sufficient tact not to antagonise anybody.’

This was on the way between Stanleyville (present-day Kisangani) and British East Africa, where the expedition was to split into four groups. Following the Congo-Nile road out of Buta between 23 March and 13 April, the convoy’s progress was slowed by heavy rain.

Less welcome still was the attention of the tsetse fly, a pest which remains a scourge of people and cattle to this day. ‘The only animal completely immune is the elephant,’ noted the travellers, ‘the thickness of its skin being no myth.

These elephants are tamed as they were by the Carthaginians of old, and as are Asian elephants, to replace manpower.’

Finally the vehicles reached Kampala, the designated point at which four groups of two would each make their own way to a final rendezvous on Madagascar itself. AudouinDubreuil’s vehicles were to head for Mombasa via Nairobi and the Kilimanjaro region; Bettembourg’s group for Dar-es-Salaam; Haardt’s for Mozambique; and Brull’s for Cape Town. They were to form once more into a single convoy at Majunga, on the west coast of Madagascar, before making their way to the island’s capital Antananarivo for the conclusion of the trip.

Audouin-Dubreuil’s group climbed to 9500 feet and above as it skirted the southern flank of Kilimanjaro. As well as the altitude, the vehicles had dense tropical forests and several tricky water crossings to cope with. This was the chief obstacle for Bettembourg, too; these two minigroups met back up in Dar-es-Salaam, after the second team had built a bridge of 63 yards’ span to get across the Wani River.

‘The English,’ records Citroën, ‘were very appreciative of the sporting feat.’ Brull’s

Georges-Marie Haardt A close collaborator with André Citroën, Georges-Marie Haardt made his name by carrying through his mentor’s vision for a motorised crossing of the Sahara. This was completed just over four years after the Kégresse first went into production, and was quickly followed by the Croisière Noire.

Having conquered Africa, his final undertaking was an even more ambitious expedition to open up the Silk Route to cars. Travelling through Asia in a convoy of Kégresse P17s especially modified to cope with the extreme cold, he arrived triumphantly in Beijing on 12 February 1932.

Despite receiving a hero’s welcome, however, Haardt was by now exhausted. Soon after arriving he contracted influenza and, unable to fight, he died in Hong Kong on 15 March.

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shop.cst-tyres.co.uk This picture: Mount Longitudo, in Kenya – the half-tracks’ low ground pressure meant that when power was called for, they were prone to needing extra weight over their back axles Below: July 1925, South Africa; after crossing many rivers by raft, this shallow ford in the Kimberley was a piece of cake for the brace of vehicles led by Charles Brull

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.uk The Croisière Noire has remained a celebrated undertaking in the history of the French colonies through which it travelled. This postage stamp was issued in Mali to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Andre Citroën’s birth

group found this, too, in the most peculiar of circumstances; having discovered that the ballast of the railway lines towards Cape Town provided the best kind of road in some areas, they found themselves having an audience with none other than the Prince of Wales.

Brull’s group covered easily the largest amount of ground on this part of the expedition, but it was Haardt who was to encounter the toughest conditions. In particular, the swampy ground around the north shore of Lake Nyasa, which the team encountered during the rainy season, proved taxing even for the Kégresse vehicles. ‘All possible conditions were leagued against the progress of the two half-tracks,’ reported Haardt.

‘Swampy bush through which a way has to be hacked with axe, shovel and machete, only the compass being used to steer; mountainous regions with rain-pitted tracks; bridgeless rivers and rivers whose bridges had been washed away.

‘It often took an hour to cover half a mile, and the pace dropped to five miles a day. Every river to be crossed set a fresh problem; some required the assembly of rafts made up of tree trunks and dug-out canoes, others the rebuilding of bridges no longer existent. Sometimes the rivers could be forded, after removing the cars’ magnetoes.’

Citroën and Kégresse The rubber treads on Citroën’s half-tracks were invented by Adolphe Kégresse, who demonstrated them in the presence of André Citroën himself. The system used articulated bogies fitted to the rear axle; these carried a powered rear wheel, large front idler and four small guide wheels, around which was run a reinforced rubber track.

This spread the vehicle’s tractive effort over a much greater area, as well as minimising ground pressure.

Citroën was much taken by the idea of a vehicle capable of negotiating rough terrain but also travelling at a respectable speed on the road, and production commenced in January 1921. The Kégresse was built until 1937; following this, the system was licensed by the US Army, which used it on more than 41,000 vehicles during WWII.

4x4 8pp Croisiere Noire.indd 63

The team’s progress was constantly being monitored by the British colonials, not least because many had laid bets against its success.

To their mind, Nyasaland was impossible to cross – so there was a heroes’ reception when the Citroëns finally put in to Blantyre.

The route turned east from here to make for the coast, where a ferry would carry the vehicles to Madagascar. Ahead, however, lay another 450 miles through the Dabo, a vast plain of soft, saturated ground and tall grasses. This would have been taxing enough, but in the scorching heat of the African sun the team was suddenly faced with a more terrifying danger than ever: fire.

One could say this was nature’s revenge for using such a cruel method of hunting back in Chad. And Haardt already had experience of how quickly a fire can spread, after a location flare fired by one of the teams on his first expedition had ignited the tinder-dry brush. But nothing compared with this blaze; mechanics Billy and Penaud gritted their teeth against savage burns, pressing on at full speed as the vehicles’ tyres burst and their tracks started melting. Ultimately, their bravery was what saved the whole team from perishing so close to the end of their quest.

Sailing from Mozambique to Majunga, Haardt’s scarred but unbowed group met up with Bettembourg and Audouin-Dubreuil. Coming from further south, Brull’s team was briefed to land at Tulear while the other six vehicles were following a route around the northern coast of Madagascar.

Finally, on 20 June 1925, all four vehicles were reunited in Antananarivo. The expedition had taken numerous topographical coordinates, shot about 90,000 feet of film, produced more than 300 drawings and 15 books of sketches, taken over 8000 photographs and collected samples of over 300 mammals, 800 birds and 1500 insects, some of which were up to that time unknown.

Most of all, during its 12,500-mile advance across Africa, from north to south and from west to east, the expedition had blazed a new trail for all to see and proved that by it could be done.

Thanks to the Croisière Noire, Africa had been opened up to the automobile – and thanks to the vision of André Citroën and the genius of Adolphe Kégresse, along with the pioneering bravery of Haardt and Audouin-Dubreuil, the era of overland expeditions had begun.

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AZIN

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14/07/2023 07:15

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4x4_Subs_DPS_July23.indd 3

14/07/2023 07:15

ROADBOOK

NORTH NORTHUMBERLAND

A variety of rural farm lanes – and some spectacular water crossings

Green laning is a great way of exploring the UK, but many insurance companies don’t cover off-roading and green laning. That’s why our Isuzu – pictured here – is insured by Adrian Flux, a specialist insurance broker that covers off-roading and green laning. Whether you’ve modified your 4x4 or you own a classic 4WD, they can help. Give them a call on 0800 085 5000 for a quote.

Insurance for your 4X4 66 | MARCH 2022 Call 0800 085 5000 or visit adrianflux.co.uk 11pp Roadbook Nov 23.indd 66

4x4

Authorised & regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

24/09/2023 22:11

ROADBOOK In a gently rolling landscape of hill farms and quiet villages, this roadbook is largely quite gentle – though here and there it has surprises to spring, with a sprinkling of more challenging lanes to keep you on your toes. In particular, for some reason this part of the country is rife with fords – some of them very wide and potentially deep. Over time, some have become completely unusable – but many remain, and of course they’re a big part of the fun. Be in no doubt, though, that when the rivers are in spate you need to stay very well clear

USING OUR ROADBOOKS Our roadbooks guide you through the countryside on a mixture of surfaced and unsurfaced roads.

The tracks we use are public rights of way, either Byways Open to All Traffic or Unclassified County Roads, all commonly referred to as green lanes.

NAVIGATION

We’ve deliberately made it as easy as possible to follow the route, using a mixture of instructions, tulip diagrams and grid references. We normally only include junctions at which you have to make a turning or don’t have right of way, so stay on the main road or continue straight ahead unless we tell you otherwise.

You’ll find a guide to using grid references on the legend of any OS map. Our aim is for you to be able to do the route without maps, whether paper or online, but you should certainly take a set with you.

SAFETY

The notes on thee pages advise you of how suitable the route is for your vehicle. These are just guidelines, however. We’ll warn you of any hazards or difficult sections, but the nature of any green lane can change quickly. Wet weather can make a huge difference to the conditions underfoot, and what’s wide open in winter can be tightly enclosed and scratchy in summer.

The responsibility is yours!

Our roadbooks are designed to be safe to drive in a solo vehicle. We do recommend travelling in tandem wherever possible, however. The risk of getting stuck can be greater than it appears – and even the most capable of vehicles can break down miles from anywhere.

RESPONSIBILITY

Irresponsible driving is a big issue on green lanes. In particular, you must always stay on the right of way. Never drive off it to ‘play’ on the verges or surrounding land, even if you can see that someone else has; doing so is illegal and can be tremendously damaging.

This kind of illegal off-roading is a key reason why green lanes get closed. If you see others doing this, they are NOT your friends. They’re criminals, and you are their victim.

If it’s safe to do so, film them in the act and pass it to the police.

4x4 11pp Roadbook Nov 23.indd 67

Elsewhere, let common sense and courtesy prevail. Keep your speed down, be ready to pull over for others and show the world that we are decent people just like them.

ANTIS

Anti-4x4 bigotry does exist, but it’s less common than you’d think. By and large, it’s limited to organisations who just want to get the countryside all to themselves.

These organisations are beyond being reasoned with, but it’s rare to encounter real hostility even from their rank-and-file members. If you’re friendly towards the people with whom you share the countryside, the vast majority will respond in kind. There are always bad apples, but no more so than anywhere else.

Likewise, most local residents will accept your presence if you’re driving sensibly. What suspicion you do encounter is likely to be from farmers worried that you’re there to steal from them, so be ready to offer a word of reassurance. Once satisfied that you’re not after their quad bikes, their mood will lighten.

DO…

• Keep your speed right down • Pull over to let walkers, bikers and horse riders pass

• Leave gates as you found them • Scrupulously obey all closure and voluntary restraint notices

• Ensure you have a right to be

there. We research the routes on our roadbooks very carefully, but the status of any route can change without notice Be prepared to turn back if the route is blocked, even illegally If you find an illegal obstruction, notify the local authority Stick absolutely scrupulously to the right of way Always remember that you are an ambassador for all 4x4 drivers

• • • •

DON’T…

• Go in large convoys: instead, split into smaller groups

• Drop litter. Why not carry a bin bag pick up other people’s instead?

• Go back to drive the fun bits, such as mud or fords, again

• Cause a noise nuisance, particularly after dark

• Get riled up if someone challenges you. Be firm but polite, stay calm and don’t let them turn it into a fight

NOVEMBER 2023 | 67

24/09/2023 22:11

ROUTE GUIDE

is it suitable?

START FINISH HOW LONG? TERRAIN HAZARDS

TYRES

OS MAPS

Rennington (NU 212 185) Wooler (NT 992 278) 57.85 miles / 5-6 hours Rolling farmland Deep, fast-flowing water; occasional mud and ruts; one or two hazardous drop-offs; a few scratchy bits; other users; some liaison sections on fast roads Landranger 75 (Berwick-upon-Tweed) Landranger 81 (Alnwick & Morpeth)

Step

1

0.0 Step

2

NU 212 185

Start outside the Horse Shoes Inn in Rennigton. It’s not a public car park, so be considerate – especially if there’s a convoy of you. Zero your trip with the main pub building to your left and set off heading south to start the route

NU 212 184

Turn right straight after the village green – it’s the second road on the right after you’ve set off

0.05 Step

3

4

0.15 68 | NOVEMBER 2023

11pp Roadbook Nov 23.indd 68

LOW BOX SOFT-ROADERS SCRATCHING DRIVING DAMAGE

Step

5

1.0 Step

6

1.1 As you come to the end of the long barn on the right, take the track that forks out to the left – you’ll see a bench and picnic table ahead of you at the junction

0.1 Step

WEATHER

Low-profile sizes may struggle in places. Do-able on a road pattern Avoid in fog or after enough wet weather to raise the river levels Useful in places Should cope if back-up is available Some risk on one or two lanes Concentration and good judgement required in several places Water crossings could be lethal, never mind damaging, when rivers are in spate

Step

7

1.6 Just a small splash (normally) straight after the rather incongruously placed national speed limit signs

Step

8

2.45 4x4 24/09/2023 22:11

Step

Step

3.65

5.95

Step

Step

3.9

6.0

Step

Step

3.95

6.35

Step

Step

4.9

0.75

9

15 16

10 11

17

13

NU 220 127

Turn right on to the track opposite the road on the left for Rennington and Longhoughton

5.3 Step

14

ZERO TRIP

18

12 Step

As a rule of thumb, if the water level is above the stepping stones, it’s too deep! And if the water here is high, a couple of other fords later in the roadbook will probably want to kill you…

Step

19 1.25

The main track swings right through a gate; carry on ahead on a grassy track between hedgerows

5.85

Step

20 5.5

Ashington Amble A1068

NU 240 052

This is after you’ve passed through Warkworth

WATERSHAUGH ROAD

Step 15: …before emerging into what can be a beast of a ford.

If you can’t see the stepping stones, the water will be high enough, and sufficiently fast flowing, for you not to want to risk it. This is the first of many fords in the route – the one on the previous pages is the widest, but what they all have in common is that when the water’s up, you’d be mad to mess with them

Step 14: After half a mile on a decent, wide track, suddenly you dive off into much tighter undergrowth…

4x4 11pp Roadbook Nov 23.indd 69

NOVEMBER 2023 | 69

24/09/2023 22:12

Step

24

Dead slow through the farm

8.9 Step

25 Step 23: This turning is on a long and pretty featureless stretch of road, so it’s easy to miss

9.05

Step

Step

21

It’s not as fearsome as it first looks, but with a weir to your right you do not want to mess with this ford if the water level is high

6.05 Step

22

9.5 Follow the sign for Shilbottle and Guyzance

23 8.2

70 | JANUARY 2022

11pp Roadbook Nov 23.indd 70

Step

27 1.5

6.95 Step

26

ZERO TRIP

NU 206 058

Guyzance Bank House

234 112

Step

28 3.9

4x4 24/09/2023 22:12

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31/07/2023 09:23 09:36 09/08/2023

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11/04/2023 17:24

Step

29

NU 202 029

This is immediately after Step 28, just at the other side of the bridge

3.95 Step

30

Caution – there’s a very big and at times unprotected drop-off to the right as you climb the hill after the old barn

4.1 Step

31

The turning on the left is just a field entrance, but it looks like a track as you arrive at the junction

Step

33

4.6

5.8

Step

32

Step

4.85

7.1

4x4 11pp Roadbook Nov 23.indd 73

34 Swarland Longframlington B6245

NOVEMBER 2023 | 73

24/09/2023 22:12

Step

38 11.3 Step

39 11.4 Step

Step

35 8.95

40 Swarland Newton on the Moor

3

11.7

4

214

Step

Step

36 10.2 Step

37 10.8

72 | MARCH 2022

11pp Roadbook Nov 23.indd 74

41 Rothbury 10 Longframlington 4

ZERO TRIP

12.3 Step

NU 155 043

42 Overgrass only

1

4

1.6

Coldstream Wooler Powburn A697

33 20 11

4x4 24/09/2023 22:12

Step 50: The exit on the far bank is quite soft, and the field opposite is likely to be full of cattle. The track across it is quite hard to spot, too. All good reasons to have your sensible head screwed firmly on the whole way along here Step

Step

47

43 11.4

Eglingham

Step

12.2

0.25

48

44 45

NU 084 167

Looking out for the byway sign, turn left through the gate and follow the faint grassy track along the field edge

12.7 Step

46 12.9 4x4 11pp Roadbook Nov 23.indd 75

ZERO TRIP

13.7

Step

Step

NU 081 183

Step

49

As the main track swings hard right, follow ahead towards the wooden gate

0.65 It’s just a set of tyre tracks in the grass to your left, but since that’s more or less what you’ve been driving on too it seems wise to mention them…

Step

50

It’s quite soft on the far side, then follow the faint grassy tracks through the field

0.8 NOVEMBER 2023 | 75

24/09/2023 22:12

Step

51

Caution – however small this looks, it’s actually a B-road, and visibility to the right is poor as you emerge

Step

55

1.45

3.8

Step

Step

52

56

1.7 Step

53

Chatton 5 Chillingham 4

NU 061 226

Turn left opposite the road for Bewick Folly

3.5 Step

54 3.6

5.05 Step

57 5.15

When you reach the river, ignore the tracks in the grass to the right and follow round to the left

Step

58 5.9 Step 61 (inset left): This junction is quite good at messing with your head as you approach, but it will soon start making sense

11pp Roadbook Nov 23.indd 76

24/09/2023 22:12

Step

59

NU 037 253

60

Dead slow past the houses then continue ahead on to the grassy track

6.8 Step

61

62 8.95

6.3 Step

Step

Step

63

Caution – this is a major road

9.5 Turn right at the cross-roads with another track then immediately swing left, keeping the stone wall to your right

8.1

Step

64

Keep your wits about you as you approach the junction – it’s unmarked and hard to spot, and traffic will be coming up fast from behind you

11.9 Step

65

ZERO TRIP

12.5 Step

66 Step 67: It’s the complicated crossroads from Step 51 again, only this time approached from the opposite direction

4x4 11pp Roadbook Nov 23.indd 77

0.45 NOVEMBER 2023 | 77

24/09/2023 22:12

Step 74: Yes, that would be a sheer vertical drop-off to your right. The ford is normally just a trickle, but you do NOT want to risk it when the water’s high

Step

67

Turn right through the gate

Step

72

1.2

2.5

Step

Step

1.45

2.55

Step

Step

1.7

2.6

Step

Step

2.15

3.0

68

73

69

74

70 Step

71 2.4 78 | NOVEMBER 2023

11pp Roadbook Nov 23.indd 78

NU 002 260

Look at the photo and take note of that drop-off to the right of the truck. If this one goes wrong, it’ll be goodnight tonight – don’t take any chances at all with it if the water is high or fast-flowing

75 Caution – this is a major road.

You’ll be turning right again almost immediately, so don’t nip out in front of anything that’s bearing down on you from the right

Morpeth Powburn A697

Step

76

Turn left at the T-junction and you’re in the centre of Wooler, where the route ends

3.5 4x4 24/09/2023 22:12

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THE NEW-LOOK ISUZU D-MAX

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

PICK-UP OF THE YEAR

2023

DRIVEN TO DO

SEE WHAT’S NEW AT ISUZU.CO.UK All fuel consumption and emission values are based on the new WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) test cycle which uses real-world driving data. Official fuel economy for the standard Isuzu D-Max range in MPG (l/100km): Low 25.1–27.6 (10.2–11.2). Mid 31.4–36.4 (7.8–9.0). High 36.0–39.4 (7.2–7.8). Extra-High 29.0–30.8 (9.2–9.7). Combined 30.7–33.6 (8.4–9.2).

CO2 emissions 220–241 g/km.

Visit Isuzu.co.uk or contact your local Isuzu dealership for more information.

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22/08/2023 23/08/2023 13:42 16:50