LATEST: DAKAR’S NEW GENERATION | FIRST DRIVE: FORD RANGER WILDTRAK | UK TRAVEL: THETFORD FOREST
THE WORLD AWAITS
Vehicle-borne adventures around the world – where will YOU go? Winter 2024 £5.99
OVERLAND JEEP Grand Wagoneer gets ready for adventure
ANGEL FALLS
Battling floods in a bid to reach the unreachable
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LAST OVERLAND
Inside story of the Singapore-London classic
13/11/2023 17:31
SUBARU OUTBACK. BUILT FOR ADVENTURE. READY FOR EVERY TYPE OF TRIP.
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Alan Kidd, Editor of 4x4 Magazine
Award-winning features. Fitted as standard. • 2.5i Boxer Engine Lineartronic • Permanent Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive • EyeSight Safety Package • 2,000kg Towing Capacity (braked) • 213mm Ground Clearance • 11.6" Tablet-like Infotainment System • Reversing Camera
SUBARU OUTBACK fuel economy and CO2 results (WLTP): Combined 33.0mpg, CO2 emissions 193g/km. MPG figures are official EU test figures for comparative purposes & may not reflect real driving results. Fuel consumption achieved in real life conditions & CO2 produced depends on a number of factors including accessories fitted (post-registration), variations in weather, driving styles & vehicle load.
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TERRAFIRMA 2”LIFT AIR TO COIL CONVERSION KIT D3 & D4 TF266 Fitting an air to coil conversion kit to a Discovery 3 or 4 reduces the likelihood of expensive air suspension repairs and eliminates the potential for suspension failure in remote operating conditions. Terrafirma’s lifted air to coil conversion kit increases ride height by 50mm (2inches) with good load carrying characteristics and excellent ride quality. The sophisticated EAS override module retains all the original functions such as Terrain Response, Headlight Levelling and Information Screen functions. TF266 suits both Discovery 3 and Discovery 4
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For more information visit www.allmakes4x4.com email productnews@allmakes4x4.co.uk
06/11/2023 12:51
Tel: 01283 742969 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
Ian Denby-Jones
Contributors
Tom Gibson, Chris Collard, Graham Scott, Kaziyoshi Sasazaki, Mike Trott, Olly Sack, Gary Noskill, Dan Fenn, Paul Looe, Tom Alderney
W
elcome to the magazine that came full circle. Overlander 4x4 was launched in 1982 and, thanks to the efforts of David Bowyer, Brian Hartley and Mike Hallett, it grew until it was bought by one of Britain’s biggest publishers. They changed its name, first to Off Road and 4 Wheel Drive and then to 4x4, sold it to another publisher and then, a few years ago, Assignment Media bought it and merged it with our own title, Total Off Road. And here we are changing its name back to Overlander 4x4. Vehicle-based adventure is a huge growth area; interest in camping is at an all-time high and more people than ever dream of doing it in wild places.
Thus the time seemed right to embrace the overlanding element of the magazine’s heritage. We’re going bigger on global and UK travel alike – though just as it was back then, the magazine will still cover everything about the 4x4 world. I know there’s been some pretty page-heavy stuff in the old-style 4x4 which was not to everybody’s taste. So although the new-look magazine is a bit smaller, there’s now actually more to read. It still has twice as many pages as those first issues did back in the 1980s, too… if David, Brian and Mike are reading this, I do very much hope that they, along with the rest of you, enjoy our new direction. Alan Kidd, Editor
Photographers
Steve Taylor, Richard Hair, Harry Hamm, Vic Peel
Advertising Sales
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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
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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
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Contents Winter 2023_v2.indd 2
13/11/2023 14:25
LATEST: DAKAR’S NEW GENERATION | FIRST DRIVE: FORD RANGER WILDTRAK | UK TRAVEL: THETFORD FOREST
THE WORLD AWAITS
Vehicle-borne adventures around the world – where will YOU go? Winter 2024 £5.99
OVERLAND JEEP Grand Wagoneer gets ready for adventure
ANGEL FALLS
Battling floods in a bid to reach the unreachable
LAST OVERLAND
Inside story of the Singapore-London classic
75% OFF
52
Six issues for the price of 12 sounds like halfprice – but when you subscribe to 4x4 for a year, you actually end up getting 75% off the price on the cover
CONTENTS WINTER: 2024 4x4 Scene 4
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News
A new generation bids for Dakar glory, Munro production begins, Adventure Overland drops a date and more
Rights of Way
A valuable lesson for a newcomer to green laning, and enthusiasts working hard to show the public that 4x4 drivers are decent people too
Products
Top camping options, vehicle upgrades, cool accessories and tools to make your life easier –it’s all here
Every Month 52 Subscribe
Get Overlander 4x4 delivered for a fraction of the cover price
64 Next Month
How to explore Africa without even owning a 4x4
Driven 12 Ford Ranger Wildtrak
All new double-cab tested in lifestyle-spec form
14 Lexus RX450h+ Takumi
Refined premium SUV makes you question the need for a Range Rover
Features 26 Toyota FJ Bruiser
Toyota rebuilds a tired pick-up as a masterpiece of rock-crawling design
32 Christmas Gift Guide
Four pages of festive inspiration
48 Grand Wagoneer Overland
Jeep’s latest family vehicle reimagined as a poptop adventure machine
54 Camper class
A Defender 130 ambulance converted into a boutique overland camper
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Travel 18 Angel Falls
A mission to reach the unreachable proves that it’s exactly that
36 Last Overland revisited
The man behind the Singapore-London classic gives us the inside story
58 Thetford Forest
Exploring the trails and the history of Britain’s original national forest
Winter 2024 I Overlander 4x4
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NEWS
QUINTERO JOINS TOYOTA FOR DAKAR RALLY Pics: Kin Marcin / Red Bull Content Pool
S
eth Quintero will bid to become the youngest ever Dakar winner at next year’s running of the legendary cross-country rally in Saudi Arabia. The 21 year old Californian has been handed a place behind the wheel of a Toyota GR DKR Hilux run by the Japanese giant’s Gazoo Racing works team, allowing the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship T3 champion to step up to the elite T1+ class and compete at the very highest level of off-road sport. Quintero will continue to be co-driven by Dennis Zenz, who partnered him aboard a Can-Am Maverick this year as part of the Red Bull off-road team. Their promotion to the top table will come with high expectations – Toyota has won the last two Dakars with the vastly experienced five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah at the wheel.
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With the baton being handed to a new generation of drivers, the 2024 Dakar will also see Lucas Moraes joining the Gazoo Racing team. The 32 year old Brazilian caused a sensation in this year’s event by taking third place in his first ever rally, beaten only by legends Al-Attiyah and Sebastien Loeb – the first time in more than a decade that a driver aged under 40 has finished on the podium. ‘This whole year was one wild fight,’ commented Quintero on his T3 victory and subsequent promotion. ‘I just kept my head down for every single kilometre. I’m addicted to progression, obsessed by it, and this step up to T1+ is all I’ve been thinking about for a while. I always had raw speed over short stints, but now I’ve learned to hang on for two weeks at a time.’
First Munro bagged Less than a year after revealing its prototype to the world, Munro Vehicles has completed its first pre-production version of the Series-M Utility electric 4x4. The company, which says it has built up a two-year order book and £68 million customer pipeline since unveiling the vehicle, aims to have built 2500 of them by 2027 and expects to be employing around 300 people as it brings car making back to Scotland after a break of more than 40 years.
www.overlander4x4.co.uk
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Former footballer and occasional actor Vinnie Jones will drive an Isuzu D-Max AT35 in a forthcoming series on The Discovery Channel. The show, which is about country sports and conservation, will feature what Isuzu describes as ‘an exciting partnership between a celebrated tough guy and the ultimate tough truck.’
Urban Automotive revealed a new take on the Range Rover at the recent SEMA 2023 show in Las Vegas. The company, which specialises in replacement carbon fibre body panels, showed a vehicle dressed up with new parts including its bumpers, front splitter, rear diffuser, lower sills and spoiler. Customer cars will be available with a choice of 24” alloy wheels and lettering on the bonnet and tailgate. The vehicle was accommodated on the Milltek stand at SEMA and the options list will also include this company’s performance exhaust system.
Isuzu has presented a new D-Max DL40 to Vantage & Co Group as its prize for winning the 2023 Master Builder of the Year award. Presented by the Federation of Master Builders, the award went to Vantage in recognition of its work on a Georgian villa in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.
The Adventure Overland Show will revert to just one date next year, with the dropping of its spring event. The organisers say that ‘due to the current economic climate and associated high fuel prices, we felt it was no longer possible to ask our loyal traders and campers to attend two editions of the event.’ The 2024 show will take place on 14-15 September at its usual venue of Stratford-upon-Avon Racecourse.
What Elvis Costello said The Chelsea Truck Company has unveiled Project X, an experimental design prototype based on the current Defender 90. The vehicle features a wide-vented carbon fibre bonnet, V-shaped roof spoiler, twin LEDs and a more aggressive front bumper valance. It’s running on Kahn Type 57 22” RS-Forged wheels and has a grille mask to reduce the size of its headlamps. Inside, the cabin is trimmed in blue leather which the company says was inspired by Tiffany. If you want to think you’re alone now, the ‘1 of 1’ vehicle is for sale at £105,000.
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Rights of Way
A lesson for a laning beginner Earlier this year, Oxfordshire Rep Matt Judson led a convoy of Green Lane Association members on a tour of the area’s byways. The group included a new member – who got a perfect demonstration of why it’s always a good idea to avoid laning alone. Starting from Wantage, Matt led the group towards Chievely, Bucklebury and Basingstoke. ‘Some tight lanes even made me wince a little,’ he reports. ‘If you have seen my Land Rover, you’ll know I have given up worrying about it! Our new member was a little surprised that when we said scratchy, we did indeed mean it, but he came out smiling.’ The route followed a variety of easy tracks then continued off the A34 and on to one of the area’s longest remaining trails, which runs over the hill to the west of the dual carriageway. On the way, it passes a memorial to Geoffrey de Havilland’s first flight. ‘We were again blessed with some great views,’ continues Matt. ‘These sort of views are one of the
VEHICLE AIR CONDITIONING SPECIALISTS
reasons I lane – one gets to see much more in one day than a rambler would.’ With the day meandering towards its conclusion, the convoy was following Holly Lane near Inkpen when a call crackled through on the CB. Matt explains: ‘Our new friend, admiring the pretty lane that Holly Lane is, had slipped off the edge of the track into a ditch. A moment looking at the view along a relatively easy lane had turned it into a difficult one. ‘It’s things like this that mean going alone is not the best idea. It only takes a moment looking away to have an issue. I have a winch that’s had less use in ten years than the fingers of one hand. Once, when distracted, I slipped into a hole – hence the purchase of said winch!’ The recovery involved two vehicles with winches rigged to drag their colleague’s Series Land Rover sideways out of the ditch. ‘It would have been a walk out to seek help for our new friend,’ reflects Matt. ‘I have used this story at every show this year to encourage people not to go alone.’
01452 309983 07816 889905 • Parts • Repairs • Service • 134a and 1234 yf gas
UNIT 2, LLANTHONY BUSINESS PARK, GLOUCESTER, GL2 5QT www.ac-automotive.co.uk 6
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www.overlander4x4.co.uk
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Defender LED Bumper Kits DA8600
DA9500 Front bumper with LED lights DA9500XS Front bumper with LED lights and rubber end caps DA9500LED LED lights - pair Fitted with 8 x ultra bright LEDs Dimensions - 28 H x 140 W x 47mm D Voltage - 10 - 30V DC / Watts - 4W
DA8600 Front bumper with Ring LED lights DA8600XS Front bumper with Ring LED lights and rubber end caps DA8600LED Ring LED lights - pair Fitted with 5 x 1.5w ultra bright LEDs Dimensions - 57 H x 145 W x 55mm D Voltage - 12 - 24V DC / Watts - 15W
DA9500XS
These smart and functional standard fit Defender bumpers are equipped with a pair of LED lights for additional lighting in the dark or day light running for safety.
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Building bridges in Essex Rob Tongue, the Green Lane Association’s Essex Rep, is constantly demonstrating that dialogue is more constructive than conflict. The latest example comes from Newport 20, also known as the Saffron Trail, a byway in the north-west of the county. Rob says that a parish councillor from Debden was trying to gather support for an attempt to have the byway downgraded to a footpath. Something of a long shot without good reason, but a threat nonetheless. ‘I contacted Newport Parish Council and attended their next meeting to talk to them
about this,’ says Rob. ‘The outcome was that they informed Debden Parish Council they were not interested and preferred to work with us instead. They now come straight to me with any rights of way problems and we have formed a great working relationship.’ Much as there are some elements who want to thrive off discord, most rational people are all on the same side. This is the same in the countryside as it is anywhere else – it just takes the rational people to speak up.
‘So far we have spent two Sundays here clearing the lane and cutting back overhanging branches,’ continues Rob. ‘We have broken the back of the worst section which, leaves us about half of the lane to finish – probably about another day’s work, which we will be arranging shortly before moving on to our next project. ‘Volunteers for work like this are always in short supply. So if you can help, it would be much appreciated, not just by us but to all users of the byways.’ You can contact Rob by at essex.rep@glass-uk.org.
Flying the flag in Cumbria When we’re on social media, we frequently come across people grumbling about the price of GLASS membership. On one occasion, somebody was even asking if anyone knew of a cheat code to let them get on to Trailwise 2, the association’s green lane database, without paying. It’s always worth a gentle reminder, then, that GLASS members’ subscription fees go directly towards the prodigious work it does to keep the lanes open. This includes fighting against unwarranted legal action and criminal behaviour by anti-access factions when necessary – but most of the time, the association can be found engaging with the wider
public and fellow stakeholders to help them understand that that sort of activity isn’t necessary in the first place. In September, GLASS’ Cumbria rep team exhibited at the Westmorland Show, the biggest agricultural event in the county, which is attended by many farmers and
landowners. ‘It is an occasion where we believe we can start to make our presence felt in a positive way,’ they explained, ‘to promote responsible use of unsurfaced routes and to highlight their importance in keeping the history and heritage of the area alive.’ The GLASS stand got some decent traffic, with quite a few visitors showing interest. ‘It was fairly busy,’ say the reps, ‘but it may take a few years for us to get established in what we see as an important area.’ Association members who would be interested in volunteering to staff the stand at future shows are encouraged to get in touch at cumbria. rep@glass-uk.org.
Winter 2024 I Overlander 4x4
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PRODUCTS
Khaya takes you higher
From £27,250 | www.tuff-trek.com For a top-end expedition unit with a monster specification list, the Khaya Camper from Alu-Cab takes some beating. It’s a demountable unit designed to fit most modern 4x4 pick-ups, allowing you to park up then drive off from underneath it, leaving you free to explore while your home-fromhome awaits your return. Weighing around 400kg dry, or 770kg fully kitted, the Khaya unit is available to sleep two people in comfort or two adults and two kids. Both versions come with a massive spec list including full water and electric installations, solar panels, storage compartments, a two-piece folding roof bed, insulated walls, equipment mounting points and a 270-degree awning. The two-person model also includes a two-burner kitchen unit with a sink and drawer.
Bring the heat
£756 plus VAT | www.lasertools.co.uk Laser Tools’ new Heat Inductor Kit helps loosen rusted or seized nuts and bolts by flamelessly heating them. The inductor, which is rated at 1000W, precisely concentrates heat in the rogue area, effectively expanding the metal enough to break the bond created by rust or corrosion. The kit includes a six-piece coil set, including a fully-adjustable soft coil, and a carry case.
Tough clutch for Jimny £135 plus VAT | www.lofclutches.com
LOF Clutches’ POWERspec unit for the Suzuki Jimny allows you to modify your vehicle without having to worry about a classic weak point in its drivetrain. Also ideal for Jimnys used as workhorses on the land, or even as expedition motors (it does happen), the clutch promises a 40% clamping load compared to the original with no noticeable increase in pedal weight. It comes with a two-year warranty.
Classy canvas
From £445 | www.heritage 1948.co.uk Heritage 1948’s Full Canvas Hood for the 88” Land Rover Series II/IIA and III is handmade in Somerset using ‘Moorland’ 100% cotton canvas. Chosen for its durability and colour fasting properties, this is treated to protect against rot, fungus and UV damage and fitted with solid brass buckles, tips and eyelets.
Smarter turbo for Td5 £937 plus VAT | www.allisport.com
Turbo Technics’ VGT turbocharger for the Land Rover Td5 engine is a direct but uprated replacement for the original unit. Using variable geometry technology for faster spooling, it promises reduced lag and more power throughout the rev range. The turbocharger is supplied with a turbo boost control unit to correct overboost faults in the ECU.
Heritage 1948 says it’s ‘committed to producing the highest quality Land Rover Hoods on the market,’ and that they’re made by a small team of skilled craftsmen in the company’s factory in Somerset.
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www.overlander4x4.co.uk
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Cynghordy Llandovery Carmarthenshire, SA20 0NB Tel: 01550 750274 e-mail: info@cambrianway.com
www.cambrianway.com
Green Lane Holidays in Mid Wales
Electrify your Series handbrake Priced at £1176 | www.designdevelopmenteng.co.uk
Design Development Engineering has launched an electronic parking brake conversion for Series Land Rovers. This is intended primarily for vehicles which are also being converted into EVs, as more and more of them are, and to work in tandem with the same company’s rear disc brake conversion. The kit includes two calipers, four mounting slider posts, an ECU and a wiring loom to suit both 88” and 109” Series trucks, as well as full installation instructions. Original Series wheels won’t fit on a vehicle equipped with the kit, however – though Discovery 1, Wolf XD and modular steels all will.
ARB roof tent annexe
Prices start from £560 including VAT | Britpart network
Family run guest house and self catering cottages with spectacular views, en-suite bedrooms, comfortable lounge bar and excellent home cooked food. Pressure washer, drying room, map room with local lanes marked, on-site 4x4 course, guides and GPS hire available. A very popular venue for both individuals and groups of 4x4 enthusiasts
RLG Tyres
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ARB’s Esperance roof tents have been available through the Britpart network since the first part of last year, and now there’s a zip-on annexe to go with it. This is made from 210D Oxford canvas and features glow-in-the-dark zip pulls, insect-proof mesh, an integrated pass-through for power cables and plenty of internal lighting on its base. ‘The annexe delivers even more comfort and convenience to your campsite,’ says Britpart, ‘transforming the tent’s sleeping quarters into a whole home!’
06/11/2023 13:43
Tyres cheap. Not cheap tyres!!
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FORD RANGER 2.0 WILDTRAK
T
he new Ranger has been the big story in the pick-up market ever since it was first unveiled. It first arrived in Raptor form, with all the power and glory that involves, then bit by bit the rest of the range was filtered in. Last month, it duly won our Pick Up of the Year award for 2024 – and most importantly of all as far as Ford’s concerned, it’s selling like hot cakes. This despite pricing which puts the new Ranger in a different place to the previous model. We’re testing the Wildtrak here, which is by no means the range-topper it once was. In fact, out of seven trim levels it’s bang in the middle. Yet our Ranger lists at £39,350, or £48,799 on the road once the VAT is added. In addition, our test vehicle had a variety of options which would kick the final bill upwards to £54,499. So while this is a very well equipped vehicle, you do pay for it. The equipment in question includes allround parking sensors, leather, heated seats and steering wheel, wireless phone pairing, LED headlamps and 360-degree approach lighting. That’s a flavour of it. The Wildtrak also comes with soft-ride suspension and has a sports bar behind the cab. Happily, this is not a garishly lit pub with endless TV screens showing reruns of Manchester
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United winning something while people while away the time before starting a fight by playing pool on blue tables. You could argue that a sports bar in the pick-up sense is about as useful, but something the Wildtrak does give you is a wide step in the rear bumper. Such a small thing, but it lets you climb up and access the load bed from the pavement rather than dropping the tailgate and standing there waiting to get hit by a texting cyclist, so it adds convenience and safety alike.
SUV-like
There have been two previous watersheds in the development of SUV-like interiors. The first was the Nissan Navara in 2006, which was basically a Pathfinder pick-up; the second was the current SsangYong Musso, which is similarly related to the Rexton. And now there’s the Ranger. This time, it’s not an SUV with a bed out the back – it’s a result of the one-tonne market having matured to the point where manufacturers are designing them like wagons rather than workhorses. Inside, the dominant element is a huge, vertically positioned media screen. It’s possibly surprising how few vehicles do it this way, given the sense of occasion they add to a cabin, but Ford has gone for
it big-time and the effect is magnificent. The moment you get aboard, you feel like something good is about to happen. Even without this feature, though, it would still be impressive. The dash is imposing but also elegant and classy, with a restrained choice of colours and textures making it look way better than the kitchensink approach some manufacturers still take. It’s largely black or dark grey, which isn’t to all tastes, but it’s a fine example of how less is more. When it comes to stowage space for your odds and ends, on the other hand, more tends to be more. And the Ranger has lots, with a big cubby, good door pockets and two useful gloveboxes with an open tray between them. However much clutter you bring with you, if the Ranger doesn’t gobble it up you need to rethink the way you live. It’s pretty good at accommodating people, too. The front seats are adjustable (electrically on this model) through a huge range that means more or less anyone should be able to find the ideal driving position. It’s one of the few vehicles we’ve tested in which our big lump of an editor didn’t need to push the seat all the way back – yet when it is in this position, he could still sit behind it. Headroom is excellent all round, too, as is the view out.
www.overlander4x4.co.uk
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Not that you need a view when you’re parking, as the screen turns into a rearfacing camera and surround-view monitor. Handy, in such a hefty bit of kit – especially as so many of them will end up with a canopy on the back.
Big softy
As mentioned above, the Wildtrak comes as standard with soft-ride suspension. Replacing its standard 255/65R18 tyres with 255/55R20s could be a pretty effective way of undoing all the good work this does, but actually our Ranger rode very smoothly indeed. It doesn’t pick up on corrugations or cats’ eyes, the back end only skips minimally over speed bumps, even when unladen, and while you do feel pot holes, even the deepest and most jagged-edged don’t make you feel like you’re spine’s being compressed. It’s not like driving an all-independent premium SUV on air springs, but it’s not like driving a pick-up truck either. On the motorway, it actually is quite like driving a posh SUV. The ride quality really is that good, and with no engine noise or driveline vibes to disturb you – it’s that refined, too. The only giveaway is a bit of wind noise from around the front, but even this won’t stop you having a normal conversation or listening to the stereo
without cranking it up to ear-spitting levels. On that subject, the Bang and Olufsen speakers that are part of the optional media pack on the Ranger we drove make a very strong case for themselves. It’s positive to steer, too, whether at town speeds or when you’re pushing it a bit on A and B-roads. And there’s no shortage of grip, either. As it happens, our time with the Wildtrak coincided with Storm Babet’s time with the Peak District and we never even needed to put it into four-wheel drive (unlike on the old Ranger, this is available in the transfer case for tarmac use). The 10-speed auto box shifts very smoothly, even when it’s needing to jump several ratios at a time. It only got jerky when it was confronted with deep enough flood water to slow us down suddenly, and even then it sorted itself out quickly while we enjoyed driving round the side of the stranded Beemers. As we mentioned above, the Wildtrak rides well around town. And the Ranger is impressively manoeuvrable here, too, rarely feeling its size. Its steering has enough feel not to be anaemic, but it’s also light enough for you to palm it around the place, making it a very easy and relaxed business. And outstanding high-set driving position helps here, too.
These characteristics translate into a confidence-inspiring off-roader whose poise is very much that of a big, ladderframed vehicle with a live back axle. You do find yourself going for the cameras to see what’s next to you, but again that highset position of power and easily operated steering wheel allow you to position it with surprising precision. A locking back diff helps enormously with traction, and a four-square stance on the road allows it to roll over the sort of uneven tracks you take at speed (by which we mean 10-15mph) in the knowledge that your body won’t be shattered into tiny pieces. Once again, you know the bumps are there but you don’t need to fear them.
Stay classy
All this adds up to a resolutely capable double-cab. The Ranger drives well in every situation and very well in most, and it combines he-man styling with a classy and very well equipped interior. The price does look high when you compare it to what they were costing even just a couple of years ago – but as the sheer number of them on the road shows, there’s no shortage of people who see this imposing new truck as the right place to put their money.
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LEXUS RX450H+ TAKUMI
P
eople tend to think German when they go for premium SUVs. If they think beyond British, of course. But Lexus has been in there from very near the start; the RX, its biggest SUV, has been in Britain for almost a quarter of a century and arrived here in all-new fifthgeneration form during 2023. Off-road prowess was never high on Lexus’ list. However in keeping with other new-generation SUVs from the Toyota stable, this latest one has a Trail Mode button to trim its drivetrain for better traction after the tarmac ends. It also has a fully hybridised model lineup. There are three drivetrains; 350h and 500h self-charging systems, and the plug-in 450h+ which Lexus says will account for more than 50% of its UK sales. Talking of sales, prices start at £62,125 and climbs to £82,195 for the 350h and 500h. In the middle, the RX450h+ is ranged from £67,100 to £81,600; the latter price is for the top-spec Takumi model, which is what we’re testing here.
Cabin
We’ve come to expect the highest build quality from Lexus, and the new RX raises the bar still further. Materials are outstanding throughout, and build quality is flawless. There are wood-effect details which we think would be more convincing if there wasn’t a complete lack of grain when you run a finger across them, but that really is splitting hairs; the touch points on the dash and controls are beautiful and the seats are trimmed in a sumptuous blend of leather and alcantara. They provide an excellent driving position, too. The vehicle has quite a high waistline, so you don’t feel like you’re surveying the world from a lofty perch, but you’re nicely cocooned and there’s a good view ahead and to the side. You’ll rely on the mirrors and surround view camera when reversing, though – not least because the latter provides such a good picture, it’s more like you’re being watched over by a drone. Another trick Lexus has always played very well is to make practicality feel like
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a form of luxury, and here again the RX accommodates all your oddments with elegant ease. There’s plenty of legroom all round, allowing a full complement of tall adults to travel in comfort, though a full-length panoramic roof on this model means headroom in the back is only just enough for a six-footer. The seats fold down to lie not quite flat, but they do leave a huge cargo area. They do this electrically, which is an illustration of how much equipment you get in the RX. Yes, we’re looking at the range-topper here, but every Lexus looks after you very well. Heated and cooled seats, inductive charging, all the safety kit… it’s hard to think of something the vehicle doesn’t have (saying ‘low range’ here would definitely qualify you as a smart alec). More to the point, the standard of the equipment matches the quality of the cabin housing it; Lexus is good at making functionality feel like a form of luxury too. As an example, the digital dash and media screen are pin-sharp, with the latter running a system which reacts instantly, mirrors your smartphone wirelessly without a hitch and produces a sound so clear it’s like (cliché alert) being in a concert hall. Awanaitsumorino Genkidene never sounded so good.
Driving
This all makes the RX a delightfully relaxing vehicle to sit in. And driving it is an extension of that; it’s whisper-quiet in EV mode, and the sound barely rises at all when the petrol engine kicks in – and unlike some EVs and hybrids, the lack of an engine note doesn’t bring out any excess road noise at all. Put simply, this is one of the most refined vehicles we’ve ever tested. It’s as smooth and quiet as SUVs we’ve tested costing twice as much; it damps out the rubbish very effectively in town, and on the motorway it’s more like gliding than being connected to the ground. We drove it up to Scotland; a trip we do a lot, in many different vehicles, and few have ever made such light work of it.
At the far end of the road, our reward for all the motorway miles on that trip is a final cross-country stretch from Moffatt to Edinburgh that’s one of the most beautiful and dynamically entertaining roads in the whole country. Here, too, our RX was absolutely up for it. We’re not talking about making a racetrack out of the public highway, but you can enjoy yourself without going to those lengths and despite being set up for comfort the RX handles with a fine combination of grip, poise and precision. There’s enough weight in its steering for you to be able to attack corners with
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confidence, and powering out of them is as commanding as it is smooth. You don’t even need to engage Sport mode for any of this. Doing so sharpens it up just nicely, though without taking the edge off its ride quality – and when you need to overtake, the mid-range response brooks no argument at all. Talking of modes, we mentioned the Trail Mode button earlier on. This intervenes when needed to prevent wheelspin on rough or slippery ground; we tried it on wet grass and, without pushing our luck, found it sure-footed and tractable. We kept moving
without ever actually noticing it intervening – which is a sure sign of a system that’s doing its job well. One thing we didn’t get the chance to do with our RX was plug in. Between this and the enthusiastic B-road driving, we don’t think the 37.2mpg we returned is representative of anything much; the official figure is 235.4-256.8, which assumes a certain amount, but if you have a home charger and make proper use of its 40-mile EV range on a day-to-day basis there’s no reason why you can’t see the real-world equivalent of that.
Verdict
Every successive RX has been better than the last, but this model feels like a quantum leap. It’s a practical family SUV whose cabin goes beyond the mere premium sector and well into luxury class, and driving it is an absolute treat. It’s set up for luxury but is more than capable of putting a smile on your face, too – and in plug-in form, it can reward your investment with the tiniest of running costs. It’s at once thoroughly relaxing and ready to entertain – and it’s one of the very few ways of making £81,600 sound like a bargain.
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TRAVEL
ANGEL D Setting out to reach the world’s tallest waterfall by the overland route requires a great deal of ambition. Actually making it needs skill, hard work and good fortune. This is the story of how six determined travellers tackled dense jungle, flooded tracks and fast-flowing rivers in an attempt to reach the Angel Falls – and still had to rely on Plan B.
W
e were six adult men in a Cessna 206 aircraft whose 1380lb cargo limit had already been exceeded long before the last bag was thrown in. Below us, the Venezuelan jungle stretched as far as the eye could see while the plane bucked and yawed as the rising humidity worked against the wings. Our focus was fixed on the bush pilot, who quickly forced down the stick and rolled on the throttle, levelling the plane out as a postage-sized airstrip came suddenly into view. There was nothing delicate about the landing, the plane rattled along the rutted dirt strip like a rickety wooden cart on a boardwalk. But when the wheels eventually stopped and we all piled out, my instinct was to kiss the muddy soil under my feet. We had landed at Las Bonita, a small Pemon Indian village on the northwest reaches of Venezuela’s Gran Sabana region. Our quest was to get to the Salto Angel (Angel Falls), the world’s tallest waterfall – which now seemed finally in reach. In spite of the mechanical difficulties and flooding
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that had destroyed most of the previous day’s plans, we were determined to push on through the torrid sub-tropical humidity in search of our goal. A few hours earlier, we had been forced to leave our 4x4s behind. What a great start to a story, huh?
The truth is that just getting to the point where we had to bid our trucks farewell was an expedition in itself. In spite of the widely held belief that the Falls are inaccessible by land, when we’d met with brothers Felipe and Enso Campisi earlier in the trip they told us a different story. They were confident that we could take an old, little known route right through the Gran Sabana, a journey that would involve following ancient miners’ tracks through the deep mud of the dense jungle. However, things had not gone to plan, and we had been forced to resort to air travel. Five days previously, we had been navigating our way through a confusing maze of streets in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. And as we were all Americans, we didn’t find it particularly welcoming. As well as the machine gun wielding military personnel who patrolled every corner, we also passed a huge hand-painted billboard depicting a skull-faced Uncle Sam holding a bloody dagger emblazoned with the letters ‘CIA’ and reading ‘No Imperialismo.’ Eventually though, we managed to work our way free of the ramshackle homes
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DELIGHT Words and Pictures Chris Collard
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and roadside vendors that sell everything from bananas to monkeys, until we were driving with the same frantic air of insanity as the Venezuelans. Mental note: painted lines on the road are more of a suggestion than a directive! With the midday sun pouring through the open window of the Jeep, our skin was soon being seared like the chickens in the open-air stands. In the Native American village of La Paragua, we attempted to track down the man who could arrange to ferry our 4x4s across the Rio Paragua river.
Typically of the developing world, an eclectic blend of modern amenities was mixed up haphazardly with time-worn tradition. Sun-weathered old gentlemen were sipping cool polar cervezas under a shaded tree and chickens were pecking the dirt yards of brightly painted homes… while an iPod clad kid shuffled by and a pale blue shop was advertising boom boxes for sale. Overhead, a spaghetti-plate of exposed wire dangling in all directions supplied electricity to those who were able to afford it.
Recent rains had left local rivers and lakes swollen to the banks and the water was halfway over our tyres as we nosed up the ramp of a small barge that would ferry us across the river. We were told we were the first white men, or non-miners, to head into the jungle this season, and our flashy Jeep YJ and Land Cruiser certainly attracted a curious crowd of onlookers from a nearby bar. Our ferry, meanwhile, consisted of little more than two long dugout canoes powered by Yamaha outboard motors.
Scary
It was scary, but it worked. After paying the Captain our tariff, thirty minutes later the ramp was lowered on to the east side of the river. Here, we were rewarded with our first view of the Gran Sabana, which consists of more than 120 miles of grasslands, rivers and low-lying jungle. In the distance, the skyline was broken only by the elevated heights of the great tepui mountains that rise like ancient spires, hundreds of metres from the jungle floor, and disappear into billowing folds of cumulus clouds. We navigated our way into the area and along a partially submerged track for around eight miles, passing range cattle and wild horses on the way.
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The track eventually deposited us on the edge of a great lake. Although this would have been a mere river crossing under normal conditions, the high water level meant we were several miles from the nearest ferry boat and without any means of communication. Reverting to an oldschool method, I pulled a small mirror from my survival kit and used the midday sun to signal to the boat operator on his island midway across the lake. We set up lunch and waited. A few hours later, a small barge appeared and lowered its ramp on to the muddy bank. At the helm was Hildera, who had already befriended Felipe and Enso on one of their previous visits to the Gran Sabana and had provided them with a wealth of knowledge on the region. As the sun was already settling on the western horizon, he asked us if we’d like to camp on his island, which we reached near last light. Hildera and his family live a simple life. The only electricity on the island comes from batteries, charged by a car alternator and run by a small Brigs and Stratton motor. Before we settled in for the night, we had only to hang our hammocks and replace a hub on the Jeep that had broken during one of the deep-water crossings. Drinks flowed with generosity that evening, as the day’s catch of fish was
As we settled into our hammocks for the night, the jungle came alive pan-fried in oil over a 55-gallon drum that had been converted to a stove. And then, around midnight, Hildera walked into our camp armed with a 12-gauge shotgun – it was time to go alligator hunting. The alligators were actually caimans, effectively a smaller South American species, and heading out on board a canoe we were soon scouring the banks with a flashlight. While cats’ eyes are green, alligators and caimans are unmistakeably blood red; spotting the first pair through the darkness, Hildera raised the barrel and fired, though the following splash revealed he had missed his target. Although the next caiman we discovered was simply too small to kill, when we spotted another one resting on the bank I asked to be allowed to jump ashore. Armed with nothing more than a headlamp and my bare hands, I estimated my reptilian counterpart to be less than half my height in length and an eighth my weight. Psyching myself up, and channelling everything I had learned from watching Steve Irwin on TV, I attempted to grab its tail.
Note the word ‘attempted’. I missed – and, fortunately for me, the caiman thrashed through 180 degrees and darted into the blackness. The following morning, we loaded our rigs back on to the barge and navigated our way through several miles of shallow water. However the thick swamp grass soon became a major problem, fouling the boat’s propellers until it became evident we’d have to find another way of reaching dry ground. Dropping the ramp into the unknown depths of the swamp, we eased the Jeep’s front tyres off the edge. The water came up to the headlights; Felipe stepped on the throttle and there was no turning back.
Soggy terrain
After slogging through the swamp for some distance, we eventually came to the jungle. The terrain here was also rather soggy, with the heavy rains leaving large pools of water on the trail. As we headed through the jungle, the encroaching undergrowth quickly narrowed the trail to two muddy slots with barely enough width to allow the cars to pass
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shop.cst-tyres.co.uk through. With the window down for fresh air, the side mirrors were perfect bug deflectors, knocking menacing-looking beetles and spiders into our laps – with the black and red ones being capable of giving us a particularly nasty bite. Within thirty minutes, we had managed to peel one of the Jeep’s tyres off its rim. And it began to dawn on us that we might have a major issue ahead. Three days earlier, one of our two original 80-Series Land Cruisers had lost a pinion seal, crush-sleeve and bearing. Without replacement parts available, we opted to run a Jeep YJ with 33” tyres and 10” offset rims. The problem was that the local miners all drive Toyota FJ45 pick-ups and run 10-ply military tyres, so leaving a very narrow track. With no replacements that would fit under the Jeep, its wheels were almost 20cm wider than those of the miners, resulting in constant pressure against the sidewalls. The only compressor we had was an original-style ARB unit, which created just enough volume to carefully set the bead. The
whole process involved trenching around the tyre to access the lug nuts, digging the mud out of the wheel, raising and securing the vehicle with a high-lift, removing the tyre, cleaning the slimy bead and wheel with less-muddy water from the trail and then gently massaging the bead back on the rim. We were forced to repeat this hour-long procedure six times before we reached camp that night, and the only way to delay imminent failure was to inflate the tyres to 65-70psi – well beyond their safety limit. Twelve hours later, and 26 miles short of our expected destination, we entered a small clearing called El Tigre, home to a family of Pemon Indians. Felipe and Enso knew the family well and after introductions, battery-powered lights were lit and wooden tables and chairs produced. As we settled into our hammocks for the night, the jungle came alive. Monkeys howled in the distance, a dozen species of birds cried out from nearby trees and crickets and frogs sang in an uneven cadence. We felt we were guests in a very special place indeed.
The following morning we were up early for a swim in a nearby creek, before continuing our journey. Although the route was slightly wider as it led east from El Tigre, once we reached the dense jungle the ruts deepened and the track narrowed. Soon we lost one tyre, then another. We held our breath as our vintage ARB compressor groaned under the repetitive burden of reseating tyres. This time it was one of the Land Cruiser’s 37” Super Swampers, which had come off in a long gravelly trench with the undergrowth pushing right up to the vehicle’s doors. By the time we’d moved the vehicle to a place where we could access the tyre, the bead had been damaged by rocks and roots… and as it would not hold air, we were quickly reduced to using our last spare tyre.
Dismal progress
Losing one day to vehicle repairs in Caracas, another to flooding and ferry crossing delays and now yet another to persistent tyre failures, our progress was dismal and an executive decision needed
Running on huge tyres turned out not to be as good an idea as it first seemed. The trail through the jungle was normally driven only by miners’ trucks – invariably 45-Series Land Cruisers on skinny rubber with little offset. The resulting ruts were too narrow for the Wrangler and 80-Series, which ended up with their tyres constantly being pulled off their rims. The Jeep was the main victim, though on this occasion it’s one of the Cruiser’s Super Swampers that’s had its bead broken
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.uk to be made. Either we push on for another 25 miles with no spare wheel and the inevitable tyre issues, leave our rigs, grab our backpacks and start hiking or head back to La Paragua and go for Plan B? As our primary aim was to reach the Angel Falls, we opted for the latter in the hope of hiring a pilot to fly us to the remote village of Las Bonitas, from where we could hike over the mountains to Canaima. So it was that with some disappointment, we turned our vehicles around and began the two-day trek back again. The return journey was easier, because ours were the last vehicles through and they had widened the track on the way. So this time, it was just a few newly fallen trees that needed cutting out of the way. Although we pushed hard, by the time we reached the great lake darkness had fallen. We tried to attract Hildera’s attention with smoke signals by burning almost everything we could find inside a 55-gallon drum, but all to no avail. In fact, it wasn’t until the next morning that we were able to cross the water, after
Enso had eventually been able to get a signal from his phone to call a friend in Caracas, who in turn called a friend in La Paragua who radioed Hildera that we were waiting. So that afternoon, we found ourselves at the local airport negotiating a one-way flight to Las Bonitas – and after a few thousand bolívars had changed hands, we crawled into the Cessna 206 and were promptly being taxied down the tarmac runway. Soon after landing, we found ourselves slogging through tall Gran Sabana grasses until we arrived at a river bank. Here, an 18 year-old boy took us aboard his boat and transported us the 20 kilometres upstream to the village of Canaima. It had been a long day, and we were glad to find an open restaurant and a room for the night. Although it is the primary launching point for visiting the Angel Falls, Canaima is a particularly isolated place; the only way to get there is by boat or plane. Made up of single-storey hotels with traditional thatched roofs, there are just three vehicles in the entire town.
The following morning, we were back on board another boat, for the last 45 kilometres before the falls. The Rio Carreo was initially smooth and calm but, as we headed up river, strong currents and housesized boulders required careful navigation by our guide. After a steep hike through twisting vines and dense jungle, we suddenly came face-to-face with the Angel Falls: undoubtedly one of the world’s most wondrous sights. The heavy rain of the preceding days had left the creeks swollen and running heavy, and from the base of the falls a seemingly endless sheet of water cascaded from its heights. By now, the rains were subsiding and the late afternoon skies clearing as we soaked in a pool at the base of the 979-metre waterfall. It had been seven days since we left Caracas and although our journey had seen us leave our vehicles behind at the last stage, we had no regrets. We had reached our goal – and our Wrangler and Land Cruiser were alive and still ready for adventures yet to come.
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CRUISING FOR This year’s SEMA show saw the unveiling of a classic FJ45 pick-up reimagined by Toyota Words Kaziyoshi Sasazaki Pictures Toyota as a blend of nostalgia and unstoppable off-road ability
S
ometimes you just have to look at a vehicle to know it’s going to be something special. Sometimes, you need to read its spec list. This is both. The Toyota FJ Bruiser looks nothing short of sensational. You’ve already worked that out for yourself, obviously, and you don’t need to read its spec list. But if you’re anything like us, you want to. It’s a 1966 FJ45 pick-up which was, in Toyota’s words, ‘well worn’. No longer. The company needed a special project vehicle to fly the flag at the 2023 SEMA show – and with the Land Cruiser shortly to return to the American market, it all made perfect sense. The old stager was going to be reimagined as an unstoppable rockcrawling monster.
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‘This build is iconic, one-of-a-kind and, let’s face it, totally radical looking, said Toyota’s US marketing boss Mike Tripp. ‘It’s a reminder of what Land Cruiser has always been; a vehicle built to take you as far as your imagination will allow.’ As always, you start with a tyre size and take it from there. The FJ Bruiser rides on 42x14.50R20 BFGoodrich Krawler T/ As, mounted on 20” Method beadlocks, and runs a suspension set-up which, on full bump, deflects them all the way up to around half-height on the windscreen line.
Form and function
This is achieved by a full trailing arm system using Eibach springs and Fox dampers, which in turn is hung on to a tubular chassis. Toyota says one of the
trickiest parts of the build was to package all the vehicle’s modern off-road equipment into the lines of its original frame – even though they were starting again from scratch with a new one, it was essential to retain the appearance of a classic FJ. The body panels had to go on without being turned into something they’re not, so while function led the way it had to go hand in hand with form, too. The new chassis was created by Toyota Motorsports, and this might give you a hint at what’s under the FJ Bruiser’s bonnet. Hood, sorry. Off they went to Toyota Racing Development in Costa Mesa, California… and hey presto, one NASCARengined Land Cruiser. ‘This build needed more than just a loud bark to live up to its extreme performance
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A BRUISING There’s something very hot-rod about the bug catcher striking upwards through the Cruiser’s bonnet. The air it sucks in goes to a 5.9-litre, 725bhp NASCAR engine made by Toyota Racing Development
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mandate,’ says Toyota. Well, quite. The V8 lump they came back with is a modified version of the 358ci (5866cc) unit from Toyota’s current NASCAR Cup Car, so that’s 42” tyres with 725bhp going through them. We’re loving this truck more and more. Behind the engine is a 3-speed automatic gearbox. Sounds old but it’s not; it was race-built by Rancho Drivetrain Engineering – a further back, it turns that most rock-crawlingest of rock-crawling equipment, an Atlas transfer case. This version of the legendary transmission provides four speeds in two-wheel drive and four more in four-wheel drive; Toyota says it means that at 7000rpm, the FJ Bruiser can be crawling at 12mph – or
maxing out at 165. Now, that we would like to see… The axles between the tyres are of course solid beams. And of course they’re more than just that; both contain Currie lockers which aren’t going to let the wheels get away with anything and won’t break if they try. On the outside, Wilwood BP-Q compound brake pads are housed within the same company’s Aero 6-DM front and Superlite narrow rear calipers, all held on reverse swing mounts. Up front, steering is by a fully hydraulic Howe system.
Tank Mode
Next up comes one of those things that make you wonder if you’ll ever truly be able
to say you’ve seen it all. This Land Cruiser has Tank Mode. Oh, yes it does. Explain, you say? Oh all right then. it’s normal for prepped 4x4s to have bash plates protecting their underbodies. Some builders hit on the idea of turning these into full-length skids that allow the vehicle to slide over rocks and other obstacles. That’s a passive form of ground contact, though… but this Toyota goes beyond that. Instead of a skid, it has a driver-controlled Camso rubber track which can be engaged at the push of a button to drive the vehicle off whatever obstacle it may have become hung up on. ‘Tank Mode’ is a phrase Toyota uses for it, which might make you roll your eyes but if you had one so would you.
Live axles contain Currie diffs. Steering is by a Howe full hydro set-up
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* WAS £131.98 inc.VAT # WAS £147.59 inc.VAT Model Desc Batteries exc.VAT CCIW160* Cordless 2X 2AH £99.98 LI-ION CIR18LIC# Cordless, 2X 2AH £119.95 Brushless LI-ION
inc.VAT £119.98
MIG WELDERS
NO GAS/GAS BEST MIG WELDERS
Quality machines from Britain’s leading supplier See online for included accessories
SELLER Professional type torch with on/off control Thermal overload protection Turbo fan cooled Easy conversion to gas with optional accessories
FROM ONLY
* 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
inc.VAT £298.80 £347.98 £414.00
Model MIG106 MIG145 MIG196 MIG240
Min/Max Amps exc.VAT 40/100 £179.98 35/135 £239.00 40/180 £279.00 50/240 £489.00
NOW inc.VAT £215.98 £286.80 £334.80 £586.80
20SPS12 FROM ONLY £ DOUBLE .98 exc.VAT DOUBLE FOOTER £107.98 inc.VAT
89
WAS £270.00 inc.VAT
Model Capacity exc.VAT 20SPS12 907kg £89.98 25SPS12 1134kg £124.99
ALSO
INVERTER GENERATORS FROM £238.80
PG3800A
Model KVA HP exc.VAT PG2500A 2.2 5.6 £219.00 PG3800A 3 5.6 £269.00 PG3800ADV 3 5.6 £299.00 PG6500ADVES 5.5 9.7 £539.00
inc.VAT £262.80 £322.80 £358.80 £646.80
UP TO inc.VAT 7938KG £107.98 CAPACITY £149.99 IN STOCK
Max. Output kW exc.VAT inc.VAT 10.3 £94.99 £113.99 15 £119.98 £143.98 24.9 £159.98 £191.98 36.6 £189.98 £227.98 49.8 £269.00 £322.80 131 £479.00 £574.80
Model Little Devil II Devil 700 Devil 900 Devil 1600 Devil 2100 Devil 4000
CAN DRAW OWN WATER
PETROL & DIESEL PRESSURE WASHERS
Superb range ideal for DIY, hobby & semi-professional use
SELLER
FROM ONLY
.98 DOUBLE exc.VAT 119
£
FROM ONLY £ DOUBLE .99 exc.VAT DOUBLE FOOTER £116.39 inc.VAT
96
IG950D HEADER
PLS265B
DOUBLE £334.80 FOOTER inc.VAT
Model Tiger1800B Tiger2600B Tiger3000B PLS195B PLS220 PLS265B PLS360 DLS200AL*
*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
inc.VAT £116.39 £116.39 £197.99 £215.98
Model CTC900C CTC500C CBB209C CTC700C CTC1300C CBB217C
Description 9 dr chest 5 dr cabinet 9 dr chest 7 dr cabinet 13 dr set 7 dr cabinet
JACKS ALSO IN STOCK UP TO 5 TONNE
44
£ DOUBLE .99 DOUBLE exc.VAT FOOTER £53.99 inc.VAT
CFC100
Motor (W) WAS NOW model Speeds exc.VAT inc.VAT inc.VAT CDP5EB 350 / 5 £99.95 – £119.94 CDP102B 350 / 5 £115.95 – £139.14 CDP152B 450 / 12 £209.00 £251.98 £250.80 CDP202B 450 / 16 £269.00 – £322.80 CDP352F 550 / 16 £339.00 – £406.80 CDP452B 550 / 16 £299.00 £406.80 £358.80 CDP502F 1100 / 12 £699.00 £934.80 £838.80
2103 psi
exc.VAT £59.98 £149.98 £189.00 £229.98
inc.VAT £71.98 £179.98 £226.80 £275.98
GARAGES/WORKSHOPS
FROM ONLY £ DOUBLE.00
249exc.VAT DOUBLE FOOTER £298.80 inc.VAT
IDEAL FOR RAIN & SUN PROTECTION
529exc.VAT
599
£ FROM ONLY .00
INC. CONTAINER FOR DETERGENT
WAS £682.80 inc.VAT
AMAZING LOW PRICE!
Model BAR Press. VOLT exc.VAT inc.VAT Harry 2 145 2103psi 230 £599.00 £718.80 KING 200 150 2175psi 230 £1198.00 £1437.60
169 DOUBLEexc.VAT DOUBLE £203.98 FOOTER inc.VAT
.00
£634.80 inc.VAT
DOUBLEexc.VAT DOUBLE £718.80 FOOTER inc.VAT
£
FROM ONLY HEADER
.98 exc.VAT 219 £263.98 inc.VAT
10
FAST ACTION PUMP
TONNES
CS10BRK
Fast snap connector attachments for quick & easy assembly Hydraulic pump, ram & hose with various tubes, pieces & connectors Includes metal case
EXETER 16 Trusham Rd. EX2 8QG 01392 256 744 GATESHEAD 50 Lobley Hill Rd. NE8 4YJ 0191 493 2520 GLASGOW 280 Gt Western Rd. G4 9EJ 0141 332 9231 GLOUCESTER 221A Barton St. GL1 4HY 01452 417 948 GRIMSBY ELLIS WAY, DN32 9BD 01472 354435 HULL 8-10 Holderness Rd. HU9 1EG 01482 223161 ILFORD 746-748 Eastern Ave. IG2 7HU 0208 518 4286 IPSWICH Unit 1 Ipswich Trade Centre, Commercial Road 01473 221253 LEEDS 227-229 Kirkstall Rd. LS4 2AS 0113 231 0400 LEICESTER 69 Melton Rd. LE4 6PN 0116 261 0688 LINCOLN Unit 5. The Pelham Centre. LN5 8HG 01522 543 036 LIVERPOOL 80-88 London Rd. L3 5NF 0151 709 4484 LONDON CATFORD 289/291 Southend Lane SE6 3RS 0208 695 5684 LONDON 6 Kendal Parade, Edmonton N18 020 8803 0861 LONDON 503-507 Lea Bridge Rd. Leyton, E10 020 8558 8284 LUTON Unit 1, 326 Dunstable Rd, Luton LU4 8JS 01582 728 063 MAIDSTONE 57 Upper Stone St. ME15 6HE 01622 769 572 MANCHESTER ALTRINCHAM 71 Manchester Rd. Altrincham 0161 9412 666 MANCHESTER CENTRAL 209 Bury New Road M8 8DU 0161 241 1851 MANCHESTER OPENSHAW Unit 5, Tower Mill, Ashton Old Rd 0161 223 8376 MANSFIELD 169 Chesterfield Rd. South 01623 622160 MIDDLESBROUGH Mandale Triangle, Thornaby 01642 677881
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Tank Cap. Type 10Ltrs Bench 45Ltrs Floor 22.5Ltrs Floor 75Ltrs Floor
CWGC100
£
£ FROM ONLY .98
CTJ2GLS Saddle exc. inc. Model Type Tonne Height VAT VAT CTJ2L Long 2 378mm £44.99 £53.99 CTJ3000C Pro Garage 3 465mm £152.99 £183.59 CTJ2QLP* Low Quick 2 510mm £159.98 £191.98 Lift CTJ2GLS Long 2 805mm £269.00 £322.80
CW1D
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HARRY 2
BODY REPAIR KITS
CDP102B
inc.VAT £107.98 £179.98 £185.99 £203.98 £227.98 £334.80
145 Bar
*CTJ3000QLB has a 3 tonne capacity, ideal for quick lifting of vehicles FROM ONLY
Range of precision bench & floor presses for enthusiast, engineering & industrial applications
exc.VAT £89.98 £149.98 £154.99 £169.98 £189.98 £279.00
1 TONNE CRANES
2 & 3 TONNE TROLLEY JACKS
DRILL PRESSES
FROM ONLY £ DOUBLE .98 exc.VAT DOUBLE FOOTER £71.98 inc.VAT
FROM ONLY DOUBLE.00
EXTRA LONG 1m LEADS Starting Peak Boost Amps exc.VAT 400 900 £96.99 500 1100 £96.99 1100 2200 £164.99 1000 2000 £179.98
PARTS WASHERS
exc.VAT 89 DOUBLE FOOTER £107.98 inc.VAT
£ DOUBLE .98
59
HOT WASHERS
Model 910 JS1100C 4000 JS12/24
PRO TOOL CHESTS FROM ONLY & CABINETS The ultimate in tool storage
Ideal for effective cleaning with a hot jet of up to 80°C
inc.VAT £262.80 £310.80 £334.80 £478.80 £514.80
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
279exc.VAT
JUMP STARTS
Provides essential home, garage and roadside assistance Integral work light 910 /JS1100C include air compressor Long life battery
.00 exc.VAT 219 £262.80 inc.VAT
exc.VAT £219.00 £259.00 £279.00 £399.00 £429.00
DEVIL 7003 Heat Model Voltage Output exc.VAT inc.VAT Devil 6003 230V 1.5-3kW £69.98 £83.98 Devil 7003* 230V 3kW £76.99 £92.39 Devil 7005# 400V 5kW £98.99 £118.79 Devil 6009 400V 4.5-9kW £124.99 £149.99 Devil 7009 400V 9kW £152.99 £183.59 Devil 6015 400V 5-10-15kW £189.98 £227.98 Devil 7015 400V 15kW £229.98 £275.98 * WAS £83.98 inc.VAT # WAS £117.59 inc.VAT
Honda & Diesel engine models in stock
£
INVERTER GENERATORS
99
Propane gas fired
£113.99 inc.VAT
219exc.VAT £262.80 inc.VAT
B = Bench mounted F = Floor standing
TURBO AIR COMPRESSORS
ELECTRIC HEATERS
EXC.VAT 69 DOUBLE BEST FOOTER £83.98 inc.VAT
DEVIL 6003
exc.VAT 94 FOOTER
GENERATORS
FROM ONLY £ DOUBLE .95 exc.VAT DOUBLE FOOTER £119.94 inc.VAT
110
FROM ONLY £ DOUBLE .99 DOUBLE
MIG240
.00
model IG950D IG1700F IG1200D IG2000D IG2200A
VOLT IN STOCK FROM £226.80 inc.VAT
FROM ONLY
£ DOUBLE .98
FROM ONLY
PRICE CUT NOW FROM
IG1200D Max Weight Output KG 800W 9.3 1700W 22 1100W 12.4 1800W 19.4 2200W 26.6
Offering low cost, efficient heating
230&
DOUBLE £143.98 FOOTER inc.VAT
*no gas only
£
DUAL VOLTAGE
DOUBLE £215.98 FOOTER inc.VAT
135TE
£
TURBO FAN GAS HEATERS
.98 DOUBLE exc.VAT 179
£
DOUBLE.00 exc.VAT 249 DOUBLE £298.80 FOOTER inc.VAT
£
Britain’s Tools & Machinery Specialist
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492 PAGE CATALOGUE GET YOUR FREE COPY! • IN-STORE • ONLINE • PHONE 0844 880 1265
NORWICH 282a Heigham St. NR2 4LZ 01603 766402 NORTHAMPTON Beckett Retail Park, St James’ Mill Rd 01604 267840 NOTTINGHAM 211 Lower Parliament St. 0115 956 1811 PETERBOROUGH 417 Lincoln Rd. Millfield 01733 311770 PLYMOUTH 58-64 Embankment Rd. PL4 9HY 01752 254050 POOLE 137-139 Bournemouth Rd. Parkstone 01202 717913 PORTSMOUTH 277-283 Copnor Rd. Copnor 023 9265 4777 PRESTON 53 Blackpool Rd. PR2 6BU 01772 703263 SHEFFIELD 453 London Rd. Heeley. S2 4HJ 0114 258 0831 SIDCUP 13 Blackfen Parade, Blackfen Rd 0208 3042069 SOUTHAMPTON 516-518 Portswood Rd. 023 8055 7788 SOUTHEND 1139-1141 London Rd. Leigh on Sea 01702 483 742 STOKE-ON-TRENT 382-396 Waterloo Rd. Hanley 01782 287321 SUNDERLAND 13-15 Ryhope Rd. Grangetown 0191 510 8773 SWANSEA 7 Samlet Rd. Llansamlet. SA7 9AG 01792 792969 SWINDON 21 Victoria Rd. SN1 3AW 01793 491717 TWICKENHAM 83-85 Heath Rd.TW1 4AW 020 8892 9117 WARRINGTON Unit 3, Hawley’s Trade Pk. 01925 630 937 WIGAN 2 Harrison Street, WN5 9AU 01942 323 785 WOLVERHAMPTON Parkfield Rd. Bilston 01902 494186 WORCESTER 48a Upper Tything. WR1 1JZ 01905 723451
Model CIG81212 CIG81015 CIG81216 CIG81020 CIG81220 CIG81224 CIG1432 CIG1640
size (LxWxH) m 3.6 x 3.6 x 2.5 4.5 x 3 x 2.4 4.9 x 3.7 x 2.5 6.1 x 3 x 2.4 6.1 x 3.7 x 2.5 7.3 x 3.7 x 2.5 9.7x4.3x3.65 12x4.9x4.3
exc.VAT inc.VAT £249.00 £298.80 £279.00 £334.80 £329.00 £394.80 £349.00 £418.80 £399.00 £478.80 £499.00 £598.80 £1099.00 £1318.80 £2599.00 £3118.80
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13/11/2023 10:01
Toyota says one of the hardest parts of the project was to hang the original pick-up’s body panels on the new frame without it looking wrong
That oblique reference to the cabin brings us to the way it’s trimmed. And oh, it’s trimmed. A certain other 4x4 manufacturer hailing from the other side of the Atlantic loves a good tartan fabric on the seats of the many custom trucks it churns out, but the Bruiser’s Momo Daytona Evo bucket seats aren’t a knowing nod to that – Toyota says their plaid finish is ‘an homage to the FJ’s original plaid bench seat.’ Quite what the vintage 1968 Jackie Stewart championship steering wheel is an homage to, we’re not sure. But the great man was known for the tartan stripe on his crash hat so if nothing else there’s a link there.
Obviously, Formula 1 and extreme offroading only have a certain amount to do with each other. All the same, Toyota says the FJ Bruiser was conceived as a King of the Hammers style machine and that’s the rock-crawling equivalent of grand prix racing. More to the point, the vehicle was an exercise in using all the best technology to reach the pinnacle of ability in its field. ‘The combination of modern automotive technology with the classic looks of the FJ45 yields a vehicle worthy of its nameplate,’ in Toyota’s own words. ‘What began life as a well-worn 1966 FJ45 pick-up quickly turned into a ground-up concept ready to conquer the toughest terrain in the world.’
More than that, of course, the FJ Bruiser is an overwhelming show car. From its gigantic fenderless tyres to the delightfully prominent bug catcher rising up from the bonnet above that thunderous V8, it’s very, very good at attracting attention. As always, though, a show car is only truly great if it’s able to do the things its looks say it can. It’s a bit of a shame that the extremely extensive set of photos Toyota published to illustrate the vehicle didn’t include anything at all of it in action, but perhaps that’s coming. Perhaps there might even be an entry into next year’s King of the Hammers to come? They’ve showed the world how it’s done in the Dakar, after all…
Tartan trim on the bucket seats and cage padding celebrate the Land Cruiser’s connection with Scotland. You know, that? The steering wheel started life on a Jackie Stewart racecar Winter 2024 I Overlander 4x4
Toyota FJ45 Bruiser Winter 2023 4pgs.indd 31
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Christmas Gift Guide
4X4 PLAYDAYS EVERY MONTH Slindon is open on the second and fourth Sunday of every month (BN18 0NB) 4x4 entry £35 per vehicle (please provide your own car) Quad Bikes £20 per rider (all riders 14 or over)
We specialise in organising 4x4 owners days and experiences at our 4x4 off-road site at Slindon in West Sussex for owner-drivers
www.4x4driving.co.uk
Get in touch with us: Tel / Fax: 01903 812195 Mobile: 07802 582826
4x4 Magazine_2023_Winter_Retro Classic Clothing_QP.indd 1
08/11/2023 11:02
Christmas Gift Guide CAR BUILDER SOLUTIONS
KIT & CLASSIC CAR PARTS SPECIALIST
BUY YOUR CHRISTMAS GIFT HERE IROAD DASH CAM FX2 FRONT AND REAR CAMERA - £214.99
7 STAGE SMART 1 AMP BATTERY CHARGER / MAINTAINER - £43.20
LED REPLACEMENT 7” HEADLAMP - £130.80
FOUR TRAY STORAGE BOX - £34.80
DYNAMAT XTREME BULK PACK - £159.60
5 PIECE PRY BAR LEVER SET - £14.40
T: 01580 891309 / 448007 4x4 Magazine_2023_Winter_Car Builder Solutions_FP.indd 1
E: info@carbuilder.com
W: www.carbuilder.com 13/11/2023 16:20
Christmas Gift Guide
Wheel Covers Top Gear Advert 124x98 JULY 2023 .pdf 1 04/05/2023 17:17:30
Cynghordy Llandovery Carmarthenshire, SA20 0NB Tel: 01550 750274 e-mail: info@cambrianway.com
www.cambrianway.com
Christmas Gift Vouchers If you are looking for a gift for Christmas, why not consider one of our gift vouchers. These are available for stays within the next 12 months and are available for any type of stay and can be used towards bookings already made for 2024.
4x4 Magazine_2023_Sep_The Sign Maker_QP.indd 1
THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ANY ENTHUSIAST! Land Rover vehicle parts and accessories specialist, Rimmer Bros, have customisable Gift Certificates available in £10, £25, £50, £100 and £250 values! Simply add a name, message or similar and this will be printed onto the Certificate and best of all…they are sent by Email enabling them to be printed at home for that lastminute solution!
T:01522 568000
www.rimmerbros.com
25/07/2023 11:26
Christmas Gift Guide Seat Covers & Luggage from Stitch & Rivet
XXX_Stitch & Rivet_HP.indd 1
09/11/2023 15:05
THE UK’S LEADING MANUFACTURERS OF QUALITY VAN, SUV & PICK UP TRUCK ACCESSORIES ACCESSORIES FOR THE ALL NEW 2023 FORD RANGER AND THE NEW VW AMAROK 2023 ARE NOW AVAILABLE!
As a Pickup owner, you may realise that your load area gradually fills up as time goes by but keeping it organised and accessible can prove to be a little challenging. Nowadays, a pickups load space is regarded as one of its most desirable features. Even if your work doesn’t need heavy objects to be transported having so much space can have its downsides. After a trip to the shops, you may find your goods have spread and maybe even broken. If this has happened to you, visit the Gearmate website to find the best storage solution for you and your vehicle. If you’re looking to maximize your storage space, consider a well-designed drawer system that allows you to pack your goods in an organised, tier-based way. Gearmate’s sliding drawers allow you to keep goods tidy while keeping your belongings secure.
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Watch on
YouTube
TRAVEL
A LONG WAY HOME
In 2019, filmmaker and historian Alex Bescoby retraced the First Overland trip between London and Singapore. Behind the glamour of the TV show he created, what it was like to travel in such famous tyre tracks?
Words Tim Gibson Pictures Supplied by Alex Bescoby
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www.overlander4x4.co.uk
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Winter 2024 I Overlander 4x4
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A paved road in eastern India – but with the monsoon hammering down, it may as well not have been
T
here is a moment in Alex Bescoby’s The Last Overland when the reader is confronted by the perilous nature of crosscontinental travel in an unsettled world. Caught between warring sub-tribes of Naga people on the India-Myanmar border, Alex and his crew find themselves staring down the barrels of several rifles. ‘I felt a terrible wave of guilt cross over me for landing my companions in this mess,’ writes Alex. ‘…[I] imagined the look on the faces of [their] families receiving the news they had been butchered in a shootout in Nagaland.’ Surprisingly, when I catch up with Alex to discuss his adventure and the attendant book and TV documentary, he doesn’t list this as his most worrisome moment on the 111-day trip. That was prompted by mechanical rather than societal breakdown. It happened when the expedition was still some 5000 miles away from home in the depths of Turkmenistan.
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www.overlander4x4.co.uk
Alex Bescoby Feature Winter 2023_8pgs.indd 38
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Enduring freezing temperatures in the mountains of Xinjang, China
‘A loss of brakes and a loud “CLUNK” were the first signs that something was wrong,’ Alex reminisces. ‘Then we saw a wheel roll away and, before we knew it, we thought we were dealing with a snapped half-axle and a possible broken rear diff. It appeared pretty terminal to begin with. I thought the expedition was over, right then and there.’ The feeling of loss and frustration was profound. With just five days left on their Turkmen visas, a repair seemed destined to fail. ‘We’d come so far and it was all snatched away from us in a single moment that was completely out of our control,’ Alex says. ‘I was relieved no one had come to harm, but it didn’t soften the blow of potentially losing our vehicle.’ To understand the scale of Alex’s disappointment, you need to appreciate the context of his trip. You see, the vehicle that had suffered this ignominious fate was none other than Oxford, the Series I that famously completed the First Overland
expedition from London to Singapore in 1955. It was piloted for much of that journey by Tim Slessor, whose book about the adventure – First Overland – was a global bestseller.
Founding father
Among the overlanding fraternity, especially those who use Land Rovers for their travels, Slessor is a hero. If not the godfather of overland expedition, then certainly one of the founding fathers. And he’d been quick to give Alex and his team an appropriate benediction. In fact, Tim was all set to join them as they retraced his famous journey home from Singapore. He made it as far as the start line before, at the age of 87, a medical emergency prevented him from joining the team. He anointed his grandson, Nat, as his representative. Viewers of The Last Overland documentary series will be aware of what an impressive stand-in he proved to be.
‘Oh, the story of the TV show is as much about Nat as it is about the physical journey we undertook,’ says Alex, whose fondness for the young man is evident. ‘He’s the last person in the world who would want to be the centre of attention. Yet here he was, stepping in at the last minute as one of the faces of a high-profile expedition, with all that weight of history on his shoulders. He’s a diamond gent.’ If you’re in any doubt about the profile of the project, consider the hordes of Land Rover enthusiasts who greeted the team in every country they passed through. ‘I had no idea there was such an international following for the brand,’ says Alex. ‘But we were greeted like heroes throughout the trip and were frequently accompanied by enthusiasts who wanted to tap into the spirit not just of our expedition but of the First Overlanders, too.’ In many respects, Alex shouldn’t have been surprised. The son of a lifelong Solihull aficionado, he learned to drive in
Winter 2024 I Overlander 4x4
Alex Bescoby Feature Winter 2023_8pgs.indd 39
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‘I was looking for my next project after a decade of living in Myanmar. In short, I needed a means of getting home’
his father Roger’s Series One. And the idea of taking on the Last Overland expedition was formed during a Land Rover Series One Club meet on Anglesey. ‘Dad took me along in the hope of passing on his lifelong passion,’ says Alex. ‘For me, it was a chance to indulge a passion of my own, for history. That’s the subject I read at university and I was fascinated to come to the place where the Wilks brothers plotted the Land Rover concept. Little did I realise I would encounter another piece of history, too.’ That came in the form of Oxford, the pale-blue vehicle that had been languishing
40
on St Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic, since 1977. Its owner had cannibalised it to keep his fleet of vintage Land Rovers in working order. Oxford was in a sorry state by the time Adam Bennett, a deep-pocketed enthusiast from Yorkshire, tracked it down, brought it home and renovated it.
Finger of fate
When Alex met Adam on the beach at Red Wharf Bay, he quickly realised the finger of fate was pointing his way. ‘I was looking for my next project after a decade of living in Myanmar and making historical
documentaries. In short, I needed a means of getting home. Oxford provided just that.’ An odd thought, really, that you’d ship a vehicle to the other side of the world only to jump on a plane and drive it back again. But that’s always been the essence of overland travel. It doesn’t make much sense, which is why it’s such a profoundly worthwhile way to spend your time. And if you can make a TV programme about it, too, it’s pretty much a no-brainer to assemble a crew and get planning. So that’s what Alex did. He ended up taking a convoy of three Landies – Oxford and a brace of Defenders as support crew
www.overlander4x4.co.uk
Alex Bescoby Feature Winter 2023_8pgs.indd 40
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COMPLETE READY TO DRIVE CARS OR SELF BUILD KITS • Build manuals & full kits, & ready-made bodies available controlled speed, lights, horn, • Manual includes full component • Pre-cut panel sets and body cutting dimensions & ready-made bodies available • Battery powered DIY kits or parts • Manual includes full component For more information please contact 01291 626141 sales@toylander.com www.toylander.com and body cutting dimensions
COMPLETE READY TO DRIVE •CARS BatteryOR powered kits or parts SELFDIY BUILD KITS
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Alex aboard Oxford, the Series I from the original First Overland expedition, in the lush landscape of Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands
– as well as cameramen, an expedition manager, a seasoned overland campaigner, a medic-cum-mechanic and a social media champ. With Nat jumping in on the morning of the send-off from Singapore’s Formula One racing circuit, you could say it was more by luck than judgment that the team ended up getting on so well. ‘There was a fantastic camaraderie among us right from the start,’ says Alex. ‘That made for a brilliant atmosphere on the trip. In fact, when I think of my highlights, it’s pretty much this: the sheer simple joy of getting up every day with your mates, and all you have to do is get a little
closer to home and have some fun in the process. It was bliss.’ Which isn’t to say the trip was without its low points. The dramas in Nagaland and Turkmenistan notwithstanding, Alex and the whole squad had moments of frustration or sorrow. Alex, for example, heard that his grandfather Harold had died while travelling through India, while Nat and Alex alike worried about Tim’s wellbeing as they slowly came to terms with his absence from the adventure. As any overlander will tell you, the distance from home feels further than ever when bad news comes your way.
‘Fortunately, the team gelled brilliantly, with bonds that tightened as the trip wore on,’ reports Alex. ‘You could see it in small gestures, like the way they rallied around me when I heard about my grandfather’s death, or the packets of biscuits that were shared equally between all eight of us. Everyone pulled together to make sure the journey went as smoothly as possible. There were occasional cross words and flashes of annoyance, of course, but they soon passed. The team dynamic was brilliant.’ This is especially impressive when you consider the pressure they operated under. They subject to the glare of considerable
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‘The name of our expedition took on deeper meaning as we neared home. ‘Covid was spreading across the world. I wondered if we really had completed the last ever overland trip’
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www.overlander4x4.co.uk
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media scrutiny – the First Overland was a global phenomenon, arguably more revered in Asia than back at home in the UK and thereby attracting huge publicity for its 21st Century homage-payers. And they were passing through a world that has many troubles, with visa negotiations and careful diplomacy a feature of much of the journey.
Hairy moments
Being held up by gun-toting tribesmen was bad, but when the Series I suffered a seemingly terminal breakdown – that was worse
‘We couldn’t retrace the exact route of the First Overland, because of the geopolitics of the Far and Middle East,’ says Alex. ‘But even with all the planning, we had some hairy moments with border officials. There’s a huge amount that goes into an expedition like this. Bringing a film crew makes travel in countries like China and Myanmar even more challenging.’ Alex was already familiar with many of these issues thanks to his decadelong association with Myanmar, which coincided with a difficult political period for the country. That may explain why he wasn’t too perturbed by the Nagaland experience. But it also speaks of how accustomed he’d become to bearing such expectation on his shoulders. ‘There was a lot of pressure,’ he reflects. ‘I’d taken on this madcap project and felt the added weight of wanting to get it right for Tim and his fellow First Overlanders. I remember getting back to Folkstone at the end of the trip and feeling all that lift off. We’d made it, and were accompanied by more than 100 UK Land Rover enthusiasts for the journey back to London. That was a very special moment.’ Rather like childbirth, the difficult aspects of an expedition are soon forgotten. It’s the brain’s way of ensuring you contemplate doing it all again. And that’s exactly what Alex is proposing, with another TV and book project already in the pipeline. ‘We’re hoping to recreate the famous 1972 Trans-Americas Expedition,’ he says. ‘It’s a similar concept: an iconic journey undertaken in an iconic vehicle, which is ripe for a 21st Century interpretation.’ The vehicles used in the original expedition, a brace of Range Rovers, were piloted through the infamous Darién Gap with the aid of winches, rafts, air-drops and dynamite by a cast of thousands led by Gavin Thompson and Colonel John Blashford-Snell. Alex is understandably tight-lipped about specifics, but it sounds as if he’s already had contact with
Blashford-Snell. It’s a fair bet he’ll soon be joining Tim Slessor in the ‘overlanding heroes’ section of his contacts book. And quite right, too. Because in Alex the UK has found a spiritual successor to a generation of adventurers that it’s easy to imagine have disappeared from our national character. The world is a smaller place than it was for the likes of Slessor, Blashford-Snell and Thompson. There are fewer challenges left to overcome. But as Alex and his team’s exploits in the Last Overland evince, the apparently simple business of driving thousands of miles over varied terrain has lost none of its allure – nor its capacity to surprise, frighten and entertain.
Deeper meaning
‘The name of our expedition took on deeper meaning as we neared home,’ says Alex. ‘The COVID-19 virus was spreading across the world. As I wrote the book and we edited the four episodes of the TV series, I wondered if we really had completed the last ever overland trip.’ Such a concern turns out to have been misplaced. The world has opened up again, slowly, and there’s every reason to think adventures like Alex’s are back on the cards. Indeed, Alex’s expedition manager Marcus now organises similar journeys for private clients who want a taste of the SlessorBescoby magic. It’s a growing market, but one that may not have existed were it not for the pioneering spirit of the two expeditions, separated by nearly 70 years. All of which speaks of the great contribution the likes of Alex and Tim make to the overlanding and Land Rover enthusiast landscape. Over generations, they show the rest of us what’s possible, negotiating challenges with good humour and a sense that all will be well in the end. So the next time you find yourself in the midst of tribal warfare, or surrounded by broken bits of Land Rover, just think of Alex and his companions. They’ve been there before you. And it turned out all right for them. You can watch The Last Overland on All 4 now. To buy the book, visit lastoverland.com – from where you can also find out more about Alex’s next adventures and Marcus’s expeditionplanning service.
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THE ROUGH AND THE SMOOTH
Jeep’s Grand Wagonneer Overland turns the company’s new flagship SUV into a luxury expedition truck. Roughing it has never felt so smooth…
Words Chuck Aarons Pictures Jeep
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hen is a Jeep not a Jeep? When it’s a ‘climate controlled oasis.’ Obv. Also when it’s the Grand Wagoneer Overland concept. Which is what you’re looking at here. It’s a Grand Wagoneer. And an overlander. And a climate controlled oasis, of course. The Grand Wagoneer is not available in Britain, yet. There’s a ‘yet’ there, which is promising, though there was one with the Wrangler 4xe too and look what happened there, so let’s not get complacent. It’s based on the same stuff as the new Grand Cherokee, and they’re having an almighty struggle to get any supply for the UK, but assuming that’s just temporary we’ll be seeing plenty of them here in the fullness of time. Along with the
Grand Wagoneer, hopefully. Though it won’t be like this one. This one has an overland vibe, a hippy vibe (the hippies are living well on their pensions and investment portfolios now) and a Skyloft. Not a Skylab, that was something else. The custom RedTail Overland Skyloft, to use its full name, is a carbon fibre pop-top which pushes open in around ten seconds, taking advantage of the sunroof hatch (repositioned in this case, which doesn’t sound like a fiveminute job) to provide access to an upper living area. Up here is a sleeping space for two people, which sounds cosy, and ‘enough windows to soak in even the most panoramic views.’ While fitting the Skyloft, Jeep’s engineers removed the vehicle’s second
and third rows of seats, turning it from a people carrier into a full on outdoor lifestyle wagon. Access from the back is via a sliding door and a small step, which also doubles as a table. Yes, a step/table. Ideal for enjoying breakfast after winching your way through a field of sheep. Rather more practical sounding is the bedliner on the cabin floor, which lets you escape from the rain and get changed out of your muddy boots without destroying everything in your path. Jeep says it ‘handles any outdoor element with ease,’ though we’d suggest not testing it by introducing outdoor elements like the sea.
Oversized beanbags
Elsewhere inside, and this is where the hippy vibe really starts to kick in, you’ll
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RedTail Skyloft opens to turn the rear cabin into a living space with upper and lower floors
find a pair of oversized beanbags, a plush throw rug, pillows and custom ambient lighting. There’s storage space for bikes, too, though that doesn’t sound anything like as soft and squishy. Talking of things that aren’t soft and squishy, the Jeep’s panels are painted Industrial Green with Gunmetal accents.
There’s a hefty Warn winch up front, which is pretty hard too, and a set of LED lights. Then, and we’re quoting directly here, ‘durable, black Rhino-lined roof has a subtle pop of orange colour to pay homage to the countless amounts of outdoor gear used by overlanding enthusiasts.’ Honestly, we’ve read that sentence back over a
Here’s how it looks on the inside. The rear cabin has lost its seats but gained so much more in their place, and upstairs is an air-conditioned bedroom with panoramic views
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dozen times or more and we still don’t have a clue what they’re on about. What we can understand is that the vehicle emerged from Jeep’s custom vehicle skunk works on 35” tyres, which give it a 1.5” lift over standard. All the better for transporting you into a secluded corner of the Canyonlands which you’ll have all to yourself but for the bears. The wheelarches were modified to make room for the bigger rubber, and custom front and rear valances add further clearance as well as a touch of aggression to the vehicle’s image. Also quite aggressive is the 3.0-litre Hurricane twin-turbo engine, whose 510bhp and 500lbf.ft ought to be able to get you to the top of whatever trail you fancy tackling, however heavily laden you might be with overlanding gear and oversized bean bags. Jeep even says it’ll give you better fuel economy than many of its V6 and V8 competitors, which sounds like an oblique way of saying everything’s relative. If the Grand Wagoneer does come to the UK, it will only be in hybrid form, so that’s one way in which the Overland concept could never happen here. As it demonstrates, though, the bigger the truck, the more cool stuff you can fit in it. And on it. There’s literally no-one who would choose this over a Wrangler for a serious expedition, but for the kind of exploring the vast majority of 4x4 owners might actually do in the real world it’s right on the money. A cool truck, a cool living space and, most of all, a climate-controlled oasis.
www.overlander4x4.co.uk
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Don’t worry about mud or sand – wash it off with the Yakima RoadShower What a brilliant idea this is – a pressurised shower system for when you are out and about. Ideal for washing off dirty camping plates, sea salt, sandy feet, muddy bikes or indeed to clean up muddy dogs and boots before the journey home. If you fill the aluminum tank from your domestic supply (hot or cold) via the garden hose adapter, you’ll pressurize the tank at the same time as filling it. Otherwise, it’s pressurised with a hand or electric pump to a maximum 55psi. The water tank absorbs the sun’s heat so on sunny days it will reach a very satisfactory temperature – maybe even hot enough for a shower!
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PORSCHE TAYCAN 4S CROSS T
Y
ou only need to look on social media to see how suspicious car enthusiasts are towards electric vehicles. Whenever the subject comes up, you can be sure it’ll be met with a mixture of dismissive quasi-expert quackery, swivel-eyed hate and inchoate insults about Greta Thunberg and Sadiq Khan. You can also be pretty sure that none of the people ranting and raving about how EVs are evil, pointless, twisted firestarters and actually worse for the environment than their own Perkins-engined Fourtrak or Mopar hot rod have ever actually driven one. There’s nothing like experiencing an EV to convert you to them. If the EV in question is a Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo, most likely they won’t just be converted, they’ll ask to keep it. First things first. As tested, this is a £116,149 vehicle. So it’s playing in the
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big leagues. Except these days, that sort of money doesn’t actually take you to the top of the market. The Lamborghini Urus we tested a couple of years back had a £211,000 ticket on it, and JLR recently announced its first £250,000 Range Rover. So whether you’re seeing the Taycan as a performance SUV or a luxury crossover, it’s nowhere near being the most expensive thing you can buy. But which is it? Performance SUV or luxury crossover? Or is it even either?
Cabin
Well, its luxury credentials are strong, in a distinctly sporty way, with seats that are fabulously comfortable but trimmed in grippy alcantara rather than smooth leather. There’s plenty of room in all directions and a driving position that feels higher than you’d expect, so visibility is excellent.
Perhaps surprisingly, it’s also spacious in the back. One six-footer can sit behind the other without either feeling cramped, and rear headroom is better than you’d expect too. On top of this, it’s remarkably good as a cargo carrier, with rear seats that fold completely flat to yield an astonishingly long boot. It’s not hugely tall, but the floor is set as low as possible to counter this and when all’s said and done, you could do an enormous tip run in one or cart a heavily laden teenager off to university. It’s a practicality sleeper and no mistake. Getting back to the subject of luxury, the dash has a modern, uncluttered and high-tech feel to it, with a high-definition digital instrument panel in front of you and a big infotainment screen at the top of the facia. The heating and climate controls are on a dedicated haptic screen built in to the
www.overlander4x4.co.uk
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S TURISMO
front of the floor console, which in turn has a kind of floating design with a storage tray at floor level beneath the front part of it. This, and the rest of the cabin fixtures, is of the very highest quality. There’s a lot of plastic there but it’s dense, stout and beautifully constructed, with not a creak to be heard anywhere. Perceived quality is exceptional, with all the touch points taken care of (including more alcantara, this time on the steering wheel) and the whole design looks as good as it feels. Making a hard job look easy is the mark of a true master; there are showier ways of impressing your passengers, but unless you’re the kind of person who falls for it when car makers use buzz words like ‘curated’ over and over again about interiors which quite obviously aren’t, you’ll appreciate that this is just car design done very well indeed.
Driving
You expect a Porsche to be fast, of course. This isn’t the fastest one we’ve driven; the Cayenne Turbo GT, which went off sale earlier this year, had a 3.3-second 0-62 time, and the Taycan’s is only 4.1. But with the instant thrust that’s characteristic of electric cars, it feels fast in a whole new way. Using launch control, it takes off with such venom that you actually need to be pretty committed not to lift before it even gets to sixty. That’s a fun trick, though, but what really matters is its mid-range – which is even more commanding. Porsche says it’ll do 49-74mph in 2.3 seconds, and having learned what a masterful tool it is for overtaking we absolutely endorse that as the mark of what it can do. Even from 74mph, or even more, it leaps forward the moment you summon it.
Yet perhaps what’s most impressive about the Taycan is how smooth and relaxing it is on the motorway. Here, it feels all the world like a luxury executive car; refinement is phenomenal as, aside from just a touch of road noise, it glides along in serene isolation. Get it into the fun stuff, meanwhile, and it handles the way a Porsche should. We found it more reminiscent of something like a Cayman S than a Cayenne or even a Macan. It steers positively and predictably, grips incredibly well and handles with agility and directness – it knows you’re having fun and it wants you to have some more before you park up and put it on to charge. Which, by the way, can happen very quickly; most public charging points can’t punch it in as fast as the Taycan can take it. While we’re on the subject of charging, though, buying a new Taycan gets you free access to a range of charging points at main dealers and elsewhere. Dare we take the Taycan off-road? As the pictures show, yes we did, on the sort of unsurfaced track that could be considered relevant to a vehicle of this nature (it’s the access road to an old stately home, which seems fair). We did find that whereas the pot holes on typical urban roads are well damped, you need to crawl off-road to stop the wheels and tyres from crashing in and out of the jagged terrain, making for a less than relaxing time. There’s a gravel setting in the drive mode palette, which does an excellent job of preventing wheelspin, but unless you’re on pretty smooth going you won’t see it at its most effective. Nonetheless, with five different height settings on the suspension you can trim the vehicle to take on quite rugged ground – the sort of stuff that a typical new Defender owner who’s never done it before would baulk at.
Verdict
The Taycan is a whole new kind of 4x4. In its body shape, it’s a crossover estate, but in its character it’s an SUV. A brutally fast one, but more than that a vehicle which delivers a supreme combination of pace, class, practicality and low running costs. Performance SUV or luxury crossover? It’s both – and nothing else has ever done as good a job of proving the EV-haters wrong.
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FULLY RIGGED The lifestyle Land Rover market is well past the point of saturation, but RIG Automotive has created a new twist on the idea of turning Defenders into boutique motors with its range of one-off camper conversions Words Olly Sack Pictures Vic Peel
O
ver the last couple of Land Rover show seasons, a set of converted 130 Ambulances has stood out amid the various lifestyle, bling and boutique Defenders. Built by Newark’s RIG Automotive, these have taken the idea of a 4x4 camper and given it a new, modern and extremely high-end twist. The example featured here, which was the second build to be completed by the company, has a party trick. It’s not unusual to see a camper van with a bike carrier on the back, and sure enough RIG’s first Land Rover had a slide-out carrier inside it with the ability to tote a couple of the things. But RIG 2 went a step further – with a full-house motorbike. A Super Soco TC electric motorbike, no less, allowing the Land Rover’s lucky owner to drive to the trailhead of his or her choice, pitch up in the coolest camper around then set off into the wilderness making hardly a sound and leaving nothing more in the atmosphere than a faint whiff of self-satisfaction. So, a Land Rover with a motorbike in it. Further investigation is clearly required.
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When you swing open the 130’s rear doors, the bike is indeed the first thing you notice. But it’s not actually the first thing you see. Rather, your eyes are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of cool stuff on display. Stuff like a side-hinged folding double bed, a kitchen area with a sink and hob, a wall-mounted iPad and, if the roof has been popped up, an in-vehicle projector cinema. Drive-in movies? Pah. RIG has driven the movies into the car. And that’s just the headline stuff. You don’t actually clock it all straight away, because the standard of fit-out and the quality of materials everywhere you look is just so eye-popping. The cabinets in the living space look like they belong in a fancy yacht, and the floor and roof are trimmed in what looks like teak. Did we mention that the motorbike is colour-coded to the vehicle? Its tank shell matches the 130’s Grasmere Green body colour, and its saddle is trimmed in the same tan leather as the Landy’s seats. The overall appearance is good – and the details are even better.
The truck is one of a batch of 130s which Richard Gill, whose initials give RIG its name, bought during lockdown with a view to creating a line of very high-end leisure vehicles. The company is not one of those hard-nosed efforts to make a buck by riding the wave of interest in blinged Defenders – it’s the sort you can getting away with starting up when you’ve already made your money in another line of business altogether and it’s time to indulge your passion for cars while at the same time making things that people want to buy. Not that Richard’s in a busting rush to sell anything, judging by the collection we found when we paid him a visit – beautifully restified classic cars including a Porsche 911, Fiat Panda 4x4 and Mini Cooper S, not to mention a trio of these extraordinary Land Rovers.
Barely run-in
The 130 you’re looking at here was built in 2009, making it a 2.4 TDCi with the 6-speed Getrag box. A Stage 1 tune helps get the best from the Transit-sourced diesel. The
www.overlander4x4.co.uk
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Leather trim and a rerto wooden steering wheel are clearly the stuff of a high-end Defender. It’s not as blinged as some, but more usable than almost any other vehicle
vehicle has covered a total of 22,000 miles in the years since then, which comes out at around 1600 a year, so as you see it here it’s barely run in. The engine turns a set of 285/60R18 Cooper Zeon LTZs, which ride on Rostyle alloys from Twisted. A bit wider and definitely lower-profile than you’re used to seeing on 130s, but very much in keeping with the theme of the vehicle (not least because they, too, are colour coded to its body). Rear helper air bags are fitted to keep the truck sitting level even with all the extra weight in the back. The real story, though, is what’s been done to turn this into a lifestyle camper van. We mentioned the fluted tan leather seats, and these feature in a cabin whose dash and cubby box have been trimmed in the same material. There are various other touches, like aluminium door handles and a Pioneer system running Apple CarPlay and Android Auto via a 6.2” touch screen, but this is also a fine example of not overdoing it. We’ve all seen Defenders whose cabins look like the inside of a
Texan brothel, but this one is mercifully restrained. Do the headline stuff, and do it well, then keep your hands off the bits that don’t matter – the temptation is always there to lob more and more in the basket but every good design starts with a plan and this one has clearly stuck to it. In the back, we mentioned the kitchen and this features a gas hob, electric fridge and Can Foldy sink, the latter fed by an onboard hot water system. There’s a diesel-burning space heater for when it’s cold and an air conditioner for when it’s hot – this is in addition to the normal in-car air-con up front. The fold-down bed is also used as a sofa, and there’s another double bed in the roof. You’d need to have the pop-top open for sleeping this many people and when it folds upwards it reveals the movie screen, part of a Nebula projector set-up. Not quite as eyeball-grabbing at first glance, but still every bit as important when you need them, are features like USB chargers, an electric hook-up point and pop-up 240v plug sockets.
Building a successful camper is all about use of space. Doing it without making it look crowded is hard enough without having to pack in no end of electronics
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The shape of a Defender 130 ambulance is pretty unmistakable, even if the sign above the windscreen no longer announces that that’s what it is
If the first things on your list when speccing your ideal overland vehicle are a cinema and an electric motorbike, RIG Automotive definitely has the truck for you
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A Land Rover like this will never be to everybody’s taste, and it certainly won’t suit everybody’s budget. But the more you look at it, the more there is to admire – and, in the time honoured fashion, the more there is to nick. Not in the literal sense, we hasten to add – RIG Automotive was a fixture at last year’s Great British Land Rover Shows, and alongside the many people who visited its stand simply to marvel at the vehicles, there was bound to be more than just a few taking notes for the purpose of copycattery. Does this mean there’s soon going to be a glut of 130s sporting a motorbike in their back ends? We doubt it, however cool this one is. But it might encourage Defender owners to think big for their own builds – not to mention driving up the standard to which the best vehicles are finished. In an ever-more competitive marketplace, ‘the best’ is the level everyone needs to be achieving. Some succeed, some never get off the ground then try to hide the evidence, while others are so creative they defy being pigeonholed. Which is what Richard Gill did with this Land Rover – and when you look at the amount of features packed into it, you can see why people continues to flock around it at every show he visits.
www.overlander4x4.co.uk
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TRAVEL
The Original National Forest Around 35 years ago, the Government decided to create a large-scale forest in the heart of the nation as a way of regenerating a region laid to waste by mining. It wasn’t the first time Britain had set out to on such an ambitious programme of tree planting, however – though the first came about for very different reasons Words Tom Alderney Pictures Vic Peel, and as credited
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f you’ve ever driven up country on the M1, just north of Leicester you might have noticed a huge sign proudly advising you that you’re now entering the National Forest. Tens of thousands of people drive past it every day… and all of them think roughly the same thing. Forest? What? But where are the trees? The National Forest is actually a very major project, founded in 1987 and slowly turning a large swathe of the Midlands, which had been utterly destroyed by coal mining, into a carefully planned network of diverse woodlands. But from a lot of angles, it might as well be called the National Trumpet. People tend to assume that the Forest was one of those wacky schemes dreamt up for the Millennium, but in fact it was founded in 1987. Covering some 200 square miles, it describes itself as ‘the first forest to be created at scale in England for more than 1000 years.’ Whoever wrote that is not wrong. A forest of that size is going to be something to behold once the trees are mature. To get your head around that, all you need to do is jump in your 4x4 and go exploring Britain’s original national forest. One thing you can guarantee about the modern forest is that no new rights of way will be created as part of it, least of all for motor vehicles. But it’s different in Thetford Forest. You can explore the lanes in and around it to your heart’s content.
Most people who visit Thetford, whether it’s to go laning or anything else, assume that the landscape around them is part of nature’s plan. It’s very organic, of course – indeed, it’s an SSSI. But it’s also man-made. Hard as it is to believe, Thetford Forest is less than 100 years old. It was first conceived in 1920, in the aftermath of the First World War. A very common misconception about British history is that the country was covered in forests until we stripped them all to build a navy to battle the Spanish Armada. It was a bit more complicated than that, needless to say – but something you’re less likely to assume is that even relatively modern warfare consumed a vast amounts of wood. Defeating Germany came at a great cost to what was left of our native oaks.
Timber strategy
The government saw this as a vulnerability. Should another war to happen, would there be enough timber left to supply the nation’s needs? Thus the plan was hatched to create a strategic resource, using fast-growing species instead of the native hardwoods that had seen us through the Great War. Around the same time, England’s traditional country estates has started to struggle economically. Growing competition had put them on the back foot – with the greatest hardship being felt in
areas with poor soil. Areas like Breckland, on the border of Suffolk and Norfolk, where tenant farms had started to be abandoned and fall into disrepair. Thus the decision was made to locate a new forest here, near Thetford in the heart of East Anglia. The recently established Forestry Commission started work on acquiring land, with the first purchases in 1922, and during the next decade and a half around 15,000 acres changed hands from the gentry to the nation. In the years that followed, the area was reborn. It was agricultural before the trees began taking root, of course – but amid the farms, the wild ground was typified by miniature sand dunes upon which clusters of gorse clung on by their shallow roots. This in turn was a relic of voracious flint mining, which had stripped the sprawling, flat landscape of the native trees which once held it together – and thus Breckland went from natural forest to post-industrial wasteland and back to forest again. This one wasn’t like the original, though. The Commission started out by planting a combination of Scots Pine, Larch and Douglas Fir, but ultimately is was Corsican Pine that came to dominate as the forest’s main species. In addition, a wide variety of hardwood species were used for tactical planting, with narrow stands of oak, beech, lime, walnut and maple used alongside the forest’s roads and trails to help create more effective fire breaks.
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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 offroading 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.
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Which brings us neatly to those roads and trails. We’re interested in the latter, of course, and there aren’t many parts of the country that can match Thetford Forest and its Breckland surroundings for the sheer density of rights of way you’ll find here. Not just that. In Britain, we’re used to rights of way with soft, muddy surfaces. Woodland lanes either need to be prepared with hardcore and the like, or, by and large, kept closed in the winter to prevent them from being cut up. However in Thetford, the sandy sub-surface drains easily, making it ideal for all-weather exploration.
Wooded character
Like the new National Forest, Thetford is not just one contiguous woodland. There’s a main part to it, immediately to the northwest of Thetford town, but this is fringed by other large tracts to the south and east. The biggest of these, immediately to the south, is the King’s Forest. Named to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V in 1935, it accounts for about nine square miles of Thetford Forest
and is criss-crossed by a number of long lanes. Arguably the most impressive of these actually runs just to the west of the woodland, from Icklingham and across Berner’s Heath where it swings east to meet the ancient Icknield Way – which in turn bisects the woodland, running in a wide open gap between the towering conifers. This latter lane is notable for the variations in its surface, which can go from smooth to bumpy in the blink of an eye, while Berner’s Heath is remarkable in its character, with a blend of grassland and parkland making it reminiscent of African savannah in places. East of here, the tiny village of Culford Heath is unusual in being accessed purely by byway, with no surfaced roads at all running in or out of it. To the north is Harling Drove, the main lane across the largest section of the forest. This is possibly the sandiest right of way in the country, save for the few that actually cover beaches, crossing a landscape of blows which every now and again are enough to sap a vehicle’s power. It’s nothing like dune-bashing the way it’s
done in Saudi Arabia, but it’s nothing like green laning the way it’s done in the rest of England and Wales either. Harling Drove runs immediately south of Grime’s Graves, a bizarrely pock-marked landscape left behind by a network of more than 400 Neolithic flint mines. You don’t see it as you drive past, thanks to the trees, but this is normally open to visitors, who can climb 30 feet down a ladder into a shaft that’s been excavated by the site’s owner, English Heritage. We say ‘normally’ because it’s currently closed for conservation work, but when it’s open it’s a fascinating diversion from the lanes. Even closer by, hidden away in a cutting and screened by the trees, is the Breckland Line. A branch railway linking Cambridge and Norfolk, this was opened in 1845. At its closest, it comes within about 100 yards of the lane – at a point where it’s sweeping gracefully through a long corner, making for outstanding photo opportunities on the occasions when it’s used by steam trains bound for the North Norfolk Railway’s heritage line between Sheringham and Holt.
Black 5s 44871 & 45407 Lead 1Z49 07:23 Southend to Norwich ‘The Cathedrals Express’ tour through the Stort Valley and Thetford Forest on a wintery morning 06/12/14, by Steve Kinght @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0 DEED
Harling Drove runs within a hundred yards of the Breckland Line, a railway linking Cambridge and Norwich. It provides access to the North Norfolk Railway, a heritage line between Sheringham and Holt – meaning that every now and then, the forest echoes to a sound reminiscent of its early days.
Grime’s Graves, by John Lord @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0 DEED
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North of Harling Drove, Grime’s Graves are a network of Neolithic flint mines now in the hands of English Heritage. They’re closed to visitors at present, but the mines’ impact on the land surface is there for all to see – there are dozens of pock-marks like this clustered together in close proximity.
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Harling Drove continues east, becoming a road as it passes the celebrated Devil’s Punchbowl. This is an almost perfectly circular depression in the ground which fills with water, and drains again, with no apparent regard to rainfall. It’s actually the exposed surface of an underground sink hole and it does fill up with rainwater – only it can take weeks or even months to do so, creating the illusion of a pond whose level rises and falls of its own accord. It’s been doing this since way back before the days when science could explain it – which is why people turned to fairytales instead, giving it its splendidly evocative name.
Huge ferns
Continuing east, ahead is another long section of the Drove, also known here as the Hereward Way. It’s not as sandy now, but it’s still well drained – and here, you find yourself driving among huge ferns in yet another landscape that feels distinctly unlike being in Britain. The lane crosses a dismantled railway beyond here, part of what was once a
branch line north to Swaffham. It then approaches close to the Breckland Line once again, meeting the Peddars Way at a T-junction almost beneath a bridge below the railway in Roudham Heath. As it the case almost throughout the Thetford Forest area, the going on these lanes is gentle. You’re on its eastern fringes here, but there are rights of way to be sought out in all directions – as there are to the west, where a network of byways stretches out on to the Fens. The nature of the landscape means that long, straight and largely smooth rights of way are the norm. Be in no doubt, though, that at times the Breckland terrain can catch you out. Harling Drove is savagely undulating to the west of Grime’s Graves, with a dramatic series of what American four-wheelers would refer to as whoopde-dos, and the section east of the Devil’s Punchbowl is very good at collecting long, deep stretches of surface water. These are still firm to drive on under the surface, but you can be pushing a lot of water in front of your vehicle and amid the towering
ferns and trees to either side the effect is dramatic, especially in gloomy weather or after dark. The sheer length of the lanes in Thetford Forest means you can easily spend a day or more without venturing outside its boundaries. Around it, the aforementioned Fens are littered with byways, albeit frequently subject to seasonal closures, while the Bedford Levels alone could keep you busy for days – and at the northern tip of East Anglia, the rolling hills of NorthWest Norfolk are criss-crossed by a wealth of very varied trails. Each and every area is worth exploring, and each provides a rich combination of landscape and human history. From the earliest days of mankind, we’ve left our mark on this unique environment in ways that are often hidden to the eye but always there. Britain’s largest lowland pine plantation is a place of great peace and beauty – but beneath the surface, the original national forest hides enough secrets to escape the eye of even the most observant explorers.
Harling Drove is possibly the sandiest right of way in the country
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