Mooch AT35 Vs gnarly lane

A few issues ago you’ll remember that Andy from the Yorkshire Times and Annabel and Ben from Planet auto, and I took 3 Isuzu D-Maxs for a mooch in the Lakes. Of course, having such a capable and formidable pickup for a week meant that I didn’t stop there, and a few days later I decided to take the AT35 up a rather gnarly lane not far from Muddy Towers.

The road itself hasn’t got an official name, or at least I don’t thing it has, but locally it’s simply known as Rivington, or the lane by the side of the Pigeon Tower. The first time I drove it was in the late 1980s not long after I bought my first 4x4, a Series III 109 hardtop. With rocks the size of footballs it was always a bit bumpy, but never what you would call technical. In fact, I recall once driving down it in my old Citroën Dyane.

Over the years it’s been the subject of massive rain storms, and of course vandalism that mar the majority of lanes these days, and because of that it’s become almost unrecognisable from what it once was. So much in fact that if you want to drive it these days you need something a little bit more rugged than a Citroën Dyane, like an AT35.

Starting at the bottom car park, the road soon becomes rocky, with each rock a good foot in diameter, and as you reach a sharp left hand bend it narrows to a vehicle width.

Up until this point the road is a steady incline, but as you reach the next right hand bend it becomes steeper, and this is where the fun begins.

Within around ten yards I was faced with my first obstacle, a near vertical rock step over three feet high. As gnarly as it looks traction is actually pretty good and if you look carefully you actually see where the best place for tyre placement is. The last time I was up here I was in a SWB Toyota Land Cruiser Commercial on small-ish tyres and I managed this section with relative ease.

As I eased the AT35 towards the step, the bonnet rose slowly, and at such a steep angle I was convinced the side steps would hit the rocks before it was the rear wheels turn to climb, but they didn’t, and up they followed without a scrape.

A few yards on and there’s a twisty section that’s guaranteed to lift a wheel or two, at least it did in the Land Cruiser. The AT35 however simply flexed its way through.The next section of the road was quite easy, just more rocks and the odd smaller step, but it wasn’t until I reached the next right hand turn that I was genuinely taken aback by the blatant off-piste activity to my left. Every time I venture up here it just gets worse, I reckon it won’t be that long before we lose this lane forever.

Carrying on, what was once a wide open section of road with a hard dirt base and a mild rain channels was now a deep and eroded section littered stone and rocks that had been washed down the hill by the amount of storms we’ve experienced over the years.

Of course, the AT35 was still taking everything in its stride, the huge 35” tyres that I’d lowered a fraction to give me a bigger footprint hadn’t missed a beat nor lost traction once, though the worst was to come.

Passing a huge slab of tarmac in the middle of the road, which I’ve always thought was a bit random, and the end of the road is in sight, but this next section is the most treacherous.

As with the rest of the lane, decades of major storms have washed away most of the dirt and smaller rocks to leave some fairly unforgiving rock steps. There was once a visible path that lead to the top the last time I was up here, with obvious places to place your front wheels, but not anymore, just a series of steep ledges on either side at vary spaces and angles, so I jumped out for a scout.

The last AT35 I drove up here was a few years ago, and it both unladen and without a rear locker, and it was pouring down with rain. I managed to reach the top, but there was a lot slipping and sliding. Today it was dry, and although it was still unladen, I had a rear-locker.

Duly engaged, I aimed the AT35 towards the first step which it gently climbed. Visibility was a bit of a problem as I was constantly facing upwards and I had absolutely no idea where my wheels were in conjunction with the terrain, so I was continuously jumping out trying to figure where to go next.

A few metres on and despite having the rear-locker engaged I lost traction. After a quick inspection showed that I’d managed to get the mighty AT35 completely crossaxled with front tyres up against a 2 foot vertical step. Reversing slightly I jumped out and used a few rocks to pack-out the step. It worked, with a little more momentum and a less severe step the AT35 found traction and up we climbed, although at a rather odd angle!

Unless you’re in a coil sprung Jeep Renegade Rubicon with front and rear lockers engaged, or a similar tricked out 4x4, the last few steps of the climb requires both momentum and commitment, and that’s what I gave it. There’s a hole on the drivers side which isn’t too bad when the front wheel dips into it, but when it’s the rears turn the passenger front lifts a good few feet in the air, and this is when you need the aforementioned commitment.

Scrambling for traction the AT35 managed with only a bit of drama, and upon reaching the top a young couple walked by and casually asked if it was a demonstrator! “Close.” I said, “It’s press car!”

After the obligatory pose next to the Pigeon Tower I made my way down towards the main road, stopping for the other pose at the deep water channel that skirts along the side of the road. Regular readers will recognise this as somewhere I take most of the press cars, from the biggest to the tiniest. The only SUVs that haven’t managed to drive out from the ‘wheel-in-the-air’ scenario with ease are the Honda CR-V and HR-V, both where quite useless! Oh, and the Fiat Panda 4x4 Cross didn’t want to play ball, either.

The following day the AT35 was collected, and although I don’t need a pickup in my life, I’m always sad to see it go. The AT35 sits some 50mm higher than the regular Isuzu D-Max thanks to a body lift and specially made Bilstein suspension that accommodates the huge 315/70 R17 All-Terrain tyres.

Despite the bulging wheel arches, black alloy wheels, leather upholstery seats with Arctic Truck embroidered on the headrests and other such niceties, the AT35 isn't just built for show. It has been subject to a programme of careful development by Arctic Trucks and Isuzu, thus ensuring it is one of the most capable off-road vehicles on sale in the UK today. At the time of writing it also remains the only pickup that boasts five-star Euro NCAP.

Read our D-Max review here back in issue 26.