4x4
NEWS: NEW DEFENDER MODEL TO PROWL THE URBAN JUNGLE | PRODUCTS: BIG DISCOUNTS ON PREMIUM ROOF TENTS
OVERLANDER
ROADBOOK Plenty of surprises in store on the North West Cambridgeshire lanes
12 GREAT TRAILS
From every corner of the globe, routes to turn your journey into the adventure of a lifetime
October 2026 £5.99
BARGAIN BEAST
Tough 90 built using cherry picked second-hand parts
LITTLE ANIMAL
Daimler Ferret – the perfect ex-military off-roader?
XJ PIONEER
A tribute to the innocent days of wheeling cheap Jeeps
TF5545
Contact the Terrafirma team on enquiries@terrafirma4x4.com for product information or to find your local stockist
Innovative X-Hinge Opening System
Built-in 70mm mattress
T-Slot system channels
Built-in charging point Third rear X-hinge for added stability Two large side windows and a skylight 600D ripstop canvas (280gsm) Waterproof rating: PU3000 Sleeps two adults Built-in 70mm “cool feel” mattress with fabric cover Built-in dual-colour LED light Integrated charging station Exterior clip-on boot bag and interior storage pockets Pillows and blankets can be left inside when folded, saving vehicle space > CNC airflow design in the bottom shell to help reduce condensation > T-slot system channels allow brackets (TF5547) to attach accessories such as awnings > Compatible with Terrafirma (TF5546) roof bars
F E AT U R E S
> > > > > > > > > >
Built-in dual colour LED Light
Unique, sturdy X-Hinge system
Perfect for touring, camping, and off-road adventures, this roof tent provides a safe and comfortable place to sleep wherever your journey takes you.
TERRAFIRMA X-HINGE ROOF TENT
www.terrafirma4x4.com
The Terrafirma X-Hinge Roof Tent is a strong, lightweight, and practical roof tent designed for 4x4 and overland vehicles. It combines fast setup, a spacious sleeping area, and a slim, low-profile design that is ideal for everyday driving and long-distance travel.
52 Tel: 01283 742969 Email: admin@pistonpublications.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
Mike Trott, Gary Martin, Olly Sack, Dan Fenn, Gary Noskill, Paul Looe, Mark Fraser, Kenny Tucker, Tom Alderney, Will Crotchley
Photographers
Richard Hair, Vic Peel, Harry Hamm
Advertising Sales
Colin Ashworth Tel: 01283 742969 colin.ashworth@assignment-media.co.uk
Subscriptions Agency
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Alan Kidd Email: editorial@pistonpublications.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 Piston Publications accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions nor the consequences of actions made as a result of these. When responding to any advert in 4x4, you should make appropriate enquiries before sending money or entering into a contract. The publishers take reasonable care to ensure advertisers’ probity, but will not be liable for loss or damage incurred from responding to adverts Where a photo credit includes the note ‘CC BY 2.0’ or similar, the image is made available under that Creative Commons licence: details at www.creativecommons.org
Overlander 4x4 is published by Piston Publications Ltd, PO Box 8830, Burton on Trent DE14 9QW
© Piston Publications Ltd, 2026
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4x4
NEWS: NEW DEFENDER MODEL TO PROWL THE URBAN JUNGLE | PRODUCTS: BIG DISCOUNTS ON PREMIUM ROOF TENTS
40% 12 GREAT TRAILS OFF OVERLANDER
ROADBOOK Plenty of surprises in store on the North West Cambridgeshire lanes
From every corner of the globe, routes to turn your journey into the adventure of a lifetime
October 2026 £5.99
BARGAIN BEAST
Tough 90 built using cherry picked second-hand parts
LITTLE ANIMAL
Daimler Ferret – the perfect ex-military off-roader?
XJ PIONEER
A tribute to the innocent days of wheeling cheap Jeeps
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Pay quarterly by direct debit and you can get Britain’s only all-marques 4x4 magazine delivered to your door – for less than half the price on the front cover!
CONTENTS OCT 2026 4x4 Scene 4
News
A new city-slicker joins the Defender range for the new model year… and the next addition to the Range Rover family is going to be the most car-like vehicle Solihull has ever produced
12 Products
Another life-changingly top-quality roof tent with a huge chunk of money off its price, a CB radio that’s perfect for Christmas… and did you hear the one about the £1000 recovery point?
Every Month 40 Subscribe
Get Overlander 4x4 delivered for a fraction of the cover price
64 Next Month
More inspiration, more adventure, more cool 4x4s
Tested 12 KGM Musso Rhino
A pleasing case of a dashboard becoming less digital, as the Korean double-cab takes a welcome step forward in this and many other ways
Features 42 12 Great Roads
Wot, ‘roads’? Fear not, you won’t find anything about the M62 here. Some are paved, some are not, but each is an adventure in itself worth travelling around the world to savour
Vehicles 16 Jeep XJ Pioneer
Back to the heady days of huge hair as Jeep builds a gentle nod to the carefree era of plentiful Cherokees you could off-road ‘til the wheels fell off
22 Canny 90
If you want to spec up a challenge truck with top kit but the money ain’t there, here’s a man who found exactly how to do it
32 Leading from the Fronty
16
The Vauxhall Frontera was another cheap toy back in the day, but few of them were as cheap as this…
36 Ferreting about
It’s not a playday motor but the Daimler Ferret is one hell of an off-roader. And it’s got a gun
Adventure 52 ROADBOOK North-West Cambridgeshire
If you thought the green lanes on the Fens were all flat and simple, this route has plenty about it to make you think again
October 2026 I Overlander 4x4
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NEWS NEW VERTEX MODEL ADDED TO DEFENDER RANGE AS LAND ROVER CHASES URBAN SET
I
t sounds a bit like a product you might find on Amazon promising to remove black mould from your fascias and soffits, or possibly the name of a Dutch porn mag from the 1990s, but Vertex is the latest thing on Planet Defender. A full new trim level in the range, rather than a special edition, it’s price-matched to the existing X model and ‘introduces fresh exterior features to bring even more refined
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ruggedness to the iconic Defender without compromising capability.’ Available in 90, 110 and 130 form, and with a choice of petrol, diesel and, in the case of the 110, plug-in hybrid power trains, the Vertex features extended front and rear bumpers, a larger front profiled grille and revised fog lamps, all finished in matte grey. These combine with bodycoloured lower cladding and a choice of
20” and 22” wheels to make the vehicle look lower, bolder, scarier than ever when it’s 18 inches behind you on the motorway and generally more like an SUV than ever. Despite this, Land Rover is adamant that the Vertex remains the real thing. ‘A Gloss Black tail door spoiler pairs with contrasting yellow front brake calipers and matching yellow exposed rear recovery eyes to make a
of something else white that comes from South America and costs a lot of money but snow-capped mountains are high in a legal sense. Inside, the seat options include Windsor leather, Forged textile and Ultrafabrics in a range of colourways. The 130 has four-zone climate control, while the 110 and 90 have three-zone, which will come as a surprise if you’ve ever tried to get in the back of a 90 and are now wondering where the third zone is. So how much is this bad boy going to cost you? The Vertex starts at £92,635 for the 90 and climbs to £97,125 for the 110, with the 130 taking it to £104,440. That’s with the cheapest of the engines and before you start getting into it with the options list – if you want to use it for towing and off-roading, for example, budget for another five grand, and one of
statement in the working week and on weekend escapes.’ Indistinguishable from an old Lightweight in that respect, really. Talking of colours, you can get it in white, black, green, grey or grey (we’re not joking), and there’s also the option of various matte and gloss wraps – the former including Patagonia, a white covering ‘inspired by the peaks of the South American landscape.’ We can think
those wraps will add more or less the same again. Still, there’s another option called, and we think this is hilarious, an Urban Bonnet Decal, so no prizes for guessing which set of customers Land Rover are after with this model. And whatever you might think of them, they’re a set of customers who love spending money.
Unlike the Vertex, the 110 Trophy Edition is separate to Land Rover’s main Defender model line-up. Featuring extras like a roof rack, ladder and snorkel, as well as the everpopular Side Mounted Gear Carrier, it was previously available in a choice of green and yellow finishes – however the former has now been replaced by Santorini Black. Prices start at £84,345.
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NEWS
RANGE ROVER GT UNVEILED AS MOST CAR-LIKE LAND ROVER EVER
E
ighty years after Rover created the Land Rover, Land Rover is going to be building a Rover. The all-new Range Rover GT, the fifth member of the Range Rover family, has been officially revealed behind a light pastiche of a disguise, with the low, coupe-like shape of vehicle designed for the road. Land Rover describes the vehicle as ‘a new expression of the grand tourer formula, created to deliver peerless long‑haul comfort, effortless performance and signature Range Rover breadth of capability.’ It can therefore be expected to offer some element of off-tarmac ability; Range Rover boss Martin Limpert talks of ‘capabilities no conventional GT can match.’ However in an era when even the Discovery no longer has low range as standard, nobody will be expecting more than a modest, electronicsled effort at tackling gentle tracks. To be fair on the vehicle, this alone would be enough to stand out in the GT segment. And a precedent for a premium 4x4 crossover does exist, in the shape of Porsche’s Taycan Cross Turismo – an allwheel drive estate version of the company’s hugely successful electric executive car. Like the Taycan, the Range Rover GT will launch as a fully electric vehicle. However in an apparent roll-back from the move away from fossil fuels, Land Rover also intends to add hybrid options in later model years. This in spite of it being the first vehi-
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cle developed on JLR’s new EMA platform – which it will share with the first models in Jaguar’s controversial rebirth as a luxury EV maker. The first of these, the Type 01, is expected to start at around £120,000 when it goes on sale, which might be taken as a pointer towards the new Rangey’s position in the market. Certainly, luxury is very much to the fore in the GT, whose interior has also been revealed – as an almost zen-like environment which is gently reminiscent of the Velar’s but goes further still in its minimalism. A new single-screen layout in the centre of the facia is paired with a smaller dash-top display, almost in the heads-up position, which takes the place of a traditional instrument panel, while a full-width air-con vent runs from door to door. Rather than leather or plastic, the whole structure is wrapped in a woven textile finish. In Land Rover’s words, ‘the interior of Range Rover GT is shaped by the same reductive principles that define its exterior proportions: purity, precision and quiet modernity. Every element has been considered to create a sanctuary of calm, with a focus on reduced visual and acoustic noise and
natural conversational access to more vehicle functions than ever before.’ Just like a Series III, then. ‘The Range Rover GT will redefine the grand‑touring segment with the ability to deliver beautiful and engaging GT poise, proportions and long‑distance refinement while offering capabilities no conventional GT can match,’ continued Limpert. ‘We have spent the last few years working obsessively on the fundamentals of the GT formula, reinterpreted in a sophisticated, uniquely Range Rover way. The result is the most car‑like, yet unmistakably capable, Range Rover ever created. Its blend of effortless EV performance, first‑class long‑haul refinement and all‑terrain capability is pure Range Rover; while its calming interior previews our vision of a modern grand tourer.’ A real Range Rover, or a real Rover? Time will tell – but, hard as it may be to believe, it is real either way.
Effortless Steering Series 2 Non-depth Adjustable Steering Wheel - Nut Type DA5590 Right hand drive DA5590LHD Left hand drive
DA5590LHD
Series 2 Depth Adjustable Steering Wheel - Clamp Type DA5591 Right hand drive DA5592 Left hand drive Series 3 DA5593 DA5593LHD
Right hand drive Left hand drive
EZ Electric Power Steering kits are designed specifically for each vehicle make and model. The system is completely hidden beneath the dashboard, while the existing steering rack or box remains unchanged, retaining the vehicle’s standard steering ratio and adjustment. Its speed-sensitive operation provides light steering assistance at low speeds and reduced assistance at higher speeds. Unlike a hydraulic pump, which operates continuously while the engine is running, the electric motor uses power only when steering assistance is required and works without making any noise. As one of the few manufacturers of power steering systems to have previously obtained TÜV certification for both the company and its products, EZ Electric Power Steering continues to place quality and safety at the heart of its approach.
Series Power Steering Kits
EZ Electric Power Steering supplies a new upper steering column with built-in 12V electric power assistance. As the vehicle has a one-piece steering column, only the section beneath the dashboard is replaced. A specially designed adapter securely connects the new unit to the original steering column. A one-piece steering column means the steering shaft is made from a single section and connects directly to the steering box. Where applicable, the kit also includes a potentiometer, allowing the level of steering assistance to be adjusted to suit the driver’s preference. DA5590
DA5593
britpart.com Find your nearest stockist - britpart.com/stockist Part numbers used for identification purposes only and do not imply or indicate the identity of a manufacturer. Products available from a Britpart stockist. E&OE.
DA5592
NEWS
UNIQUE DEFENDERS ON DISPLAY AS HUNTERS PRESTIGE SHOW ONE-OFF OCTA CONVERSIONS
T
he Great British Land Rover Show, which takes place three times a year at Stoneleigh, Newark and Bath and West, has for a long time been a melting pot for every kind of Landy – from classics to comp safari, from off-road to overland. And it has also witnessed the rise and rise of the lifestyle Land Rover – as illustrated to perfection by the new-shape Defenders exhibited at this summer’s Newark event by Hunters Prestige. ‘Our “Blue’tiful” wrapped Defender Octa features some subtle exterior enhancements,” says the company. “But it’s what’s going on inside that makes this one particularly interesting.’ And what would that be? Well, it’s a van. An Octa van. That got your accountant’s attention, didn’t it? ‘This is the first Octa Commercial Van to be fully converted,’ they continue. ‘It has a factory-style finish, including a bespoke bulkhead and flat load floor.
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‘From the outside, you’d have absolutely no idea it started life as a van. And once you step inside, you’d be hard-pressed to believe it wasn’t built this way straight from the factory. ‘This truly unique Octa build showcases how far we can take a Defender and was the perfect vehicle to show off at the Great British Land Rover Show in Newark.’ Also on the Hunters stand at Newark was another Defender, this one wrapped in Citrus Fury. Like the Octa, it was originally built as a Commercial – but while it’s
not unusual to see 4x4s and SUVs being converted into vans, this one has gone in the opposite direction. ‘We’ve converted it into a full passenger vehicle,’ says Hunters, ‘retrofitting the rear seats from an Octa and removing all evidence of its previous life as a van. The goal was to make the conversion as close to a factory finish as possible, and we think the result speaks for itself. ‘But that’s not all. We also used this Defender to launch two of our latest seat retrofits, bringing the Massage Seats and Body and Soul Seats from the Octa into standard Defender models. These are exclusive retrofit options now available through Hunters.’ To finish it off, the company gave the Defender a head-to-toe kit-out with Hunters Accessories, including its own-brand gloss black exterior upgrades. ‘The contrast against the Citrus Fury wrap really makes the colour pop and gives the whole build an even more aggressive look,’ they comment, and you can see the results for yourself in the pictures here. ‘This was our second time exhibiting at the Great British Land Rover Show, having previously joined in Bath, and we’ve absolutely loved being part of it again,’ comments Hunters. ‘It’s been great having so many people come over to the stand, ask questions and take a closer look at the builds. A lot of visitors have been genuinely amazed by the lengths we’ve gone to with these Defenders and the level of detail that goes into making them what they are. ‘It’s always great to meet fellow Defender enthusiasts, share what we do and, of course, hear what everyone thinks of the builds. This definitely won’t be the last time you see Hunters at The Great British Land Rover Show — it’s a fantastic day out for any Land Rover enthusiast!’
PRODUCTS KS International points in the right direction with AVM recovery eyes £45 plus VAT | www.ks-international.com WHENEVER SOMEONE NEW TO THE
worst that’ll happen there is that you’ll strug-
OFF-ROAD GAME ASKS WHAT THEY NEED
gle for grip: if you’re stuck without a recovery
TO DO TO PREPARE THEIR VEHICLE, and
point, on the other hand, you’re really stuck.
everyone starts banging on about clever
Happily, recovery points cost less than
suspension, tyres, winches and so on, sooner
tyres. Less than most things, in fact. Take
or later some wise old owl will pipe up with
these AVM units, for example, which are
that classic old pearl of wisdom: ‘Four wheels
rated to 9000lb and will stand up to a
and a towing point at each end.’ Or words to
10,000lb line pull. We’ve just spotted one
that effect.
on eBay for… oh, £1000.
The point is that whatever else you do offroad, you’ll get stuck. And the other point is
(Pause to let laughter subside. It’s true, though, we really did.)
that if you’ve not got the basics right, anything
Happily, you don’t need to be the guy
else will be a waste. Oh, and yet another point:
who spent over the odds by 1850%. Because
start small. Get out and do it with the bare
KS International are here, and they sell the
be
minimum of essentials and you’ll soon learn
same part for the sort of price that makes
used on
what more you need.
getting stuck an inconvenience at worst.
more or less
And towing points are that bare minimum
Designed to bolt to your vehicle’s frame, the
anything with four wheels and enough metal
of essentials. Even more so than tyres. The
PA-01 recovery points are universal and can
to qualify as a car.
Another big discount on a top quality tent from APB Trading
£3441.59 inc VAT | www.expedition-equipment.com WE TOLD YOU LAST MONTH about the 15% discount currently being offered on a range of items by APB Trading, and that it includes various roof tents. The one we featured was the Eezi-Awn Xclusiv 1.8, which is a premium product at a premium price – meaning, of course, that 15% off equals a saving of several hundred pounds. So no apologies for showing you another one here, and this time the saving is even bigger. That’s because the Eezi-Awn Stealth hardshell tent normally retails at £4048.92 – which, to save you doing the sums, comes down to just £3441.59 with the discount applied. Promising the highest standards of quality, the tent is designed and manufactured in Eezi-Awn’s own facility in South Africa. ‘What make the Stealth so unique worldwide is the patented scis-
• Multiple mounting choices using roof bars, roof racks and Bushtech canopies • Integrated awning at rear entrance
sor mechanism that raises the front end of the tent automatically by
• Zip-up privacy panels / mosquito nets on all doors and windows
300mm, giving more leg room and creating a spacious sleeping area,’
• Large storage pocket on each side
says the company. ‘Gas struts open up the tent in seconds. Just open
• Internal LED lighting
the four stainless steel locks, give it a push and get in…’
• USB ports and full wiring kit
Features include:
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The tent measures 1450mm x 2200 x 300mm and weighs in at
• Aluminium construction
just 90kg including the ladder. It’s still a pretty penny, even with the
• Built in high-density foam mattress
15% discount – but we all know about the ‘spend it once, spend it
• 280gsm rip-stop canvas sides
right’ thing and plenty of people have done exactly the opposite and
• Heavy duty YKK zippers
emerged sadder and wiser. If you’re serious about your overlanding,
• 230cm access ladder
this is an investment and a bargain wrapped up in one.
www.overlander4x4.co.uk
£109.00 T-X hand-held CB is Thunderpole’s most versatile radio ever – and the perfect answer to your Christmas list dilemma… Price: £109.99 plus VAT | From: thunderpole.co.uk CHRISTMAS IS COMING. Sorry, but it is. Whamageddon is but weeks away even as you read this. Still, at least CB specialist Thunderpole has the ideal present for you to ask for in the shape of the T-X CB 27 MHz AM/FM Handheld Transceiver. A next-generation portable unit, this offers NRC noise reduction technology, a high capacity li-ion battery, USB charging, frequency display and much more. Further features include FM/AM operation, four display layouts, nightlight buttons, a BNC
Free UK Delivery on orders over £15.00 + VAT
antenna, a two-pin (Kenwood) accessory socket, a dedicated band button, multiband operation with access to all European frequencies, auto-squelch, high and low power operation, VOX, Roger beep and dual watch. It measures in at 70 (W) x 154 (H) x 42 (D) mm and weighs just 356g including battery and antenna. ‘This is our most versatile CB radio ever and has accessories
RLG Tyres
for hand-held, mobile (in a vehicle) or even base station use,’ says
4x4 Magazine_2023_September_PS Autoparts_QP.indd 1 Thunderpole. ‘Simply add the BNC Male-SO239 Adaptor to attach any
18/08/2023 15:28
Tyres cheap. Not cheap tyres!!
external antenna. So that’s your Christmas sorted. Unless you’ve got two people
OFFICIAL STOCKIST
wanting to buy you something – in which case for a few quid more, the T-X CB Adventure Pack is waiting to turn it into a base station for your vehicle.
Statement look as Lazer Lamps’ Glide roof pod for Ranger and Amarok gains position lamp option £1368 inc VAT | www.lazerlamps.com LATE LAST YEAR, Lazer Lamps introduced a new roof pod for the current Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok. This went down well but feedback from its customers said it could have gone down better. ‘If you’re investing in a statement look upgrade,’ they said, ‘you want to be
Main supplier of and all major 4x4 tyres
able to show it off all the time with a position light.’ The company has obliged and so now you can get exactly that. The pod has an OE look,
Groundcare • Car • ATV • Tubes • Mobile Tyre Fitting Puncture Equipment & Repairs • Four Wheel Alignment
the lamps put out 23,000 raw lu-
Durrants Farm, Rushlake Green, Heathfield, East Sussex TN21 9QB
mens, you can install it without drilling your roof – and it all comes with a 5-year warranty.
Workshop: 01435 830664 Mobile: 07710 372672 Email: chris@rlgtyres.co.uk
www.rlgtyres.co.uk
October 2026 I Overlander 4x4
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11/01/2023 17:23
KGM MUSSO RHINO
T
he name on the badge has changed, and these days it’s a KGM rather than a SsangYong. But since the big rebrand the Musso has still been the Musso. Changes, however, are afoot. At the start of its press release for the new Rhino and Rhino+ models, the manufacturer calls itself ‘KGM Motors UK, formerly SsangYong,’ so it’s fair to assume that two and a bit years on, the big rebrand it still ongoing. And so it goes with the Musso, too, as the Rhino’s arrival is the first part of a step-by-step launch which will see the existing model, sold in the UK since 2018, replaced by an all new one. For now, the Rhino is at the top of a range also including the old model in Rebel and Saracen form. They’ll fade away in time – once stocks have dried up, we’d assume – taking their old SsangYong-era
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styling language with them and leaving the newcomer with the market all to itself. We’ll see after that whether it’s going to gains further trim levels to compensate – but KGM’s strategy with its most recent launches has been to keep it very tight in this area, so don’t hold your breath. What’s with the Rhino and Rhino+ thing, then? The latter is the same vehicle but with a longer bed – 1610mm as opposed to 1300mm. Capacities are 1011 litres and 1262 litres respectively, while the Rhino+ takes the truck’s payload up from 1090kg to 1200kg; both will tow 3500kg, giving them GTWs of 6750kg and 6900kg, the latter putting the Rhino+ on top of the one-tonne pick-up market for towing and carrying combined. That’s been a long-held boast for the Musso, as has its warranty – which, at 60 months or 100,000 miles, can be taken as
a vote of confidence in itself. Last thing you want from a truck is excuses, after all.
Hollow laughter
As an aside, kind of on that subject, you won’t have to look far to find someone who’ll laugh at the Musso. ‘Is that one of those SangSong things?’ is the common hilarious comment, often from a man (it’s always a man) in a truck that’s infamous for catastrophic engine failures, catastrophic chassis failures or being recalled over catastrophic premature rusting. Selfawareness is not these people’s strong
side of an operating theatre and frequently leave you pop-eyed and seething with anger, we’d gently suggest that this makes a bigger contribution to road safety than all the stupid warning sounds The Man can think up ever will.
A cold blow point. It’s notable, anyway, that the Musso hasn’t developed a reputation for anything like this; lack of numbers is on its side here, of course, but we asked Google and the best it could give us was EGR and DPF trouble in vehicles that stay mainly in town. So, like every single diesel since emissions became a thing, then. Anyway. We’ve seen in other SsangYongs (as in, from pre-KGM) that their paint and cabin materials haven’t resisted ageing as well as most manufacturers’. Time is marching on, though, and the company is moving away from the el cheapo market position it used to trade on. The previous Musso was a huge step up from the one before it and here we are with a truck that starts at £38,995 plus VAT. It needs to be good to be worth that – so, now that we’ve had a few hours behind the wheel, is it? First impressions are promising. Sadly, these days every journey in a new vehicle
starts with the rigmarole of switching off all the stupid bongs and peeps and farts and lulus that pass for road safety in the dystopian hell we’re being governed into; making it as easy as possible to do so is now a serious part of designing a car that’s usable at all, and in the Musso it’s mercifully straightforward as one swipe on the media screen takes you to the relevant controls. Said screen is a big, bold dash-top affair linked to an infotainment system that runs Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay. Without having had the chance to get to grips with it, we’d say it appears to be an improvement over others we’ve experienced from the same source. Something we like is that they’ve reintroduced proper dials and buttons for the climate control. Given that the kind which appear on screen tend to demand every ounce of your attention, patience and self-control, require the steadiest hand this
So that’s jolly good and so is the general ambience in the cabin with the climate control blowing away (the launch event was on one of those days when it’s so hot you can hear it, so it wasn’t half working for its living). You’re sat in nice leather seats and they can be blowing away too if you want them to (or heated, the rest of the year, as are those in the back), and there’s plenty of room to get yourself comfortably ensconced. Tall drivers don’t have to do so at the expense of whoever’s sitting behind them, either – to be fair, that’s nothing new for the Musso, which has been one of the most spacious trucks on the market since the previous model came out. That Musso was also the most SUV-like on the market, and as the SUV it was like was the massively underrated Rexton that was a particularly good thing. This one is a bit more conservative but it’s still very pleasing and don’t come across as being overly utilitarian. It’s functional, too, with plenty of places for your stuff.
September 2026 I Overlander 4x4
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Talking of stuff, there was some of it in the back of the pick-up bed when we drove the vehicle, in the shape of some bags of sand to help damp out the rear suspension. KGM weren’t hiding this, so fair enough, and it wasn’t a huge amount – maybe 50kg, at a guess. How was it reflected in the truck’s ride? Haven’t a clue. Logic says it would be less jittery at the back but having driven the previous model on a 900-mile road trip a few years ago we weren’t expecting it to be that way at all anyway, and there was precious little sign of fussing on KGM’s test route. This didn’t include any dodgy back lanes or smashed-up urban roads, however – though we did take a detour through a town centre and emerged with all our fillings intact, so that was good.
Torque and twist
The Musso’s power still comes from a 2.2-litre turbo-diesel (there’s an EV available now, but that’s a story for another day) which gives it 202bhp and 295lbf.ft, the latter from 1400rpm. So it pulls well and there’s not a lot of point in revving it, which is good because it does fine without it and also because when you do, it gets kind of loud. That’s kind of like saying there’s no
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point punching yourself in the face because you’re doing fine without it and when you do, it hurts – but there’ll always be the kind of person who gets their knickers in a twist over anything that was made for a purpose other than going fast and however much they might beat their little fists about it, don’t listen. It’s fine and, with a load of weight in the back or on a trailer, it’s still fine. It’s fine off-road, too. More than, actually, as we learned on a course that was surprisingly testing. The vehicle we drove here was fitted with non-standard tyres, which could have helped – however the ground was absolutely dry and hard as concrete, so if anything they would have been a disadvantage. Anyway, the course included a tight turn up a hill which, if you cut it, would twist the truck into a wheels-up cross-axle. So don’t cut it, said the instructor riding shotgun. But any truck is going to look good in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing (or is doing what they’re told), so we did what we do and turned early. There’s never been a rear locker on one of these so of course we stopped and the wheels started spinning… but then the electronics started working out what was happening, we started getting flickers of traction and with a
little sawing at the wheel to find the best of it, we got moving again. It was impressive; we’d always choose a locker we could control but in the absence of that it did feel as if the truck was giving it its best shot. And, proof of the pudding, despite us taking the worst line available we made it up. Manoeuvrability is generally good and the engine pulls steadily both in high and low range. The gearbox will stay in first to get you down a steep one if you ask it to, too; there’s hill descent control, of course, and that can do the same thing, but anything with a two-speed transfer box shouldn’t need it. Even by this brief experience, the Musso is a capable all-rounder with a great deal going for it. The problem is that the previous one was exactly that too – and this time they’re not trying to sell it on price. The truck we tested here only lists at £400 less than the Isuzu D-Max in range-topping V-Cross form, and that’s a mighty tough nut to crack. With the Mitsubishi L200 back in the game, too, the competition from established pickup brands is getting tougher. Still, tough jobs are what these trucks were made for. The Musso’s first is, quite simply, to stop being seen as a left-field choice and muscle in on the mainstream.
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Jeep celebrates the return of the Cherokee name for 2026 with a mildly modified throwback to the great days of the legend that was the XJ Words Tom Alderney Pictures Jeep
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f you’re old enough to remember the era when, almost overnight, 4x4s went from being what farmers drove to what everybody drove, you’ll know that the Jeep Cherokee XJ was a icon of that time. There were others too – the Shogun, the Frontera, the Vitara and of course the Discovery – but few of them could match the Cherokee. With no-nonsense two-box box styling, generous equipment and a manic 4.0-litre straight six engine, it was what you’d been waiting for even if you hadn’t been waiting for it. Back then, Volvo executives in the UK lamented the arrival of the 4x4 blitz and pointed specifically to the Cherokee as the reason its command of the Big Tank market had evaporated. In the 1980s, you wanted to drive a hot hatch but if you had kids, you were stuck in something unspeakable like a Sierra or Cavalier. Mercs and Beemers were far more unattainable than they are now, so the Volvo 760 offered a way out. For a bit more money, you could have something luxurious, huge and brutally imposing. It was a statement and a threat, it became synonymous with tailgating… but, and here’s the thing, it wasn’t cool. Volvo Guy was better off than you, he was more powerful than you, you got out of the way when he came for you… but you still didn’t respect him. His kids were safe and sound in their big tank but you didn’t want to be them. Their dad may have had a better job than yours, but he was a tosser.
Trick truck
Then the Cherokee came along. It was bigger, faster, more luxurious… and it had this amazing trick. It could go off-road. Wild, mud-flying, nose-pointing at the sky, wheels hanging in the air off-road. It looked amazing. Volvo Dad used his big tank to tailgate Fiestas on the way to the golf club: Jeep Dad used his for taking his kids on adventures. They were having a ball and hell yes, you did want to be them. In fact, Volvo Guy’s kids wanted to be them too. Their dad was stiff: Jeep Guy’s dad was cool. So the gently wealthy end of the generation Wham! were on about when they sang ‘listen mister average, you’re a jerk’ DID listen. They traded their big angry estates for a bigger but cheerful off-road wagon, they cast off their power suits and chintzy leisurewear and they traded their golf clubs for muddy boots and treasured fireside memories with their adoring families.
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Much of this sounds like a marketing man’s wet dream and it is of course largely nonsense. But cars sell on image and the image is a strong one – and what’s certainly not nonsense is that the Cherokee sold in absolute bundles. Something else that’s definitely not nonsense is that a decade or so years later, the world’s off-roaders descended on those bundles like a swarm of locusts and, for a few glorious years, the XJ was a massively popular way of having cheap fun at playdays and on green lanes. There were lots of options for modifying them but with low range and two real axles, they’d do amazing things on just a set of tyres. The icon had become a legend. Thanks to all that off-road use and abuse, of course, the legend then became a memory. You hardly ever see an XJ on the road now (or indeed off-road). Those
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that have survived in good nick now attract classic car money.
Memory trip
So Jeep’s XJ Pioneer Concept, unveiled at this year’s Easter Safari in Moab, is a real trip down memory lane. The XJ’s shape alone might take you back, and seeing it being jacked up for off-road action is apt to make many people wax nostalgic for the good old days. Those days seemed to have come to an end for good when the fifth-generation Cherokee (the one with the squinty eyes that we got here for a while) was discontinued in 2023 and Jeep stopped using the name. This came in the wake of comments from the company’s big boss saying it was open to no longer using Native American references to sell its products, after the head of the Cherokee Nation had called for
corporations and sports teams to move away from the practice. More recently, it come out that after a series of discussions, Jeep had reached an accord with the Cherokee Nation over the use of its name. The result is that it has been brought back; the Grand Cherokee still exists, of course, and a new sixth-generation Cherokee has recently been launched in North America. And what better excuse could you want for a nostalgia trip? The Pioneer Concept is based on not just any old XJ but a first‑year example from 1984. A two-door, no less. In Jeep’s own words, it ‘blends authentic history with a thoughtful, enthusiast‑driven, resto‑mod approach designed to resonate with the millions who lived with and loved the XJ throughout its 17‑year production run.’ We’re among those millions and it does, so there you go. The Pioneer is quite modestly modified. Our old XJ had a 3” lift and 31” tyres (later
we put it on an 8” lift and 33” tyres, creating a barely drivable monster in the process, but that’s another story), however Jeep’s has only 2” on its suspension which ‘enhances stance and trail capability.’ A sway bay quick-disconnect aids this by allowing that suspension to flex and the axle to travel the way a proper one can.
Going up
On the ends of the axles, custom 17” wheels are wrapped in 33” BFGoodrich all-terrain tyres. So that’s less lift but more rubber than our old one. How? Because there’s a virtual lift going on as well, that’s how. Jeep speaks of ‘reshaped wheel openings for improved clearance,’ which is a fancy way of saying they’ve been at it with the sabre saw, and the arches are finished with custom flares. This is made much easier by the fact that the donor vehicle is a two-door – we didn’t get those in the UK but looking at the pictures, you can imagine how much more of a job
it would be to extend the rear arches into a pair of door apertures. Tidying up the voids above the wheels, custom carbon flares sound just a tiny bit extra to us on what is, after all, a truck from the early Reagan years. But they look good so what do we know. Between them are structural rock rails – a worthwhile addition because the XJ’s sills were always a vulnerable part of its body (which, lest we forget, used a monocoque design rather than the body-on-frame approach that was near-universal at the time). Inside, Jeep has kept the vehicle as it should be – true to the classic XJ and ‘keeping its original character and simplicity intact.’ It was a great thing to be in and at the time it made you feel like the king of the road but in retrospect it wasn’t half plasticky and the controls made some proper clacky noises. Lovely. Anyway, Jeep being Jeep, the team in the company’s custom car skunkworks
added (and we’re quoting here), ‘a series of fun, hidden (and not‑so‑hidden) details that nod to the era of cassette tapes, big hair and stone‑washed denim, including a custom cooler and era-specific ergonomic seat enhancements.’ You can see some of these in the picture: we’re not sure about the Super Mom key fob (she looks a bit like Rab C Nesbitt crossed with Citizen Smith) but the beaded seat mats will make many of you shudder. As for the Rubik’s Cube… well, as those of you with kids of the right age will know, those have made a comeback in the last few years. And now so too has the Cherokee, even if the vehicle it applies to is more of a soft-roader these days. We’ll always have fond memories of our rough, rugged, willing old XJ – and if like us, you’ve got an early Cherokee in your off-roading past, the Pioneer concept is sure to make you reminisce, perhaps a little wistfully, about great days long gone.
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SECOND HELPINGS Speccing a vehicle for hardcore winch challenges is not a cheap task. But when you know how to find treasure in other people’s cast-offs, giving them a second chance at life can yield a truck that’s much more than the sum of its parts. And what parts they can be… Words Paul Looe Pictures Harry Hamm
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his truck has travelled thousands of miles around the world and taken part in many big competitions,’ says Paul Mellor. ‘But it’s never left Derbyshire.’ He’s talking about his Land Rover, a 90 truck-cab that bears all the scars of a life in the challenge arena. Over the course of about a year and a half, he turned it from a wreck into a masterpiece of second-hand shopping, DIY and making do. ‘More or less everything you see is someone else’s cast-offs,’ he continues. ‘There’s bits that have been to Croatia and Russia – some of the winch bits have even been to the USA. Many of the parts have done the Scotia Extreme, Howling Wolf and so on. I regularly trawl the forums and eBay, as well as knowing a few people who are into which challenging on a grand scale. When they bought the latest craze, I bought the bits they didn’t want any more.’ Ironically, the 90 was already complete when Paul bought it. Complete, at least, in the way your life is when you get to the end of it. ‘The truck was destined for the crusher,’ he says. ‘The chassis came from a rebuild project. It had been replaced with a galvanised chassis and bulkhead. So I bought the remains, which were the chassis, bulkhead, roof and tub. The rest of it I collected and built as we went along.
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Far left: Part of a full +5.5” Gwyn Lewis dislocating suspension set-up, the front springs lift the vehicle by 2”. Paul describes them as ‘very well run in – nice and soft!’ The shocks are Pro-Comp units all round, chosen simply to keep on top of the costs Above: 6-degree Qt radius arms look after the front axle, correcting the castor angle on the steering as they go. The bushes holding them to the chassis are standard – Paul says he likes the way they flex Left: Front shocks mount into a pair of Gwyn Lewis galvanised towers. Look very carefully and you can just about see the built-in guide that helps the spring relocate after dropping out on full articulation Below far left: Nothing fancy at the back – just the standard A-frame and trailing links. Again, the bushes are standard all round Bottom far left: The trailing links themselves are Gwyn Lewis’ famously strong twinwall units which, as well as coming with a ‘break it and we’ll replace it’ guarantee are cranked at the chassis end to improve articulation Left: More of the good stuff from Gwyn Lewis – relocators catch the last coil of the spring on full droop then guide it back on to its seat, and challenge rear shock mounts are designed to take units such as Paul’s Pro-Comps with 11” of travel
Left: The front axle is from a late Discovery 300 Tdi. Beneath the case, standard Land Rover halfshafts are turned by a four-pin unit from Crown Diffs Right: The rear axle is a late 110 unit fitted with a 4-pin diff and heavy-duty shafts as standard. Those brakes were made to stop more weight than even a 90 with this much metal around it will put through them, too 24
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When Paul bought the 90, there was a naturally aspirated 2.5 turbo in here. For a man who likes a bit of loud pedal, it might have been a little mouse in a spinning wheel. Probably the only thing the old engine ever did fast in its life was get craned out, to be replaced by a 300 Tdi from a 1996 Discovery. Paul fitted a second alternator from a JCB to over-volt the winches to 24v, as well as relocating the intercooler – something made necessary when he shortened the front overhang ‘I know the truck started life in the fire brigade then went on to a farm in Wales. It had only done 60,000 miles before it got the chop.’ It had still only done 60,000 miles when it nearly got the chop again – and but for a twist of fate, and a loose word or two, it might never have turned a wheel again.
From the beginning
‘The truck was always an all-out off-roader,’ Paul explains. ‘I’ve had challenge motors
before but always had issues with them. So with this one, I decided to start from the chassis up and make sure I did everything as I wanted it.’ That’ll be a man in pursuit of perfection, then. And we all know where that can lead. ‘I threw a paddy on two occasions,’ Paul admits. ‘First time, we had built a trayback. I was in the unit alone when I decided it looked pants – so I cut it up and scrapped it there and then. The second time was when
I just decided to sell it mid-build. An oldish, obnoxious fellow came to look at it and said “typical youngster trying to build something that’s impossible.” I politely asked him to leave – but that was what gave me the determination to finish the build!’ The seeds were sown for Paul’s level of off-road ambition back when he was a kid. He’s not one for sticking with the simple things, either behind the wheel or in the workshop. ‘My dad was my introduction to
You don’t often see a 90 built like this that doesn’t have some sort of heavy-duty steering upgrade, and Paul’s follows the trend with a drag link from Sumo Bars
Behind the axle, the track rod is another offering from Sumo Bars. It’s not going to get bent for two very good reasons. One, it’s a Sumo Bar (do pay attention); two, that there’s a Gwyn Lewis track rod guard October 2026 I Overlander 4x4
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Above: It’s been a long time since a fairly standard Warn 8274 was seen as the thing to have on a challenge truck. But with Paul’s real-world approach to speccing his motor, it’s no surprise that that’s what you’re looking at here. With a Bowmotor 2, reduced diameter drum and Gigglepin brake shoes, bearings, bushes and seals, there are plenty of worthwhile upgrades on there even so; in addition, the 12-volt motor is over-volted, running 24v through Albright solenoids Below: The rear winch tucked away beneath the waffle boards at the back of the tub is another Warn 8274, built along the same lines as the one at the front but running a Bowmotor 1 rather than the bigger Bow 2. Power comes from two Optimas and a 24-volt JCB alternator, while the strain is taken by 12-strand Plasma. The centre winch at the top of the picture is a 9000lb Come-Up which runs standard but for the
Above: Paul built, bent and welded the cage himself, mounting it to the chassis on spreader plates. At first glance, you find yourself assuming that the truck is a trayback, but actually it’s a full truck-cab; Paul says the cage was designed to be a tight fit and, though it’s not entirely conventional, it’s hard to imagine a vehicle with more exterior protection Below left: Fabrication is no problem for Paul, who made up these rock sliders and tree bars to replace the flimsy standard sills. Finishing it off, he cut out a set of chequer plate panels and riveted them to the doors and lower body Below right: Paul fabricated the challenge style wings and tubular front end himself, bending them up along with the cage on a Sealey bender. He wanted it to look ‘a little bit mean’ – we think there might be a touch of understatement there…
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off-roading, back in the 90s when I was a young lad,’ he says. ‘Dad, my uncle Mark and I would go CCV trailing in his SJ410. Soon this was modified with a Suzuki Swift engine… onwards and upwards, we ended up with a 3.5 V8 Class 1 buggy! Dad won the Buxton and District Club championship four times on the bounce. ‘I did try my hand at CCV to start with. But soon I got sucked into winching, and now here I am today!’ So, we have a man with a vision of his ideal challenge truck and the drive to see the
project through. A good combination. And what did that vision involve? After all, when you’re starting with just a bare chassis the world is pretty much your oyster.
the dumb irons up front and tied the main rails together using a Gwyn Lewis winch tray, while at the back he trusted the same job to a challenge style rear crossmember.
‘An oldish, obnoxious fellow came to look at it and said “typical youngster trying to build something that’s impossible.” I politely asked him to leave – but that was what gave me the determination to finish the build!’ Well, the chassis was in very good nick, so Paul didn’t have to start by repairing it. He did, however, still need to show it the hot end of his welding kit. That’s because his plan involved shortening it by 6” at the front and 8” at the back. He put his grinder through
You’ll have sussed from this that Paul’s not scared of rolling up his sleeves and doing a bit of fabrication. If you haven’t, take a look at the roll structure and you’ll certainly get the idea. He made the whole thing himself, using a Sealey tube bender
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Left: Both propshafts are standard length wide-angle units from Bailey Morris. As you can see here, the rear one is clamped by an X-Brake disc handbrake Right: It looks like a Simex, it’s got the carcass from a truck tyre and even though it says it’s 35” tall, when you put a tape measure on it it’s actually 36.5”. Is it any wonder the Fedima Sirocco became one of the go-to choices for hardcore off-roaders working to a budget? and bolting it through a set of spreader plates to the chassis.
Right and tight
‘The cage was designed to be a tight fit and to make the truck look that little bit mean!’ says Paul. It was also designed to include challenge style tubular front wings and protect as much else of the body as possible, and when it comes to strength it’ll stay up through anything short of a tank driving over it. The body it protects is made up from a bobtailed 90 tub, Series II Land Rover doors
and a Defender bulkhead, windscreen, roof and back panel. Paul cut out and tubbed the wheelarches to prevent his Fedima Siroccos from fouling them when the suspension flexes and shortened a Defender bonnet to go with the tubular wings. The flimsy little sill panels made way for a set of box-section rock sliders and tubular nerf bars, and then he added ‘some nice chequer plate to finish it all off.’ Turning into quite the concoction already, isn’t it? Well, there’s more to come. Those Siroccos are turned by a 300 Tdi Discovery engine, which replaced the naturally
aspirated 2.5 diesel with which the chassis started its life. Paul cheerfully admits that he likes a bit of the loud pedal in his off-roading, and the Tdi breathes through a cone filter on top of a mid-height snorkel – ‘making it quite lively,’ he reports. One issue with the shortened overhang is that with the radiator still being frontmounted, there’s no room for an intercooler in front of it. Paul found a space for it to sit horizontally in the top of the engine bay, much in the style of a lot of Japanese 4x4s, and it’s fed through a bank of air holes he cut in what’s left of the bonnet. Behind the engine, a heavy-duty clutch leads to a standard LT77 short gearbox and LT230 Defender transfer case. Paul fitted an X-Eng disc handbrake and full breather kit, as well as wide-angle props from Bailey Morris – which lead to late Disco and 110 axles front and rear. This is one area in which the policy of buying other people’s cast-offs hadn’t yet turned up the goods by the time we caught up with Paul. Both axles were running 4-pin diffs, and the 110 unit has heavy-duty shafts as standard, but what Paul really wanted was a set of lockers and proper uprated shafts and CVs. ‘These are the one part people never seem to let go!’ he laments. ‘With a girlfriend and a house, someone will have to want to give them to me. But I will eventually get some – even if I have to fit Toyota Land Cruiser 80 axles to do it!’
Pre-loved parts
As it his, Paul’s willingness to base his build around things other people have moved on from had already yielded a full Gwyn Lewis
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+5.5” dislocating challenge suspension system, as well as 6-degree Qt radius arms and 11” Pro-Comp shocks. Doesn’t matter what you fit it on, that little lot will always go together to let your axles flex very nicely indeed. There’s a Gwyn Lewis track rod guard up front, too, though since the rod itself, like the drag link ahead of it, are from Sumo Bars, it would take something pretty brutal for it to make an actual difference.
Not that the brutal side of the off-road game is anything Paul shies away from. He wouldn’t need to – with a dozen different Land Rovers of various shapes and sizes already having been in and out of his possession, and this one being the culmination of everything he tried off-road during the course that time, he didn’t exactly build it for pussyfooting around. As well as competing in winch events, where two Warn 8274s and a centre-mounted 9000lb Come-Up are what he calls ‘the power behind the truck,’ Paul built the truck for
winch challenging with a tight-knit group of friends who spend as much time together wrist-deep in grease as they do knee-deep in mud. That could in the main be a description for the winching world as a whole, to be fair – and the people at the top end of that sport would no doubt be pleased to know that their cast-offs had gone into a project like this. Without them, Paul’s 90 would never have existed, at least not in anything like this form. And of course without him, it would be nothing more than a memory, long since consigned to the tender mercies of the crusher. Whenever there’s a perfectly good chassis set for scrap, there should be someone like him ready to step in and turn it into a motor to be proud of.
Paul made the dash himself, using digger switchgear harvested from the family plant hire business. The wiring loom was built by a friend and is as basic as possible; waterproofing for the electrics comes from ‘a tin of WD40 every event’
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PICTURE
THIS A few photos of a green laning trip were all it took to get Pete King into off-roading. The result wasn’t car porn but it was a perfect picture of how to do it well on a budget Words and Pictures Dan Fenn
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verything looks more fun when you see someone else doing it. Some of you may have learned about this at an early age when viewing a certain other kind of magazine. You could put it down to fear of missing out but, even if it’s something you already do, for some reason when you see what other people have been up to you want to do it more. Pete King, for example, took a look through his mate’s green laning pics and wanted a piece of the action. His friend had been out doing it in a standard Hi-Lux Surf and given its back end a bit of a whack in the process, so between them they decided to buy a very cheap 4x4 and run it as a pure toy. Now, this was at a time when, as very cheap 4x4s go, Vauxhall Fronteras were pretty much unbeatable. They were at the heart of the 4x4 boom in the early 90s, when everything still had low range and at least one proper axle, which meant there was a lot of them around, and while they did love to rust they were mechanically tough as old boots. All of which adds up to a vehicle that cost sweeties to buy but could still give you a lot of fun off-road. Cars tend to be especially cheap with no engine, too. Which was the reason why Pete was able to pick one up for £200. He then joined the Frontera Owners’ Group to pick people’s brains. It didn’t take long for him to conclude that the 2.8 TD engine was the one he should be after – though he also decided that since this was meant to be a hobby, he’d be better off buying another vehicle that had the right engine in the first place. ‘I concentrated on
doing my own modifications and starting playing, rather than spending time repairing the 2.0-litre.’ Quite right too. So now he had two Fronteras – yet he’d still only spent £600. ‘This one was on eBay as a standard, stock motor. I bought it from an independent car dealer in Ilkeston. There was evidence of a possible attempted theft, because the driver’s door lock showed signs of forced entry and I found shattered glass in the passenger’s door, but all I really know is that the seller had bought it eight months earlier in an auction with the intention of selling it on. Without doing any work on it, he decided that he didn’t have the time and listed it on eBay with a reserve price of £500.
Front suspension is lifted by what qualifies as the usual means in Frontera-modding circles – simply winding up the torsion bars
Cashing in
‘After it didn’t reach its reserve, I made contact with the seller and offered him £400 cash, which he readily accepted. That was after an online check to see if it was registered stolen or had any outstanding finance, which came back clear. So off I went to Derbyshire with a hired trailer and my brother’s borrowed Discovery, and bought the car without even viewing it. Although I broke all the rules, I was lucky because all it needed was a new exhaust system to get it roadworthy again.’ He did keep it that way – though the plan was always for it to be an off-roader. ‘Initially, I didn’t know anything about it,’ says Pete. I can even remember asking how I used fourwheel drive first time!’ As you can see, it didn’t stay that way. Ironically, after being spurred into it by his mate’s laning pics, playdays became his
The suspension is lifted by 2” at the back using heavy-duty springs and 2” homemade steel spacers bought on eBay. The +2” Pro-Comp ES9000 shocks were bought as a set of four from a guy stripping a Frontera that had been rolled, but one had been damaged in the process so Pete bought a pair of new ones to go on here
Left: A guard is just a guard, but it’s the axle behind it that’s interesting. Pete needed to fix it after smashing the diff spider cogs – but rather than doing it the traditional way, he pulled the whole lot out and replaced it with an entire Isuzu Trooper front end. ‘It was easier to replace as a complete unit rather than repair the original,’ he explains. ‘Isuzu components do have a reputation for stronger build quality, and this is certainly true of the differential spider cogs I have compared’ Centre: Whoever designed this axle case clearly wasn’t expecting the diff to get hot. They probably weren’t expecting it to get welded up, though, but that was the fate awaiting the one in here. Pete has an LSD axle from an Isuzu Trooper sitting in his garage, and one day he intends to sling it under here in place of the old Vauxhall unit – he admits that while the welded axle is brilliant off-road, it’s horrible for lowspeed manoeuvres on hard surfaces and causes very rapid rear tyre wear Right: Pete didn’t take long to learn that he was a big fan of the 2.8 TD engine. ‘It’s a mechanically solid unit based on a design that’s 35-40 years old,’ he says. ‘No ECU and associated sensors – a major plus in my book, pure mechanics all the way.’ No surprise that aside from blanking off the EGR unit and vacuum advance system, and uprating the battery to a heartier Numax unit, he’s left well alone October 2026 I Overlander 4x4
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Top left, centre: Pete made the body lift by cutting 2” sections from a length of 45mm nylotron, drilling 10mm holes through their centres on a bench drill and threading them with 160 x 10mm nuts and bolts. At the back (not shown here), 153 x 10mm fine-thread bolts were needed to match the captive nuts, but these were a problem to source; after a lot of discussion with fellow Frontera Owners Group members, Pete solved it by using matching cylinder head bolts Above right: Lifting the body made space for the front winch bumper to go on, though its mounts needed to be modified first – it was originally made by a blacksmith to go on an L200. Pete bought it for £110 on eBay then had the mounting brackets fabricated and welded for custom fit – using metal from a guy he knows who supplies RSJs for the building industry and salvaged it from the frag bin Above left: Another advantage of the 2” body lift was that it made room for a set of rock sliders to tuck in under the sills. Fabricated in box and tube, these were an eBay find which Pete bought in and fitted himself – as you can see, the nearside one has taken a big hit for the team at some stage… Above centre: The mountings for the rock sliders are seen here. So too is the fact that the front torsion bars and rear trailing links emanate from exactly the same point along the chassis Right: Pete looked at the price of premium winches and concluded that spending £200 on a 12,000lb, 12-volt budget unit would do him just as well. ‘To date,’ he says now, ‘I’ve been spot-on.’ He’s not so sure about the height of the winch fitting, though, as it means the winch is pulling down as well as forward: ‘it hasn’t caused any major grief to date, but I feel I need to add a bit more support to the winch bumper’s fixing to the chassis. That said, it’s high enough to be out of harm’s way when off-roading’ 34
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Left: Pete bought the vehicle as an MOT failure, but it turned out only to need a new exhaust to get it back on the road. Beyond it you can see the back of the transmission it left the factory with, while to the left of the picture is one of the +2” mounts lifting the body to make way for bigger tyres – as well, at times, as providing easier access for spanners Centre: The snorkel’s story is that somebody made it up at home and then, some time later, Pete bought it off them second-hand. The offside front wing is the only body panel on the vehicle that’s had to be replaced – not because it was damaged, but because Pete found he needed to do so while fitting the unit on the vehicle Right: Pete’s a big fan of the fuel tank guard. He even brought it back to life (in a ‘gentlemen, we can rebuild him’ kind of way) after it was what saved the vehicle when a failed hillclimb ended in a dramatic backwards toboggan run down a field of stumps off-tarmac action of choice, both with the Frontera Owners’ Group and at the legendary Slindon Safari. He made a lot of mods along the way, too; not with the aim of making it pretty (which is just as well, because that’s unlikely have been the first word that came to mind when you looked at the pictures) but at enhancing what it could do in the rough. Which, before long, was more than you’d have thought to look at it. The drivetrain stayed standard all the way to the axles, but that’s where it gets interesting. Up front, where the Frontera is independent, the diff didn’t think much of what was going on and ended up destroying itself. Time for a new diff… or not. ‘Both Vauxhall and Isuzu were under the General Motors umbrella when the Frontera was launched,’ explains Pete. ‘When Vauxhall introduced the Frontera to the UK, it utilised the already available Isuzu MU/Rodeo design rather than going to the drawing board. Consequently, the early Frontera’s running gear is the same design as the Trooper’s – so correctly matching Isuzu axles can be swapped straight in. Although not infallible, the Isuzu components do have a reputation for stronger build quality, and this is certainly true of the differential spider cogs I have compared.’
Lock solid
The same goes for the back, too, where a Trooper axle can be swapped straight in. Choose wisely and you get an LSD into the bargain, and as you’ll have figured out by now choosing wisely was very much Pete’s way of doing things. Even when the Trooper unit was sitting in his garage waiting to go on, though, he was still out there playing on
the original unit – albeit with the diff welded up. That’s one way of not having to shell out for a locker if you’re not going to be using your truck for much else. ‘The options for the Isuzu axle are to fit either a cheaper Chinese copy of an ARB Air-Locker or a Lokka ratchet locker,’ he explained. ‘I’ve already got a Lokka waiting to be fitted in the front differential; for the back, it does need an open third member, whereas the Air-Locker copy can be fitted into the LSD axle.’ It’ll be pretty clear from this that you’re looking at a big boy’s toy here, and that splashing the cash on trying to turn it into something else was never on the agenda. The suspension lift, for example, involved simply winding up the torsion bars at the front and combining heavy-duty rear coils with spacers – enough to give him all the articulation he wants and, with a 2” body lift also in place, make room for a set of 265/75R16 Insas. These cost him £67 each and were fitted for another £5 a corner by a friend of a friend. Equally, the rock sliders and heavy-duty winch bumper are both eBay purchases from
sellers who either home-fabbed them or got them blacksmith-built. The latter wasn’t even designed to fit a Frontera, so Pete had it modified to suit. It ain’t pretty but it’s pretty strong and that’s what matters on a vehicle whose battered bodywork tells endless tales of fun and games in the woods. So too does his recovery kit: ‘Two decent longish ropes, which used to be one very long rope…’ Which brings us back to the reason why Pete bought the Frontera in the first place. He thought off-roading looked like fun and it turned out he was right. In fact, he’s probably found that it’s more fun than he could ever have imagined. He didn’t end up doing green laning after all but he did end up learning how to work the 4wd stick and he really learned his way around a Frontera. So maybe everything doesn’t look more fun when you see someone else doing it after all. You just have to be good at choosing what you look at. Pete’s Frontera wasn’t as pretty as some of the sights you used to see in that other kind of magazine, but it was a lot more fun. And, as some of us may have found out in the intervening decades, a whole lot less expensive.
LITTLE
THIEF The ferret gets its name from the Latin furritus, meaning ‘little thief’. The people at Daimler probably weren’t thinking about that when they came up for the name for their post-war reconnaissance vehicle – which doesn’t have any tendencies towards robbery at all. Though it’s not very furry or cuddly, either Words and Pictures Danny Croall
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mong all the various military trucks and 4x4s in the world, the Daimler Ferret is one of the most popular with enthusiasts. Why? Simple: you can fit one in your garage. Introduced in 1952, the Ferret was Daimler’s replacement for the Dingo – a smaller reconnaissance vehicle from the
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same factory which served with distinction throughout the Second World War. It was designed to be quick and manoeuvrable over rough terrain – and a quoted top speed of 58mph (plenty of veterans claim to have got much more out of them in service) means they’re less of a liability on the road than a lot of military trucks.
The Ferret was being updated almost non-stop during its 19-year production run. So much so, in fact, that though the vehicle photographed in this article is from as early as 1956, it’s a Mark 2/3 model – the seventh in the series. Originally, the Ferret was designed simply for liaison duty; Mark 1 models ran
without the machine gun turret that was added with the introduction of the Mark 2 reconnaissance vehicle. The turret, also used on the six-wheeled Alvis Saracen APC, gives it a much more distinctive appearance; these later versions carried a crew of only two, whereas the Mark 1 was designed to hold three.
All Ferrets were built around a fully welded, waterproofed steel hull, which was divided into two compartments – one for the engine and one for the crew. The armour became thicker as time went on and late versions were equipped with larger wheels and stronger suspension to help cope with this – and to help control the vehicle’s weight
whose centre of gravity was shifted in the wrong direction when the turret was added). One thing that didn’t change, though, was the din inside the cabin – separated from a 4.25-litre B60 Rolls-Royce straight six by nothing more than a steel wall, it might be quick enough on the road but it’s certainly not refined.
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Front and rear suspension details. The system uses upper and lower links, with the spring and shock mounted on the former. The shaft feeding into the hub is part of a tracta joint, basically a form of UJ assembled out of only four parts
Coupling up
Mounted between the rear wheels, the engine is mated via a fluid coupling to a five-speed gearbox. This is a pre-select unit – when driving it, you choose the gear you want next then, when you hit the pedal, it’s engaged automatically. Ahead of this is a single speed transfer case which sends drive to all four wheels – though not in the same way we’re used to on today’s 4x4s. Look underneath a Ferret and, if you could see through the metal hull protecting the entire underside of the vehicle, you’d find not two but four propshafts. These run to bevel boxes which in turn supply the hubs, with reduction gearing included in both. Drive is sent to its 9.00x16 tyres on two-piece rims by tracta joints – basically a form of UJ whose strength lies in its simplicity, with the whole assembly only having four parts. Those 9.00x16s were specified as run-flats on some vehicles, though Army documents at the time of manufacture admit to a shortage of these; standard
low-pressure rubber was used instead where necessary and crews were given strict instructions only to fall back on their run-flats’ capability when the situation made it impossible to fit the spare. In addition, airing these tyres down to aid traction on rough ground was forbidden ‘unless it is absolutely unavoidable.’ The combination of reduction gears in the transfer case, bevel boxes and hubs meant that on its 9.00x16s, the Ferret had an overall gearing of 6.217:1 in top. This was where the 58mph theoretical maximum speed mentioned above comes from. The Army’s user guide quotes an ‘average safe speed’ of 45mph on the road, however, and 25mph cross-country – not something an awful lot of crews paid much attention to, if the anecdotes we’ve heard are anything to go by… Compared to the 4x4s of the day, to the extent that there were any, the Ferret was particularly advanced in that it used independent suspension at all four wheels. The system used simple upper and lower
wishbones, with a coil spring and dualaction shock connected to the former and a rubber pad, not dissimilar to a bump stop but facing upwards, limiting rebound travel. As this suggests, the Ferret was designed to travel fast over rough ground rather than crawling over really extreme stuff. All the same, its approach and departure angles were 60 and 50 degrees respectively, it could climb a 24-degree gradient and when prepped for fording it could wade through five feet of water. Top torque was 195lbf.ft at 2000rpm, and there was a huge 13” of ground clearance beneath its hull. All good, credible figures.
High and heavy
Surely, though, a Ferret is too big for offroading? Well, its wheelbase is – get ready, Land Rover fans – exactly 90”. Its body is a couple of inches shorter than a Defender 90, too, albeit about four and a half wider – though the latter might at least provide some peace of mind considering the amount of high-up weight in its turret.
Under the access flaps is a 4.25-litre Rolls-Royce engine with six cylinders, a dry sump and a fluid coupling to a five-speed pre-selective gearbox. There’s a crank handle for starting it in emergencies – one of which could be caused if it kicks back at you… 38
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Above left: All life’s essentials taken care of. The two-man cabin is surprisingly spacious, and somewhere to store your hand grenades is always useful Above centre: Look underneath a Ferret and all you’ll see is armour. The whole body was one fully welded unit, with a steel bulkhead separating the engine compartment from the cabin Right: The Ferret was designed to be easily driven. Not to be easily seen out of, though: that thing there is the windscreen…
The Ferret’s stability, and the ugly consequences of a rollover, would indeed by the biggest barrier to playing with one off-road. A laden weight on the heavy side of four tons wouldn’t help, either – not even a grossed-up 110 comes close to that. You might blanch at a quoted cross-country fuel consumption of 5mpg, too. Not that anyone is seriously suggesting you buy a Ferret and start using it for playdays. There’s plenty to admire in its mechanical design, however – and if you were to choose your green lanes wisely, it would certainly make for a different kind of adventure. As it is, a total of 4409 Ferrets were produced and of these, a few hundred are still in service with the armies of about a dozen nations in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. In the UK, most are now in the hands of private collectors and military vehicle enthusiasts – with their distinctive looks, ease of driving and garage-friendly proportions giving them a popularity that means prices tend to be pretty stout when they come up for sale. Nonetheless, if you dream of owning a real-world example of one of the toys your Action Man used to smoke around in when you were a kid, the Ferret could scarcely be any more perfect. You can even modify it, if you want to earn the eternal hatred of military dresser-uppers everywhere, by swapping in the shorter-stroke 3909cc FB60 version of its Rolls-Royce engine from the Vanden Plas Princess R. Actually finding one might be awkward, and whether you’d want to trade all that lovely torque for an 55bhp
more at an extra 1000rpm is questionable to say the least, but there’s little doubt that the drivetrain would take it. Just don’t forget that even a standard Ferret can go plenty faster than what the Army reckoned was its maximum safe speed… The Ferret is indeed a military vehicle first and an off-roader second, if that makes sense. It’s a true icon in its own world,
though, and while there are good reasons why it hasn’t become a playday and RTV favourite the way the Series I Landy, Austin Champ and Willys Jeep once did, it’s capable of doing great things. It combines the size of a car with the presence of a tank. It’ll go as good as anywhere. And you’ll never, ever fail to be noticed. If only the Ridgeway was still open…
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12 EPIC ROADS Off-road travel is all about arriving in amazing new places, but the thrill of the journey is a huge part of what makes it so special. And sometimes, the journey itself becomes the destination – as this selection of great routes from around the world shows. Some are extreme off-road trails, some are paved or graded roads in extreme landscapes – and all are reason enough for you to include them in your overland bucket list Main pic: Moriz Mdz @ flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Above left: 4WD and termite mound, by Steve @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0. Above centre: Vyacheslav Argenberg @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0. Above right: Davies Plain Track, by Bryce Walker @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0. Below left: transmongolie-296, by Vaiz Ha @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0. Below centre: Mariusz Reweda / Owona Kozlowiec. Below right Jeep Expedition, by Nolan Williamson @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0
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Karakoram Highway Covering a distance of around 800 miles between Punjab and the Chinese border in Gilgit-Baltistan, the Karakoram Highway is sometimes referred to as the eighth wonder of the world. It might be a fully paved trunk road, but no way does that make it boring. It’s a dead end, unless you’ve been through the necessary bureaucratic hoops to be able to take your vehicle into China, but even for the gnarliest overlander the world’s highest main road is a desination in itself. Aside from being a supremely dramatic, days-long drive, the Karakoram takes you through some of the bleakest but most awe-inspiring mountain landscapes anywhere on Earth. And drama is never far away, either – landslips are common, so it’s not abnormal to find yourself sitting waiting for a work crew to show up with a digger. Not that this would have been enough to save the village of Attabad in January 2010, when a catastrophic landslide buried it completely – as well as creating a natural dam across the Hunza River which ended up with 16 miles of the Highway disappearing under a massive new lake. It has since been rebuilt, passing through four newly blasted tunnels in the process, but this gives you an idea of the sort of place we’re talking about. It’s beautiful… but seldom has the world’s beauty been more savage.
Pic: Karakoram Highway, by David Stanley @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0
Ruta 13 An unremarkable village in the Andes, Uspallata is nonetheless a fantastic destination for overlanders. That’s because of the glorious mountain scenery surrounding it – and, in particular, the road you take to get there. Travelling from the sprawling Argentinian city of Mendoza, you follow Ruta 13 – an unsurfaced mountain route which in places narrows to a single ribbon of stone and rock and is definitely only suitable for 4x4s. Mendoza is the fourth largest city in Argentina, yet the tarmac has run out long before you’ve left its built-up area – and as you get ever further into the mountains, the loose gravel surface becomes rougher and rougher. From the end of the tarmac, it’s just over 50 miles until you reach Uspallata. By then, you’ll have climbed and climbed and climbed – the track goes through so many hairpins, you’ll lose count – and been spellbound by the parched splendour of the landscape. Carry on towards the Chilean frontier and you’ll encounter the Andes at their mightiest. And if you visit Las Bovedas, a cluster of old copper kilns near the town, you might spot that the bricks they were built with are stamped with a maker’s mark from, of all places, Stourbridge. Big landscape, small world.
Above: Uspallata, by Hannah Walker @ flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0 Left: Moriz Mdz @ flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0
Anne Beadell Highway Don’t let the name fool you. This ‘highway’ is a sandy desert trail stretching some 820 miles from Coober Pedy in South Australia to Laverton in Western Australia – and it’s one of the most hostile roads in the world. Constructed between 1953 and 1962 to provide access to teams surveying what was at the time a completely unexplored part of the world, the Anne Beadell traverses an environment in which summer temperatures regularly hit 50 degrees. It’s incredibly hard going on man and machine alike – and there are few places in the world where you can be as far away from civilisation. Despite this, there are attractions along the way. One is the site of the 1953 British atomic bomb tests at Emu Field, where you can still see scorch marks on the ground – as well as signs warning you of residual background radiation. Another is the wreckage of a light aircraft which came down a little way from the track and has been there ever since, and yet another is the Mamungari Conservation Reserve, through which which the trails passes. These welcome distractions from the unrelenting emptiness of the landscape are ‘reasons’ to do the Anne Beadell – but for any red-blooded adventurer, the highway itself is reason enough. It’s only suitable for well equipped 4x4s with experienced drivers and emergency comms kit that works in the middle of nowhere, and even then you’ll do well to complete it in less than a week. Anne Beadell, by the way, was the wife of Len Beadell, the celebrated surveyor and all-Aussie hero who created the track as part of a nineyear programme to open up this part of the Red Centre. Noted for his warmth and humour, he added the ‘Highway’ as an ironic joke.
Pics: Betty van Breukelen and Gerard van Vliet
Road of Bones At about 55 times the size of the UK, Siberia is Big Country personified. It’s very big and it’s very bad… average temperatures of -25° in winter see to that and for getting from A to B the terrain redefines the term ‘hostile.’ It also happens to be in Russia, so travelling there might be a little awkward for a while. Even where there are roads, in the wilds of Siberia you don’t need to expect smooth tarmac. Not that that’s what you want, of course – but after more than 1000 miles of rough gravel on the legendary Road of Bones between Yakutsk and Magadan, you might come to appreciate it. Officially the R504 Kolyma Highway, the Road of Bones was built between 1932 and 1953 with the widespread use of forced labour by inmates of various prison camps. Popular rumours say the bodies of those who perished on site were simply thrown into the road’s foundations, hence its macabre name; no definitive evidence exists to confirm this, and estimates of the true death toll vary wildly, however what’s beyond doubt is that many thousands of political prisoners lost their lives in its construction. Unlike some roads in Siberia, which are only open when the ground is fully frozen in winter, the Road of Bones is maintained as an all-weather route. That doesn’t make it a breeze, though. Its smooth gravel surface is suitable for all vehicles but the hostility of the environment means that without serious backup, breaking down is a death sentence. If all that isn’t enough to give you pause, Siberia is home to its very own species of tiger and leopard, as well as three different kinds of bear. Car-jacking is an issue in some areas, too, as of course is the extreme remoteness of the land you’ll be travelling through. Combine this with some of the world’s most determined mosquitoes, and you might wonder why anyone would bother – but one look at the wild scenery and it will all make sense. By the time you get home from Siberia, you’ll definitely be able to call yourself a hardcore overlander.
Pic (top): UAZ-452 Parked in front of Dom 20, Village Kuznetsovo, by carlfbagge@flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Old Telegraph Track Australia is best known among the world’s off-roaders for its epic trails through the vast Red Centre, which can take a week or more to complete. But the Old Telegraph Track probably trumps them all in terms of the number of vehicles that take it on every year. The track, which was built in 1885 to let maintenance crews access telegraph line running north from Cairns to the top of the Cape York Peninsula, is more than 200 miles long and includes sections of gravel, mud, sand and rock – plus some epic river crossings. Several of these have campsites next to them, meaning they become a focal point for entertainment as crowds gather to watch vehicles tackling big beasts like Palm Creek, Gunshot Creek and Nolan’s Brook – where it’s not uncommon for floating 4x4s to be manhandled across the water by eager volunteers. Talking of big beasts, though, a number of these rivers are infested with crocodiles. Another reason to think twice, you might think – yet there are recovery companies in the nearby towns who make a living out of the gung-ho overlanders who turn their trucks into non-runners on an almost daily basis. There are bypass routes for drivers who don’t want to risk their trucks – and outside of the dry season, these are the only practicable way through. They’re a lot less technical than the Old Telegraph Track itself – but a lot less fun, too, thanks to ever-present corrugations. At any rate, if ever there was a reason for prepping your motor, this would be it. You’ve not come this far just to miss out on the main event, have you?
Pic: NeilsPhotography @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0
Dempster Highway Named after William Dempster, a Welsh immigrant who served in the police and in 1911 led the expedition to rescue a lost mail patrol in the Yukon wilderness, the Dempster Highway is a 450-mile dead end and Canada’s only all-weather road across the Arctic Circle. In the summer, it’s a ribbon of gravel crossing endless tracts of hilly tundra: in the winter, it’s a path cleared through a vast white blanket. The route’s principal destination is Inuvik, a town of some 3000 inhabitants close to the shore of the Arctic Ocean. This is not the sort of place you’d normally drive for days to visit, unless perhaps you were on the way to the arts festival it hosts every July. But It’s the getting there that counts. Winter is the time when crossing the Yukon really turns into an adventure. By summer, for example, you cross the Mackenzie River by ferry: by winter, you drive over it on an ice bridge. As this suggests, it’s cold up here. Temperatures of -50°C and below are not unknown, and by the end of winter the snow cover has typically built up to a couple of feet. Time it right, however, and you’ll arrive in town in time for the aptly named Sunrise Festival, when the sun, er, rises – after an entire month of darkness. In recent years, an extension has been completed on the Dempster Highway to create an all-weather route to the village of Tuktoyaktuk, a place where it gets even colder than Inuvik. This is the place to come if weird landforms fascinate you, as it’s home to the world’s biggest concentration of pingos – strange conical hills created by ground pressure in areas of permafrost. Carrying on to Tuktoyaktuk also extends the adventure to a return journey of more than 1000 miles. It might be on a highway, but seldom can a journey on a major highway have felt more like an off-road expedition.
Pic (above): Downtown Inuvik, by Mack Male CC BY-SA 2.0
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Rubicon Trail On 3 August 1887, lawmakers in California’s El Dorado county passed a decree classifying the mountain trail between Georgetown and Lake Tahoe as a public road. Little did they know it at the time, but the right of way they had created was to become one of the world’s most famous 4x4 trails. Back then, the road was used only by stagecoaches. It was first driven in 1908, when a woman from Tahoe took a Mitchell Model F Touring to Rubicon Springs. But later that same year, the previously thriving hotel which stood there was badly damaged by flash flooding, and a cycle of neglect began which caused the road to decay from a relatively smooth gravel strip to a ribbon of boulders. Perfect for Jeeps; it just had to wait for them to be invented. The first Jeepers Jamboree, which was held in 1953 as a way of boosting the local economy (angry anti-4x4 people take note), saw 55 of the vehicles tackle a two-day adventure on the trail. And so a forgotten coach road in the mountains was reborn as an off-tarmac legend. As well as being one of the most popular 4x4 trails in the world, the Rubicon is one of the best managed, with portable toilets in place along the route (serviced by a Unimog with full pump-out facilities) and more than 30 erosion control devices helping to prevent rock dust caused by vehicles’ tyres entering the Tahoe watershed. The trail itself is maintained, too, keeping it safely passable without drawing the teeth from the challenge it offers. There are more extreme trails, but few combine the same quality of driving with the stunning landscapes you see at every turn in an area known as the Desolation Wilderness. It feels worthy of the name, too, as you cross the Granite Bowl – where it feels as though the whole world is laid out in front of you. Some rudimentary signposting doesn’t prevent it from feeling as if you’re driving on virgin ground; indeed, as you progress via a succession of setpiece rock crawls, it never feels in any way man-made until you get to the last few miles approaching Lake Tahoe. The Rubicon may be about as commercialised as off-road trails can get, but make no mistake. In a huge, wild landscape, it’s anything but tamed. Few roads of any kind are more deserving of a place on your overland bucket list.
Alta Via Del Sale An old military road connecting the Piedmontese and French Alps to the Ligurian Sea, the Alta Via Del Sale winds its way through the mountains for around 24 miles at altitudes of between 1800 and 2100 metres. You have to pay a toll to use it, and booking in advance is advised (the number of 4x4s they allow on each day is limited, and certain days of the week are kept vehicle-free) – but don’t let that affront your free-wandering overland instincts. The route is marketed as ‘the most beautiful dirt road in Europe, spanning from the Alps to the sea.’ Hard to argue; the landscape is magnificent and the trail itself is breathtaking, with non-stop spectacular views your reward for some hardcore sweaty-palm action behind the wheel. It’s only a day’s drive from Britain but it’s like being on another planet.
Pic: Redmond Neale
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Trans-America Trail Envy time. In America, there are still some things that it’s possible to do without everyone else trying to ban it. That’s why Sam Correro has been able to map out a 5000-mile route across the USA which, using a mixture of farm and forestry tracks and high mountain passes, takes you from coast to coast with the minimum possible amount of tarmac. Using only routes with legal public access, the trail visits Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Idaho and Oregon, with alternative start points adding North Carolina and New York to the list. The entire trail took some 12 years to fully research; it won’t take quite as long to complete in your 4x4, but seldom was there more of a journey to savour.
The Silk Road These days, the Silk Road is more of a concept than an strictly defined route. It linked Turkey with the Han-dynasty capital of Xian, but like most ancient roads it split into several different paths along the way through what is now north-west China. All but a few fragments of the original route have been buried beneath ever-shifting desert sands down the centuries. The result is that following the Silk Road is an inexact art, but one with a wide variety of potential routes. These could include a transit through Syria and Iraq, which is a lot less appealing an idea than it once was. Instead, you’d be more likely to drop down to meet the Silk Road from the north and pick it up on its way through Uzbekistan – though the word ‘Russia’ will come up and, if you want to follow it into China, you’ll be put through the bureaucratic mill before being allowed to do so.
The Silk Roadies, by lensnmatter @ flickr.com, CC BY 2.0
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Canning Stock Route More than 1100 miles of rocks, dunes and corrugations in the Great Sandy Desert. That’s the Canning, a cattle route established more than a century ago which today makes a strong claim to being the world’s greatest off-road adventure. To make it in any way practicable as a drove road, the Canning is basically a track linking a series of wells. These were created with scant regard for the Aboriginal people who lived in the area for aeons before Alfred Canning turned up to survey the route, whose water supply was gobbled up by the 48 wells his team created. To make the story even more sordid, having treated their Aboriginal hosts so shabbily the modern Australians hardly used the Canning Stock Route at all. It had fallen into disrepair within a couple of decades – and though it was reopened in 1928, it saw less than one droving run a year prior to its abandonment as a commercial route in 1959. That would have been that, but then along came four-wheel drive. Today, the Canning is widely considered to be one of the world’s greatest off-road adventures, and people travel to Australia specifically to experience it. However well equipped your 4x4 might be, those original wells (at least the ones still in good repair) are still crucial to keeping you supplied with water on what will typically be a two to three week mission to conquer the Canning. With a sum total of two communities along the route where fuel is available, it takes a lot of planning – and even more grit. It’s a place to lose yourself and find yourself, and to experience a whole new oneness with nature. Whether for this reason, or for your first shower and hotel bed after finally reaching civilisation, the Canning is heaven on earth.
Pics: Betty van Breukelen and Gerard van Vliet
Sani Pass The Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa are spectacular enough at the best of time, but here’s something to conjure with. When you’re driving the six miles of stone and rock, tortured hairpins and sheer drop-offs that make up the Sani Pass, you don’t exist. That’s because the South African frontier is at the bottom of the pass, and it’s not until you reach the top that you enter the kingdom of Lesotho. Between them, you’re officially nowhere. In between, alarming gradients mean you need to be in low first whether going up or down, and the surface is constantly being resculpted by rain. The top of the pass is near to Thabana-Ntlenyana, the highest peak in Southern Africa. Better still, it’s also home to the Sani Top Chalet, the ‘highest pub in Africa,’ where a winter visit is likely to augment the list of challenges with knee-deep snow.
Main pic: View down into South Africa from top of Sani Pass in Lesotho, by Michael Roger Denne @ flickr.com, CC BY-SA 2.0
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ROADBOOK
North Cambridgeshire Fens Low-lying lanes in a flat landscape – with traps to catch the unwary USING OUR ROADBOOKS Our roadbooks guide you through the countryside on a mixture of surfaced and unsurfaced roads. The tracks we use are public rights of way, either Byways Open to All Traffic or Unclassified County Roads, all commonly referred to as green lanes.
NAVIGATION We’ve deliberately made it as easy as possible to follow the route, using a mixture of instructions, tulip diagrams and grid references. We normally only include junctions at which you have to make a turning or don’t have right of way, so stay on the main road or continue straight ahead unless we tell you otherwise. You’ll find a guide to using grid references on the legend of any OS map. Our aim is for you to be able to do the route without maps, whether paper or online, but you should certainly take a set with you.
SAFETY The notes on thee pages advise you of how suitable the route is for your vehicle. These are just guidelines, however. We’ll warn you of any hazards or difficult sections, but the nature of any green lane can change quickly. Wet weather can make a huge difference to the conditions underfoot, and what’s wide open in winter can be tightly enclosed and scratchy in summer. The responsibility is yours! Our roadbooks are designed to be safe to drive in a solo vehicle. We do recommend travelling in tandem wherever possible, however. The risk of getting stuck can be greater than it appears – and even the most capable of vehicles can break down miles from anywhere.
RESPONSIBILITY Irresponsible driving is a big and serious issue on green lanes. In particular, you must always stay on the right of way. Never drive off it to ‘play’ on the verges or surrounding land, even if you can see that someone else has; doing so is illegal and can be tremendously damaging. This kind of illegal off-roading is a key reason why green lanes get closed. If you see others doing this, they are NOT your friends. They’re criminals, and you are their victim. If it’s safe to do so, film them in the act and pass it to the police.
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Elsewhere, let common sense and courtesy prevail. Keep your speed down, be ready to pull over for others and show the world that we are decent people just like them.
ANTIS Anti-4x4 bigotry does exist, but it’s less common than you’d think. By and large, it’s limited to organisations which just want to get the countryside all to themselves. These organisations are beyond being reasoned with, but it’s rare to encounter real hostility even from their rank-and-file members. If you’re friendly towards the people with whom you share the countryside, the vast majority will respond in kind. There are always bad apples, but no more so than anywhere else. Likewise, most local residents will accept your presence if you’re driving sensibly. What suspicion you do encounter is likely to be from farmers worried that you’re there to steal from them, so be ready to offer a word of reassurance. Once satisfied that you’re not after their quad bikes, their mood will lighten.
DO… • Keep your speed right down • Pull over to let walkers, bikers and horse riders pass • Leave gates as you found them • Scrupulously obey all closure and voluntary restraint notices • Ensure you have a right to be there. We research the routes on our roadbooks very carefully, but the status of any route can change without notice • Be prepared to turn back if the route is blocked, even illegally • If you find an illegal obstruction, notify the local authority • Stick scrupulously to the right of way • Always remember that you are an ambassador for all 4x4 drivers
DON’T…
• Go in large convoys: instead, split into smaller groups • Drop litter. Why not carry a bin bag pick up other people’s instead? • Go back to drive the fun bits, such as mud or fords, again • Cause a noise nuisance, particularly after dark • Get riled up if someone challenges you. Be firm but polite, stay calm and don’t let them turn it into a fight
ROADBOOK Almost 10% of England’s byways by mileage are in Cambridgeshire. It’s a landscape that deserves to be discovered – however flat and boring you think it is. At first glance, the rights of way in this route are all very samey, but the more you get into it the more you’ll discover that there are challenges to be surmounted. Mainly they’re wide, well surfaced and easy but every now and then, you’ll come across a section that needs you to be driving a proper off-road truck. At the time of writing, there is no voluntary restraint or winter TROs on the lanes in this route, so it can be used all year round – but do be sensible in the wet
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ROUTE GUIDE
is it suitable?
START FINISH HOW LONG? TERRAIN HAZARDS
TYRES
OS MAPS
Colne (TL 371 757) Yaxley (TL 180 924) 67.7 miles / 4-5 hours Flat fenland Other users; farm and industrial traffic; ruts, at times deep; dangerous road junctions; unprotected drop-offs into ditches Landranger 142 (Peterborough) Landranger 143 (Ely and Wisbech)
Step
TL 371 757
1
Sart outside the Green Man pub in Colne. Zero your trip with the pub to your left and set off heading more or less east
WEATHER LOW BOX SOFT-ROADERS SCRATCHING DRIVING
DAMAGE
Step
3
0.0
1.25
Step
Step
2
4
0.3
Earith Hadenham
1 6
Step 5: Turn right alongside the big, rather old-fashioned looking barn Step 8 (right): The turning is just before the line of trees along the left-hand side of the road
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Tall sidewalls necessary in places; ideally a mud-terrain in ruts Avoid when ground is saturated Necessary for a couple of sections Good ground clearance is required Occasional mild risk Concentration and consideration required near houses, in ruts and for safety alongside ditches You’re more likely to ground out than to break stuff
1.9
Stretham Haddenham Wilburton A1123
Immediately after the bridge over the river, follow ahead over the double roundabout for Newmarket and Ely
Step
5
TL 403 751
Shortly after the road dog-legs left then right, turn right on a wide track immediately before a big old barn
2.55 Step
6
Step
10 5.9
The surface gets softer and muddier after this – it could be very slippery when wet
Step
11
3.2
6.75
Step
Step
3.85
9.05
8
TL 436 734
The turning is shortly after a marked passing place on the right and immediately before a line of trees running alongside the road on the left
5.05 Step
9
5.5
Caution – this is a fast, busy road. It’s an overtaking spot, too, so check for cars coming at you on the wrong side of the road
12
7
Step
Watch your speed – just after a blocked-off bridge over the ditch to your right, the smooth surface suddenly becomes very rough
Step
13 11.35
It’s signed as a public byway
Step
14 0.75
March A142 Sutton
Caution – this is a very busy main road
ZERO TRIP Sutton 112 Mepal 2 Chatteris 7 March A142 (A141)
Continue to follow the A142
Step 15 (left): As soon as you’ve exited the roundabout, fork off to the left – it’s immediately before the power station gate. The sign on the fence is wrong on all sorts of levels, not least because whoever made it is masquerading as the local authority Step 16: As if to make the sign look even more ridiculous, you’ll be sharing the track ahead with a steady stream of these guys…
Step
15 4.05 Step
16
TL 419 833
Turn left at the roundabout, then left again on to the track just before the main gate for the Pretoria Energy site. The home-made sign on the fence to your right will appear all the more hilarious when you discover what you’re sharing this track with…
Extreme caution – look out for heavy trucks from the left. And the right, but you’ll be able to see those ones from a mile off
17
21 6.95 Step
22
The route the wagons use goes off to the right here – so look out for them coming round the corner towards you as you approach
Step
23
4.9
8.9
Step
Step
5.8
2.2
18 Step
19
24 TL 415 810
6.3 Step
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Watch out for lorries coming from the right
8.45
4.4 Step
Step
There’s a fuel station on the left at the roundabout
Step
25 5.75
You’re back on the lorry route from here until Step 21
ZERO TRIP
Step
26 5.95
Downham Mkt Manea Stonea B1093
TL 420 920
Turn left opposite the sign for the RSPCA Centre
Step
Step
6.05
7.7
Step
Step
32
27 28
33
6.55 Step
29 30
TL 428 934
There’s a cottage on the right at the junction, and a very fancy looking barn conversion in front of you as you turn. Note the speed limit signs on the lane
Step
34
ZERO TRIP
Continue ahead at the roundabout, staying on the A141 for Wisbech and Peterborough
0.55 Follow the byway sign round to the left
Step
35
7.15
1.55
Step
Step
7.65
2.1
31
Caution – this is a fast, busy A-road. Be prepared for a long wait to turn right!
7.85
7.05 Step
March A141
36 Step
37
Use the slip road to slow down as you approach. Turn left then immediately left again on to Grange Road
Golf Course Floods Ferry
TL 400 944
Follow ahead on to a fairly enclosed track through the trees. It’s rutted from the word go; don’t use it in the winter if there’s been a lot of rain
The ruts get deeper for a spell, and will throw you savagely from side to side
2.55 Step
38 3.2 Step
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Step 44: There are two tracks running parallel to each other from the same junction. You want the second one, with the line of telegraph poles to your left Step
40
Follow the main track round to the left, ignoring the grassy one ahead
Step
46
3.6
6.1
Step
Step
4.0
7.5
41 Step
42 6.8
47 Step
ZERO TRIP
Whittlesey Benwick B1093 Ramsey (B1093)
Step
4.0
1.5
Whittlesey B1093
TL 311 936
Two tracks on the left run alongside each other. You need the second of them, which stays to the right of the telegraph poles. A drainage ditch was dug across this lane a couple of years ago; we understand that it has now been reinstated but be prepared to turn back if necessary
2.85 Step
50 3.5
Step
Step
5.3
4.05
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Immediately after the sharp righthander, take the narrow road with a line of trees to its right and a ditch to its left
49
1.0
44
Chatteris 14 B1093
Step
43 Step
48
ZERO TRIP
51
TL 318 973
Step
Step
4.75
7.05
Step
Step
4.95
7.15
Step
Step
5.65
7.25
Step
Step
6.15
8.05
52 53 54 55
56
TL 306 977
Turn left in front of the village green
57 58 59
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Step 60: Head straight across the road (which is very busy) and on to the track – which, despite what this quaint relic from the past (right) tells you, is indeed a right of way Step
60
TL 294 973
Continue straight over the main road and on to the track, with the Nags Head immediately to your right. There’s an illegal sign on the wall trying to tell you there’s no right of way here
Step
63
8.25
9.05
Step
Step
8.35
9.95
Step
Step
8.75
10.05
61 62
64 65 Step
66 10.3
Step 69: As we were setting up this picture, a slammed BMW saloon came past and set off down the lane. It definitely wouldn’t have made it the whole way – things start off easy, but you’ll end up picking your way through some fairly gnarly ruts
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The turning is just after Whittlesey Community Hub on the left
Step
67 10.45 Step
68
Step
ZERO TRIP
71 Ramsey B1040
Turn right on Briggate West, immediately in front of the Boat pub
0.1 Step
69
1.2 Step
72 2.0
TL 264 967
This lane starts off easy, but it will get rutted further on
Step
73
0.3
2.4
Step
Step
1.0
2.7
70
We’ve no idea what the Footpath sign is trying to prove here
74
TL 233 964
It’s easy to miss this turning, especially if you’ve got traffic riding your tail. It’s just after a depot entrance on the left, and immediately before one of those electric signs that tell you how fast you’re going
The track is as well surfaced as they get without actually being a road. Keep your speed down, though, especially when approaching the yard at about 3.6 miles – there’s a speed bump capable of giving you whiplash as you come alongside it
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Step
75
Now this is a track…
3.9 Step
Step
4.4
6.6
Step
Step
4.7
7.2
Step
Step
5.3
8.2
76 77 78 Step
79 5.5 Step
80 6.1 62
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81 82 83
Step
89 12.3 Step
Step
84 9.8
90 Farcet
Step
91 Farcet
Step
92 GOSLINGS DROVE
Yaxley
Continue straight ahead over a series of mini-roundabouts on the way into Yaxley
14.05 Step
86 10.9
12.8 Step
85 10.15
STRAIGHT DROVE
Turn right and arrive at the Farmers carvery and grill for the end of the route (and the start of a big dinner)
14.85
Step
87 11.2 Step
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BOOK A TEST DRIVE AT ISUZU.CO.UK All fuel consumption and emission values are based on the new WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) test cycle, which uses real-world driving data. Official fuel economy for the standard Isuzu D-Max range in MPG (l/100km): Low: 27.2 – 23.5 (10.4 - 12.0); Mid: 35.3 – 33.6 (8.0 – 8.4); High 39.8 – 38.2 (7.1 – 7.4); Extra-High 32.5 – 31.4 (8.7 - 9.0); Combined 34.0 – 32.5 (8.3 – 8.7). CO2 emissions(Combined) 217 – 229g/km. Visit Isuzu.co.uk for more information. Isuzu (UK) Ltd a subsidiary of International Motors Limited.