Bob Cooke – contributor
Derek, whose spatial awareness verges on the incredible, said it would go. I, whose off-roading experience verges on the historic, said it wouldn’t. But Derek is persuasive, so I relented. The thing is, the Cherokee’s ground clearance isn’t that good and it was a rather deep hole in the ground, and there was also something of a twist in the terrain that I reckoned would get the Cherokee cross-axled on the way up even if it didn’t plant its belly in the mud.
Ian Seabrook
Having sold my Range Rover Classic just before winter, as the heater blower motor wasn’t working and I didn’t fancy the dash-removal job to extract and repair it. I soon missed 4×4 ownership though, even if winter snow was in short supply.
The problem was, my 4×4 budget was on the low side. I set myself the challenge of buying a 4×4 at the height of winter for £800. Choosing which one was a challenge. This is the very bottom of the market, and there’s an awful lot of rusty junk out there. I fancied a Land Rover Discovery – they’re very popular around here as they are cheap and very capable in the mucky stuff. My budget would only get me a very tired and rotten one though.
The Ironman Challenge France is a superb event, with technically demanding rocks, tumbling streams, thick wooded hillsides, generous scree and wicked graded sections, seasoned with a massed start and a truely spectacular finish. A must for all super hero 4×4 competitors…
Words and photography: Alan Coutts
Soft morning light flooded the cabin as the Citroen 4×4 climbed the spiralling Col des Tourettes, 1126 metres of pass laced with pebbles and rocks; just over the narrow summit road, hairpins tumble down to Montmorin, a village of honey coloured stone walls and gentle meadows that hosted the premier Ironman Challenge France.
Previously called the X-Trem Challenge France, the Ironman brought teams from England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Poland to pit their skills at one of the most technically renowned challenges on the circuit. The action started after dinner on Thursday when crews headed into the glowering forests for the start of section A or B night stages, to collect as many punches as they could. It was an evil night of numbing cold on the steep hillsides, with sections lurking in cold mountain streams, or among rocks and mud interlaced with sturdy trees standing like silent sentinels. Competition ceased at 2am when the service crews took over to prepare their cars ready for a 10am line up on the Friday morning. La Rascasse the restaurant took care of the body, but the mind was soothed by a blessing for a safe event from the impressively modest local priest. This is just one of the moments that made the Ironman different – despite rollovers, synth ropes breaking and melting, cars drowning and electro mechanical failures of many kinds, no one was injured.
June 2012 Issue of 4×4 Magazine
This month, I drove what could prove to be the most significant vehicle that I will ever drive in my motoring career. Astonishing new off-roader? Hardly. It certainly broke no boundaries technologically. There was little that was unique and if truth be told, it wasn’t that great a driving experience. It was functional, perhaps surprisingly well-built and it was unsurprisingly very cheap. So, was it the exotic venue for the drive that made it special? Not quite, and that’s no offence to Leamington Spa. What made it special was that it was a Chinese 4×4, the first mass market model to be imported into the UK. And it will probably be the first of many.
Back in 1966, a few hundred strange, small Japanese sports cars were landed at the UK docks. Cute, but with buzzy high revving engines, these Honda S600s were the first Japanese imports, and they had the motoring sages of the time grunting and muttering ‘they’ll never sell’. Fast forward and we now build Japanese vehicles on these very shores, they are an integral part of this magazine’s monthly content. They dominate our roads. There are two Japanese 4x4s on my drive.
So it would take a foolish man to say that the entry of the Great Wall Steed will be a flash in the pan. More likely, it is the start of a phase of imports from China (both 4×4 and ordinary saloons) that will become commonplace. Is it something to fear, or to be excited about, that’s the question?
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