Louise Limb – contributor

At first it was just a vague feeling that all wasn’t completely well. I mean, I’ve grown accustomed to the regular foibles; to never leaving my keys in the car just in case it decides to lock itself when I’m not looking, or to ensuring, conversely, that nothing prevents the doors from locking, as the slightest piece of paper or fold of waterproof coat slipping over the threshold of the rear door will result in a big fat nothing in response to me earnestly zapping it with my key. I discovered that one after weeks of bafflement at the non compliance of the hardware (the Grand) in refusing to obey the control of the little button on the key fob, and felt a warm glow of achievement when I cleared the base of the door frame of carrier bags and other detritus and it all clicked and clunked, the hazards flashing a friendly, reassuring orange. I could always put the key in the locks and turn them, but why should I? If I wanted that I’d have an old Land Rover and all the bits of old twine that would inevitably accompany its door closing rituals.

Hils Everitt – editor

It’s been a while since my Grand has graced the pages of the magazine. That’s because it’s been subject to a fair amount of repair, spending some quality time in the garage. The last instalment, regular readers may remember, was when I noticed that it was feeling particularly sluggish – ie felt as if it was not firing on all cylinders.

My mate, who owns a garage and does all my servicing etc, thought it could be the turbo – a look under the bonnet didn’t reveal anything obviously untoward and his computer wasn’t picking up any faults. Now a new turbo was something that I wanted to be sure about; after all, having recently shelled out a huge wad of cash for a recon Mercedes auto ‘box last year I wasn’t going to part with any more money lightly. I left it for a while and only used the Grand for short journeys as I was in full denial and just didn’t want to come to terms with the idea of a new turbo!

But on one particular journey things just weren’t right and I was now getting a sensation of fumes inside the Jeep and looking under the bonnet could finally see what the problem was.

Nigel Fryatt – contributor

You always have some interesting adventures with a 4×4, and, recently, we were driving the RAV down a remote country lane on the south coast, near Pagham, and completely out of the blue we came across, rather appropriately, a ‘Blue Plaque’. Strangely, there were no buildings around, all appeared to be rather uninspiring, bleak and very flat farmland.

Stopping to check it out, we found we were actually driving over RAF Selsey and that from these fields, Spitfires and Typhoons, piloted by English, Belgian, French and Kiwi pilots, took off to give cover for the Allied D-Day invasion forces in 1944. Looking over these innocuous fields, on a very peaceful autumn day, it makes you stop and think, that’s for sure, especially as when we were there it was very close to the date of the Battle of Britain anniversary. As we say, you have some interesting drives in a 4×4.

John-Joe Vollans – Golf/Classic Car Buyer

I need to come clean straight away: my four-wheel-drive experience normally revolves around performance classic saloons like the Audi Quattro, Lancia Delta etc… I have, however, had the pleasure of attending a press launch for the Mitsubishi Outlander (I know it’s an SUV, not a ‘real’ offroader) exploring the vehicle’s capabilities in the mucky stuff, and I spent a day off-road with Kubota’s RTV900. All that was required from the BT-50 on this occasion was to hitch up a trailer and collect a 1982 Mk1 VW Golf from Kent and deliver it safely to my home in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

The first impression for me on collecting the BT-50 from our head office was its sheer size. Obviously being a double cab pick-up and incorporating an expansive rear enclosed deck, the BT needs some substantial proportions, but, nevertheless, when you spend your days writing about, and driving Morris Minors, a vehicle with an overall length of nearly five metres does make an impression!