Besides writing the Club Focus pages in this magazine, and regularly bemoaning the cost of diesel when reporting on her beloved Grand Vitara for Our 4×4 pages, some readers may not be aware that Louise Limb is a rather talented artist, in particular, drawing Classic Land Rovers. To celebrate this, every year Louise produces a limited edition of Classic Land Rover calendars.

They are A4 sized, and the first 100 produced are signed and numbered by Louise. Something of a bargain at only £15 – especially when you consider this includes recorded delivery in the UK. An ideal Christmas present we think. You can buy this exclusively from Louise by going to her website at: www.louiselimb.com

A justifiably proud Sophie Wakeford has been awarded this year’s Spen King Sustainability Award. The Award, in honour of the man who was the mastermind behind the original Range Rover, is aimed to honour “to inspire and encourage the next generation of engineers.”

Sophie is studying Mechanical Engineering at Oxford University and according to the judges, “set herself apart from the others by demonstrating not only excellent technical engineering understanding but also for being the only applicant to address the moral issues associated with the hypothetical challenge.” It will be interesting to see if she follows in Spen King’s footsteps into the world of vehicle engineering. The £1000 award also gives her a summer work placement at JLR where she will be working in her area of interests of hybrids and environmentally sustainable transport.

Japanese manufacturers come out top with the Honda CRV (1998-2006) proving to be the most reliable, followed closely by the Suzuki Grand Vitara. Not so good news for Land Rover (2002-onwards), which is claimed, by Warranty Direct, to be the “most breakdown prone off-roader”. Despite this rather severe condemnation, the Freelander actually makes it into the top ten.

The bottom five include Range Rover (2002-onwards), Jeep Grand Cherokee (1999-2005), VW Touareg (2003-onwards), BMW X5 (2000-2007), with the ‘prize’ for bottom going to the Volvo XC90 (2002-onwards). Given the great number of different models included, a survey sample of 16,000 is perhaps a little small to draw any firm conclusions, and we would like to hear from readers about the reliability of their vehicles, send your comments through to us: 4×[email protected]

Worried about the rotting hinges holding your  the festive season by replacing them with anodised replacements from Croytec. They cost £96 a pair, and are suitable for all models of Solihull’s most iconic vehicle. 

www.croytec.co.uk

Keep your off-road loving kids happy, with a child-size replica of their favourite 4×4. Toylander supplies all the materials, and plans, needed to make an eye-catching model of a Series One Land Rover or a Willy’s Jeep. The overall cost of a kit is in the region of £900, depending on specification. But it’s worth it, just to secure the next generation of muddy adventurers.

www.toylander.co.uk

Enjoy (Odd word to use – Ed) Jeremy Clarkson’s company during your road trips, with the limited edition TomTom Top Gear satnav. The device provides unique Top Gear style instructions, and uses TomTom’s clever congestion-busting HD Traffic technology. This satnav was recently withdrawn from the market after the BBC realised it was a breach of the licence agreement. So if you’re keen on Jezza, you need to catch this product while you can – priced £179.99 from Halfords.

www.halfords.com

Ideal for viewing hard-to-reach areas on your truck, this pocket-sized inspection light from Philips features six LEDs to give extra brightness. About the same size as a pen, the light can be easily stored in the pocket of your overalls. It has a single lamp at the top end so that it can function as a torch, and has been drop tested from 1.5 metres without damage. It’s also waterproof, and will last for up to 11 hours of continuous use. Available at most car accessories suppliers, the Philips penlight retails for £21.99.

www.philips.com

If you’re planning to use your Defender TD5 or Discovery 2 for some towing in the New Year, you’ll need this kit from Extreme 4×4. It costs about £60, and includes everything you need to hitch up a single-electrics trailer. What’s more, it’s the perfect size for a Christmas stocking…

www.extreme4x4.co.uk

Finally, Ford’s new Ranger pick-up is to go on sale in the UK, and it arrives with one simple objective; to be “best-in-class in every area important to customers”. Given the fact that the UK pick-up market is highly competitive, the battle – especially with VW’s Amarok and Toyota’s forthcoming new Hilux – is going to be hard fought, but there’s no denying that from the advance details we have seen and the photographs you can see here, the Ranger certainly looks like it has what it takes.

Prices look competitive, with the cheapest 4×4 model starting at £16,515, up to the top of the range on sale at £25,040 (plus VAT, but in many cases owners are able to reclaim the tax). As you would expect, there’s a very comprehensive model range between those two prices. There are three body styles; Double, Super and Regular, with trim levels of XL, XLT, Limited and the top of the range Wildtrak. There will be a two-wheel drive model, which is surely completely pointless for a working truck, so we’ll park that and ignore it.