Bob Cooke – contributor

A character by the unlikely name of Lemony Snicket wrote a story for kids entitled A Series of Unfortunate Events and I’m feeling now that something along those lines happened to me and the Cherokee. I certainly hadn’t intended to part company with the Jeep, partly because I tend to consider a favourite car as a friend rather than a lump of machinery, and the Cherokee and

I had certainly enjoyed some very exciting and demanding off-roading adventures together. It’s also partly because the old truck was still running perfectly well, the engine revving smoothly, the emissions clean and the only bits that had fallen off were the items of trim I knocked off by bouncing the Cherokee off trees, rocks and the like. The first Unfortunate Event was when the exhaust started blowing.

Louise Limb – contributor

A quick 1500 mile trip down to West Penwith and back this month reminded me why I bought the car in the first place. The journey was completely trouble free, apart from the usual niggles, squeaks and rumbles that may or may not be real problems – I’ll leave the bonnet shut for the moment…and a diesel bill that cost more than the Landmark Trust rental and for a 4×4, the SWB Grand Vitara is really quite economical! Half a ton of seabird guano and airborne spume from a windy but glorious Cornish coastal break necessitated a thorough clean for the Grand Vitara on my return to ward off corrosion as, at the rate things are going with finances, this car’s got to last as long as I do.

Hils Everitt – Editor at Large

Since our last instalment the L200 has been used as a removal ‘van’ and general runabout while I took some time out from ‘at larging’ to spend some quality time in the Swiss mountains.

Before I headed off to the airport, by train, our designer Paul picked up the pick-up (!) one afternoon to move his girlfriend’s belongings and then dropped it off to our editor Nigel so that he could use it to get out and about. The initial intention was for Nigel to use it for a camping trip in East Anglia, but, as we’ve said before, without any kind of loadbed cover, the Mitsubishi loses its practicality as a serious load lugger for any kind of extended trip that requires lots of equipment. Luckily, Paul had dry weather
for the move.

Nigel Fryatt – editor

You don’t have to go back that far before remembering that the name Skoda was once associated with some childish automotive jokes and a Yeti was a large hairy manlike creature said to live in the Himalayas. So adding the name of a mythical mountain creature (that has also been the bane of many people’s jokes), to an odd-looking new vehicle was a bit of a risk, surely. Looks are subjective, but no matter which angle you look at it, Skoda’s Yeti is, well odd – more miniature ambulance or ice cream van than off-roader. Odd looks, joke name, this had batter be good…

Shion Scudamore – contributor

This month has seen some steady progress on the Bedford but the forthcoming MOT looks like it will have to be put back, as progress has not been good enough to actually drive there! Both passenger and driver side floors are now replaced which was the lion’s share of the MOT work, but I need to plate some cosmetic holes on the cab roof and in the cab back panel. I have started to re assemble the birdcage of mudguard supports as these have all been sprayed now.

The KAB suspension units were fitted to the Range Rover seats but this revealed excessive play in some of the pins, not something the MOT man is going to like, so it has been a case of dismantling and repairing them. Next on the list is the laborious task of fitting (the very necessary) soundproofing in the cab. The ‘proper’ material is top quality but way beyond my budget so I have been gathering off cuts left over from engine room insulation. The net result will be a patchwork but it should do the trick and will be covered by the rubber mats anyway.

Hils Everitt – Editor at Large

The recent heavy rainfall may be placating the poor farmers who were seriously worried about their crops not that long ago, but it has not been good for our long-term L200 Warrior. As the loadbed is open we can’t have a truck top as it is fitted with stainless steel sports bars and loadbed liner. There is an option for sport bars with retractable tonneau cover at £1479, but that is only available without the liner. I have to keep the L200 outside so that means that the loadbed gets quite filled up with water with all the torrential rain that has hit Kent recently.

The water does drain out with a bit of a tidal wave when you pull away through the outlets in the tailgate. I just have to make sure there’s nobody standing in close proximity when I do so otherwise they’ll get rather wet.
I said in our first report on the truck that I had grown to like its unique styling, which rather scared me when it was launched. It was interesting to compare it exactly with the previous model when I went to Farnborough Airport recently. In the car park was an L200 with a trucktop and sporting the two-tone bodywork that was all the rage back in the day.

Nigel Fryatt – editor

The anniversary of the purchase of our Toyota Rav4 led to something of a marathon drive, and a great week’s exploring and off-roading in Scotland. A tough test for a vehicle that clocked up the 100,000-mile mark on our return to Surrey. Best of all, however, the Toyota never missed a beat!

The purchase of the Toyota in June last year was always designed to give Sue a daily driver, and one that would allow her to actually get to this magazine’s Kelsey offices in deepest, darkest Kent regardless of what the weather brings. The previous year, the snow had virtually cut-off the Kelsey offices for a couple of days, to anything but a 4×4. And the Toyota was Sue’s choice, and personally I have always thought the thing a ‘nice’ car and very suitable for a woman… somehow it’s not that tough for us hairy-chested folk. What we threw at it this June, however, has made me reconsider.

Hils Everitt – Editor at Large

It’s always good to have a pick-up truck on the 4×4 fleet. The pick-up is a classic example of the 4×4 genre, with all the current models still offering us our beloved four-wheel-drive low range and good quality off-roading ability combined with wonderful practicality for anyone who needs a vehicle to earn its keep.

Our previous long-term truck was the double cab Isuzu Rodeo. At the lower end of the truck price range, the Rodeo offers good, solid, honest, no-nonsense performance, even if it is a little rough around the edges with its somewhat uninspiring interior and rather bulky exterior looks. But now, our new long-term, double cab pick-up has taken us from that boxy Isuzu at one end of the range to the brashy, chrome-adorned L200, a vehicle that caused a real stir when it first appeared on the market in 2006.

Bob Cooke – contributor

It’ll never get up there,” said Derek, as he looked up at the steep climb up to the high plateau on the eastern side of the Boxgrove site. “Of course it will,” I said.

“But Eugene’s misfiring,” Derek replied. “No it isn’t, those old side-valve engines do idle in a funny off-beat way.” I’d sorted the misfire just weeks before, by the simple expedient of cleaning the plugs, and Eugene was running like a train again – not in the sense that it was blowing steam, but it was making its usual irregular ‘chuff chuff’ noises. “Just put it in second and boot it,” I said.

Louise Limb – contributor

As the year leaps optimistically forward from spring to summer, the weather taking alarmingly retrograde steps as it does so, I note that my amazing rear tyres are still not ready for renewal; after three months of testing they cling on to their 4mm of tread depth like little ones to their mother’s apron strings. I’m not complaining; the cleverly designed Bridgestone Duelers have rolled on for well over 54,000 miles. I have a sneaking suspicion that the front tyres were replaced too soon, wasting me nigh on £250, even if I did fret at the time that the winter ice might get the better of my attempts at road holding if there was less than a chasm between the channels of rubber.