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!

Hils Everitt – editor

It’s been a while since the magazine welcomed a small ‘budget’ 4×4 onto the fleet. The last time was several years ago when we had a project Suzuki SJ that had been treated to a suspension lift and prepped for plenty of off-roading trips. That rather basic and nightmare-to-drive member of the team did spend rather a lot of time in its Croydon lock-up, mainly because nobody wanted to drive it anywhere! It was great once the tarmac was left far behind, but, boy, on that tarmac it was hellish. I only had to drive it a short distance once and have never been so delighted to switch off the ignition and fall out of the dreadfully uncomfortable seat and get rid of the buzzing in my ears. 

I do have a certain fondness for diminutive 4x4s. Perhaps it’s because I am on the short side and everyone always says: ‘Hey Hils, that really suits you; your sort of vehicle!’ Well, yeah, it is but I do also like our big trucks, even if I may look a little bizarre driving them.

Phil Weeden – editorial director

Having had the Rodeo for about a week and been thoroughly impressed with its workman-like capabilities and its sturdiness, it was time for a bit of fun. We were invited to a wedding up in deepest Shropshire – a truly lovely part of the world and a great place to camp. We found a site about four miles from the wedding venue near Market Drayton so headed up there with the Rodeo laden with all our posh togs, sleeping bags and tent. But not just any tent: we’d dropped by DVK, a company that specialises in retailing pick-up and SUV tents. We thought we’d test out one of the company’s pick-up tents; dubbed the Sportz Truck Tent II and made by Napier Enterprises. It sits in the loadbed and extends out of the back of the vehicle with an awning – it’s a perfectly effective and compact solution to off-the-ground camping and a cheap alternative to roof tents.

Garry Stuart – freelance photographer

The French equivalent of the MoT test is called Controle Technique. It differs from the MoT in a few ways. For a start, a vehicle has to be tested once every two years. If it fails, you have up to two months to get it fixed and re-tested. The Controle Technique is not conducted by approved garages as it is for the MoT test in the UK. The tests are done at Controle Technique Depots by technicians that are effectively government officials. These centres only perform tests, they do not adjust, alter or carry out repairs at all.

The biennial date for the Terrano’s CT was looming, so an appointment was made for the 30-minute test at our local CT centre in Brioux. There was one obvious fault that had to be addressed prior to the test, that of the cracked windscreen incurred while parked at a Howlin’ Wolf Challenge event. Windscreen replacement was covered under our French insurance company, and a quick phone call was all it needed to get it booked into A+Glass, to get the ‘Pare-Brise’ replaced.

Ann Lockley – contributor

Within days of writing the first piece on my Range Rover for the August ’10 issue, ‘Kels’ and I finished our 15,000-mile/fourmonth trip, arriving back in Victoria, British Columbia in one piece.

A couple of days later, Alice Gugelev and Jay Shapiro with kids Maya and Kurt from the Muskoka Foundation came for a visit in their Eco-Roamer. Because of the size of the Roamer and the tight Victoria streets, we all climbed into the Range Rover to sightsee around the city. Near the end of the day, we came across a sweet little 1982 Pinzgauer 712w for sale. We stopped, crawled all over it, commented on it being a great blank canvas with which to build an overlanding vehicle and even discussed how to finance the purchase and build. The day ended fine with Kels parked back in the driveway at home.

Louise Limb – contributor

Let’s face it, the best of the off-road Suzukis, the Jimny, would not have managed to transport adequately all the posh people and polite luggage that my Grand Vitara has been required to do in the last couple of busy weeks. Dressed in her finest white ribbons, my Grand served as wedding transport for parents of the bride (husband and self, handling the well-placed pedals perfectly in a nice pair of cream high heels), along with a heap of assorted bridal dress covers, shoes, hatboxes, floral arrangements and other people’s luggage – all was accomplished easily with the back seats down and no damage to anyone’s bits and pieces. One look in the boot space of other, inferior cars revealed a squash of satin and suitcases, followed by requests to ‘please, possibly, fit this or that in the back of your 4×4’. Hah! Not just useful in snow then…?

Bob Cooke – contributor

Having had a two-inch suspension lift fitted to my Jeep, courtesy of Trailmaster and Surrey Off Road, it was time to put the new system to the test off-road.

The climb is a short one, but deeply-rutted and with a sharp breakover at the top; so sharp and leading to such a maze of high humps and deep hollows that we’d never dared take the Cherokee up there before for fear of knocking off what’s left of the exhaust system. This time, however, the old Jeep was quite ready for it, boasting its new 50mm Trailmaster suspension lift. Knowing that even with the upgrade the Jeep would get cross-axled on the way up I pointed to the spot where I wanted Derek to aim the offside front wheel and told him to floor the accelerator. As the Cherokee flew up we could see the suspension at work, the longer front springs allowing inches more articulation up front, so there was hardly a moment’s hesitation and just a bit of scrabbling for grip as the truck crested the rise and came to rest teetering on the edge of the big hole down to the left.

Nigel Fryatt –  contributor

The route to the campsite confirmed it implicitly. We had been right to buy a decent 4×4 before testing out our brand new Vango 400 tent. And so had the driver in the mud-splattered, lifted, Hilux that we had just met. “The track’s no good for a car, but you’ll be fine ‘in that’,” he said, somewhat disparagingly we felt, pointing to our RAV4.

And we weren’t attempting any of this ‘wild camping’, this was just a standard campsite close to West Wittering beach on the south coast, but the recent heavy rains had turned one route to our farmer’s field into something of an enjoyable, muddy greenlane. It was certainly a muddy baptism, but as you would expect, it was nothing that the Toyota couldn’t cope with. It was interesting, however, to note that the addition of the aluminium side runners does significantly cut down ground clearance. Personally I hate them, but my partner Sue’s in favour and it’s technically ‘her’ car, so they’ll be staying – and they do, at least provide early warning when driving off-road, useful when going over a ridge into a rather deep ‘puddle’.

Phil Weeden – editorial director

Phil Weeden editorial director I’d been looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the Rodeo. When we acquired the company Mazda BT-50 pick-up in 2008, the Rodeo was firmly on our shortlist. It’s better looking than the Mazda and the 3.0-litre turbo diesel feels uber strong, with a purposeful induction roar, a decent turn of speed, plenty of traction and reasonable refinement on the motorway. Only a killer lease price made us choose the Mazda over the Isuzu in the end.

It’s been well documented in previous reports from Hils and Bob that we’re not fans of all the chrome accoutrements, and I certainly agree. The grille is fine, but the tail-light trims look a little tacky in my view and the sidesteps look too bulky as well as prohibiting the Rodeo’s otherwise excellent off-road ability. What a pity that the market for these pick-ups seems to be dictating this level of bling…