Toby Savage – contributor
Driving 4×4 Magazine’s Jeep Wrangler for the first time, it struck me just how much the basic design had improved over the years, while retaining the same core values as my own 1943 model. This was now a truck that was twice as fast and had twice as many gears, as I discovered 30 miles into my first drive, when I looked down at the gear lever and saw the number ‘6’, just below ‘5’ on the gear lever knob. Suddenly, everything was quieter! As it was such a pleasant day and the Jeep was a new toy for me, I opted to have a quick run up a local greenlane, to assess its performance. On the dry, baked earth it was easy, but bouncy going. The big coil springs soaked up the bumps well and the 2.8-litre common rail diesel engine certainly had ample power.
This was just a little teaser for what I had in store for the Jeep while it was in my custody. The real plan was to rejoin my old trialling club, The Viking 4×4 Club, and compete in a Trial. Most people, after a gap in competition of about eight years, and in a new-ish 4×4, would opt for the easier Showroom class, but I was convinced the Jeep could hack it with the big boys in RTV (Road Taxed Vehicles), even though I knew the reputation of the Viking 4×4 Club was pretty formidable. Phone calls were made, event calendars checked and I booked the Jeep and me into the May event at Yarwell, near Peterborough. You will have to wait until a future edition of 4×4 Magazine to read the outcome, but I will just say that Yarwell is one hell of a site and the Jeep is a very accomplished truck!
SPECS
Model: Jeep Wrangler SWB
Spec: 2.8 CRD
Mileage: 28,850
MPG: 26.4
Recent costs: none
Arrived: June ’08
