SUNDAY
I’ve spent more time driving off road lately than for years, mainly because I’ve had access to another Jeep Wrangler, this time a white long-wheelbase Rubicon with a folding tent on the roof. I didn’t seek the mobile house (I prefer B&Bs) – it just arrived. The Jeep had high-tech Goodrich off-road tyres, too – noisy on the road but fantastically grippy in mud or on wet grass.
I decided to drive a few easy local byways, a regular pursuit in far-off days when we owned a pair of Land Rovers and our boys were learning to drive. What simple fun it is, easing along sloppy tracks at walking pace, squishing through mud holes in peacefully unimproved locations and treading as lightly as possible. For several hours, I didn’t see a soul. The Wrangler was as good as ever: I’d been wondering what to think of this latest petrol-only UK model because left-handed countries now get a 4xe version with an electrified back axle. It soon dawned on me that being propelled only by a modern petrol engine was placing no limits on my enjoyment – especially since recently I’d read about swathes of 4xes being recalled for electric gremlins.
MONDAY
A fascinating Twitter comment (via Moto Clark and Car Industry Analysis) on Toyota’s perceived slowness at putting a full range of BEVs on sale and depending instead on hybrids. Full-year sales figures for 2022 show that the Japanese giant made no fewer than five of the world’s 10 best-selling cars, claiming first position (RAV4), second (Corolla), fifth (Camry), sixth (Hilux) and eighth (Corolla Cross) with these allegedly unsuitable vehicles. That’s a cool 56% of the top 10 sales total – hardly a disaster.
TUESDAY
I’ve joined the Green Lane Association, formed for people like me who want to find and legally use green lanes. A brochure I picked up at the Gaydon Land Rover Show sold me on the idea: its cover featured a Dacia Duster 4x4 like mine, rolling happily along a byway. You pay £48 to join this dynamic, like-minded community and get access to a neat piece of advice and mapping software called TW2 (trailwise2.co.uk), which helps you find byways in your area.
I know the 4x4 community has strident critics among horse riders, walkers and others, but my impression is that today’s dedicated 4x4 driving parks help curb automotive excesses on byways, and that there’s usually room for everyone.
WEDNESDAY
It has often struck me that some motor bosses are far better at expressing thems
