Overlander 4x4 Magazine

22 April 2022

The May issue of 4x4 magazine is a very special one. The first issue of our magazine was published 40 years ago this month – so to mark the anniversary, we’re taking a look back at some special moments from our early years. There’s a retrospective of Ford’s daredevil attempt to conquer Siberia overland in the middle of winter in a convoy of Mavericks. There’s a reminder of why the Toyota Land Cruiser VX may forever be the greatest motor vehicle ever built. There’s a profile of a hybrid Land Rover from an era when people were still building their own from scratch. We’ve also got the first ever Roadbook from Total Off Road magazine, which merged with 4x4 a few years ago to make it once again the UK’s only all-marques off-road title. ‘Once again’ because back in 1982, Overlander 4x4 (as it was called then) was the first publication of its kind the country had ever seen. We’ve got a fascinating essay on green laning from back then, too, which makes it clear that some things haven’t changed as much as we might think. And we’ve got a test on the then-new Jeep CJ7 – which contrasts nicely with another test, this time on the new Wrangler 80th Anniversary. See, we might only be half as old as Jeep. But that still means 4x4 has been in there for a long, long time. So this is our 40th Anniversary issue – and the start of a new chapter too. And most of all, it’s a magazine that’s packed full of interesting stuff.