THE GOOD LIFE Driving


short space of time, generating a lot more an- ticipation than your average start-up. Maybe that’s why, when Ineos invited Spear’s to take a ride in a prototype, we said yes. The Grena- dier isn’t due to be properly launched until the summer, but curiosity got the better of us. In the metal, the Grenadier is longer, wider and lower than the old Land Rover Defender, giving it a more squat appearance. Those few centimetres mean a lot in the passenger seat – the first thing you do in an old Defender is open the window to stick your elbow out, but the Grenadier has plenty of room. The other thing you notice is the helicopter-inspired in- terior, including a set of switches mounted in the roof. Very cool and very distinctive. My driver today is Rob Barr, retired fire-


The Ineos Grenadier’s helicopter-inspired interior


and Ineos will continue to produce Smart electric cars under contract. A loss of face perhaps; but ultimately win-win. Then there’s the design. The new Grena- dier is – how can I put this politely? – ‘ex- tremely derivative’. In other words, it looks like a Defender. Ineos’s head of design, Toby Ecuyer, argues that it ‘comes from the same place, uses the same rules’ as the Defender, so of course it looks familiar. Jaguar Land Rover, however, doesn’t see it that way: it took Ineos to court, claiming the old Defender was its trademark design. That argument was thrown out by a High Court judge in 2020, but Jaguar Land Rover continues to pursue legal avenues, prompting Mark Tennant, commercial director at Ineos Automotive, to say in a recent interview: ‘We are filling a po- sition in the market that was abdicated by JLR… We would like JLR to have confidence in the direction they set for their brand and recognise that we are different.’ Away from the news, Ineos has been get- ting on with its new car and nerds like me have been getting quietly excited by the line-up of technical partners. There’s Magna Steyr in Austria, brought onboard to develop the


chassis (the same company helped Mercedes with its reborn G Wagen). The solid axles are from Carraro, an Italian supplier to tractor and excavator manufacturers; and the engines come from BMW – a choice of two 3.0-litre straight-sixes, in both petrol and diesel con- figurations. A partnership with Hyundai is also exploring a hydrogen fuel-cell version. So the Grenadier has gone from pub con- versation to credible newcomer in a very


‘By doing things properly with world-class


partners, the Ineos Grenadier promises to be a serious


proposition when it goes on sale’


fighter and off-road instructor. He takes off across the country estate parkland and starts tackling hills and gullies. Three things strike me from the passenger seat: first, the Grena- dier’s ride is incredible. The words ‘rugged’ and ‘solid’ usually go hand in hand with ‘crude’, but there’s a real sophistication to the way the Grenadier’s suspension soaks up the surface, almost floating over the bumps and lumps. Then there’s the off-road traction. Modern


Land Rovers such as the new Defender use electronics to control wheel-spin, but the Grenadier has gone down a more old-fash- ioned mechanical route. This means bomb- proof engineering, but the downside is weight. We’ll have to see if the Grenadier feels heavy on the road, but on steep, wet grass as slippery as ice, it never hesitated. And then the engine. Ineos appears to


have done a great job of integrating several suppliers into a single unified car, not least the BMW straight-six. Rob was giving the 4x4 demo in a petrol-engined example, and its low-down torque – that brawny, brute force that off-road enthusiasts love – was as impressive as any turbodiesel.


By doing things properly with world-class


partners, the Ineos Grenadier promises to be a serious proposition when it goes on sale in a few months’ time, and at around £50,000 in the UK, it’ll be competitively priced too. In the meantime, its existence is a testament to what guts and determination can do – plus a billion quid, of course. On first acquaintance, I raise a toast to Sir Jim’s pluck. S


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