i m o to r s [g g ^ g ^ w w w .m o to r s to d a y .c o .u k feature
Recalling my worst ever car journey.. W
HILE undeniably short, the worst journey'of my life remains eternally etched in my memory, returning when
M G R O V E R S
2005 (05) r^G ZS 1 2 0 f 4 door. X power grey, 15.000 miles, rear spoiler, alloy wlieels. air con. remote locking. CD player, front fog lamps, parking aid ....................................................................................................£6,995 2005 (0.5) MG Z 0 1 .4 10 5 TR O PH Y S E . 5dr. silver. 8,000 mis. air con, half leather, CD autochanger, 1 7 ” alloys, side sk irts___SOLD 2004 (54) RO VER 45 T 0 113 CLUB S E D IES E L , 5 doors, Rrefrost, 14,350 miles, climate control, alloys .......................................................£6,995 2004 (54) M G Z R 10 5, 3dr, ignition blue, 10,500 miles, electric v/indows, remote locking, side s k ir ls .......................................................£5,995 2004 (53) ROVER 25 2.0 IL D IES E L , black, 25.700 miles, electric sunroof, windows and mirrors, alloy v/hecis, remote locking .£4,995 2004 (04) RO VER 2 5 1 .4 IL (10 3 PS) 5 door, nightfire red, 23,200 mis. Electric sunroof and windows, CD...................•
................SOLO 2003 (53) M G TP 1 .8 120 S TEPSPE ED AUTO , trophy blue. 25,000 miles, leather'seats, C O , player, alloy wheels. A6S Brakes . .£7,995 2002 (52) RO VER 2 5 1 .4 IL . 5 door, 26.000 miles, sienna gold, electric windows, elec mirrors, air con. remote locking . . . .£3,650 2002 (02) RO VER 4 5 1 .8 IX L , 5dr, copper red, 31,000 miles, one owner, full history, aircon. alloys, sunroof
..............................................SOLO 2001 51 R O V ER 75 CONNO ISSEUR S E diesel auto white gold, 47,000 mis, beige leather, alloy wheels, cruise control, sat nav, TV, parking aid . drivers intelligence pack, electric rear blind. . .£6995 2000 (W) RO VER 2 5 1 .4 1 ,5 dr, alumina green, 50,700 miles, electric windows & sunroof, H C L .................................................................£2,250 2000 (X) RO V ER 2 5 1 .6 iS, 5 dr. British racing green, 33,400 miles. Elec Windows & sunroof, RCL, alloys ....................................£2,750
O T H E R S
ever I see a Renault 5 GT Turbo (a fine, if some what brittle motor car of yore...). Having previously harboured no malice
towards this car, events of March,' 1992, ensured th a t GTs now leave me with sweaty palms whenever I spot one gently oxidising away to itself. The day had started innocuously enough with
a visit to Mel’s mushroom farm, an underground edifice that acted as a kind of purgatory for the written off and stolen vehicles of Brighton, whence they would arise from the bowels of the ea rth with new identities and once again bestride the A23 like wheeled behemoths. Granadas, Senators, the odd Jag; they were all
down there somewhere, the arc welder picking out their tarnished brightwork among the gloom. The constituent parts of three written off Renault 5 GT Turbos was sitting in pride of place, its resprayed paintwork a deep lustrous red after a buff with the magic mop. Although a bit low rent now, this was a major
vehicle back in the early ’90s, and it was now time for a shakedown before it met the unsus pecting customer. Being clean and sporting a newly blacked set of remoulds, I had figured that this would comprise a trundle around the block, some knob twiddling and a bit of revers ing backwards and forwards to see if anything fell off, but I had not reckoned on Mel and his psychotic driving tendencies. To Mel, every trip behind the wheel offered
the opportunity to touch immortality, to embrace the “No Fear” T-shirt mantra. The car hammered out of the yard, and down the single track road, high hedges bouncing back the fren zied scream of the engine while Mel inspected the progress of the driver’s electric window. Second gear caught the turbo in full chat and
the resulting torque steer sent the Renault weaving drunkenly towards the T-junction of Henfield High Street at a frankly inadvisable lick, before the brakes caught the car in time to send it left around the corner, scattering pedes trians and cyclists in all directions. Somewhat surprisingly, I was neither scream
ing to slow down or enjoying the ride. I had reached a zen like state of catatonia and would have probably had an out-of-body experience had Mel been able to plumb in the factory fit sliding glass sunroof to glance down a t myself through. He just drank Iron Bru and drove inexorably faster. I was starting to run a mental sweep on exact
Automotive Marketing at its best ssred □1SSS 44S4GO Automotive Marketing at its best uantest
with a different set of requirements, and a successful product must satisfy them both. On the one hand, you have individuals
who want to put their pick-up to work. Buying decisions for them come down to issues like durability, reliability, load capacity and running costs. On the other hand, you have the leisure-
I orientated market, in which buyers may or may not need their pick-up to act as a commercial vehicle but will certainly want it as family transport or for outdoor leisure pursuits. This group values comfort, equipment
levels, refinement and styling - and in the Toyota Hilux range it is the Invincible derivatives that are tasked with giving them what they want. There was a time when you were lucky
I t was a serene moment. Time did indeed
ly what we were going to crash into. Our fre quent excursions into the oncoming traffic made that the favourite, closely followed by the back of whatever was in front, a tree, a bridge para pet or, finally, the scenery in general. 'When it did materialise, the accident was
spectacular in its sheer banality. A mini round about beckoned, and a voice to my right intoned that this was a 50 m.p.h. shot across the painted white dot. The exit to the right was obscured by a pile of bricks and as we approached the go/no go decision point, the accelerator was decisively floored. Back in 1972, the Austin Maxi was a popular,
if somewhat stolid choice of the middle aged family man with a buy-British bent. Its combi nation of tried and tested mechanicals and cargo swallowing ability endeared it to the public, who bought them in'not inconsiderable quantities. You do not see so many of them these days,
but there it was, lumbering asthmatically in from stage right on its fateful way to the local Pease Pottage scrapyard. In reacting to this, the 5 was pitched into a hard left turn. Cue the understeer. More lock was applied and then the steering lock clicked on.
seem to stand still as the car hit the kerb and began its graceful pirouette skywards. A full 360 degrees later, and still airborne, the
car impacted upon a pillar box, and wrapped itself around it so comprehensively that the rear offside wheel was buried into the headlight before the impact of the Maxi had snapped the car in half. The front of the car tipped onto the passenger side, my left leg was trapped and clear liquid dripped steadily onto my face. ■ As petrol fumes filled the air I realised I had
survived the crash, bu t now I was toast. I remember yelling for someone to get me out. Despite struggling, we were both stuck fast. I woke up in Brighton General Hospital with
nothing worse than a broken sternum and mem ory loss. Mel had a punctured lung, a ruptured spleen and two fractured legs. I was covered in Iron Bru and had suffered the indignity of soil ing myself in the ambulance, but was otherwise surprisingly okay. Prom this episode, I learned two things that
together made a dangerous combination. Firstly, never get into a car with a myopic, speed-crazed Malaysian bodger and, secondly, that no matter how bulletproof you think you are, somewhere out there is an Austin Maxi with your name on it...
to get vinyl seats and a glovebox in an entry-level pick-up, but today even a bog- standard Toyota Hilux offers a car-like specification and the range-topping Invin cible, offered exclusively in 4x4 double cab form, is loaded to the Gunwales. Tinted rear windows, an in-dash six-CD
autochanger, leather steering wheel, front fog lamps, chrome tubular sidebars and a Thatcham alarm are included among other things. The model is aimed at buy ers who would use their pick-up as they would an SW, a t least for part of the time, and Toyota has equipped it accord
ingly. Today’s Hilux is substantially bigger
than the model it replaced and this has given the designers scope to create a more user-friendly interior. The rear bench is impressively spacious,
offering a higher seating position that will be far more agreeable on longer journeys. Seating three adults across the back is still going to be a squeeze, but you could do it
|in an emergency and there is plenty of space for a trio of children. A major problem with pick-ups of old was the absence of any meaningful secure
I storage space, but the Hilux double cab addresses this with a rear bench that folds
Chrome on the range I
T is not easy being a pick-up truck in the modern marketplace. 'There are two distinct groups of buyers, each
By^STEVE WALKER
up when not in use to create a decent sized load area behind the driver.
The driving position in the Hilux is
excellent, with the firm seats giving good support and both the steering and the gear-change will be a revelation to anyone
accustomed to piloting a previous genera tion model. The rough edges that constantly grated
with drivers of pick-ups past have been smoothed over to the extent that Hilux would no longer disgrace itself dynamical ly in the company of the average family 4x4 passenger car. The majority of Hilux models are pow
ered by a 2.5-litre D4-D diesel engine, a second generation common-rail unit that produces 120 b.h.p., but the Invincible gets a 3.0-litre D-4D unit with a more palatable lYObhp. The leisure-orientated contingent at
which the Invincible is aimed will value the extra power that this engine lays on. It pulls smoothly from low revs and is rarely found out even when the need arises to accelerate up a gradient or overtake dawdling traffic on the motorway. With a substantial load on the back,
the benefit of the 3.0-litre’s extra power is felt even more strongly and anyone wish ing to tow with their Hilux should accept no substitute. In its bid to corner the leisure-orientat
ed sector of the UK pick-up market Toy ota’s Hilux Invincible gets off to a good start. It has got the imposing looks, the interior space and the build quality nailed down. It is comfortable and practical, andbeing a Toyota you woud have to imagine that it will be ridiculously reliable as well. The 3.0-litre engine is a powerful performer and does a commendable job of powering the substantial Hilux in an unfussy manner. Even the best modern pick-ups offer a
more rugged driving e.xperience that your average family 4x4, but the gap is closing and buyers should give one a try before they pass up in the extra utility models like the Hilux Invincible can offer.
red 0*iaSS 44S4GO w w w .m o to r s to d a y .c o .u k 39
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05 G O L F 1 .6 S E E s i , 5dr, diamond black . . . £12,495
07 FO X 1 .2 URBAN, sunshine..............£6,995
01 L U P 0 1 .6 GTi (125 B H P ) , black .£6,495 06 G O L F 1 .9 S T d i , 5dr, Steel grey .£12,995 06 G O L F 1 .0 S E T d i , 5dr. reflex silver.................. ..........................................................................................£13,995 06 G O L F 1 .9 S E T d i , 5dr, Shadow b lu e ............... £ 13 ,79 5
06 G O L F 1 .9 Tdi Sport (105ps), Sdr, shad-
06 NEW PO LO 1 .2 S , Olympic blue .£8,495 06 NEW P O LO 1 .2 S , grey anthracite £8,495 06 NEW P O LO 1 .2 E , reflex silver. . .£ 7,495 06 NEW PO LO 1 .2 S (55ps), diamond black .............................................................................................£8,495
06 NEW P O LO 1 .2 S (55ps), grey anthracite .............................................................................................£8,495
06 NEW P O LO 1 .2 S (55ps), 5dr, shadow b lu e ...................................................................................£8,995 06 NEW P O LO 1 .2 S (55ps), grey anthracite .............................................................................................£8,995
river b lu e ...................................................................£14,495 04 G O L F 1 .9 S T d i , reflex silver . .£ 10 ,79 5 06 G O L F Plus 1 .9 Tdi S (105ps), diamond black .............................................................................£12,995 0 7 G O L F 1 .4 Tsi G T , blue graphite £16,495 06 G O L F 1 .4 S ( 7 5 p s ) , diamond b fa c k ____ ................................' . ..........................................................£9,995 04 G O L F 1 .4 S , tornado r e d .....................£8,995
06 06 C e l l 1.6 SE FSI S -a n c . N uw FLiver I lliic, a ir -c o n , cruise c on tro l, 15-incli alloys. 14,219 miles.
£13,995
0 7 N EW B E E T L E 1 .6 LU N A , deep black .
06 NEW P O L 0 1 .2 (55ps), Sdr, Olympic blue ..................................................................] . . '^ .' .£ 1 1 ,9 9 5 .............................................................................................£8.995 06 N e'w ’ b EC T L e V.6 LU NA ,' laser blue .’ . . . .
06 NEW P O L 0 1 .2 (55ps), Sdr, reflex silver ................................................................................................ .£ 1 1 ,9 9 5 .............................................................................................£ 7 ,49 5 05 N EW B E E T L E 1 .9 TO Cabriolet, reflex sil-
06 N EW P O LO 1 .2 E (55ps), 5dr, Olympic blue ..........................................................................£ 7 ,49 5
v e r ...................................................................................£14,995 ___________________________________
05 NEW P O LO 1 .4 S (75ps), 5dr, reflex sil- v e r ......................................................................................£9,995 04 P O LO 1 .2 E (55hltp), flash red . .£5,995 06 J E T T A 2 .0 Tdi S E , 4dr saloon, reflex sil- 04 P O L 0 1 .4 Twist, reflex silver ...£ 6 ,9 9 5 v e r ...................................................................................£15,995 03 P O L 0 1 .4 Twist, indigo blue . . .£0,595 O® J E T T A 2 .0 , reflex silver . . . . . . .£15,995 06 J E T T A 1 .9 Tdi S , 4dr saloon, platinum
grey................................................................. £13,495 06 J E T T A 1.9 Tdi S , 4dr saloon, deep black
54 CtTROEHXSARA I.6I DESIRE, met m'nt green, mom;^ hrtdibock, oir ton. p/i, e/m,
T MERCEDES C U 230 SPORT CABRIO^l^'tM S4rti, ESH. fuO Bkstk leoher inlerio( PAS, l/VC ouise ranlTol CO, oltryt............................................................................................................... .£11,500
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p0_ W VOIVO C70 2 .3 15 CT COKVERTIBLL 2dg oirto. met saver. MOT 05/08,2 cnmen. W i ^ e t
inieriof, cruse tonltoL oBoy wheels, e/w. e/m, p/v raio/CO raAkiwngef, o/c. IN!...............
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tM njl e/«indows, t7m. power sleeting, traction tontnJ. SUPER MOTOR!............XS.99S S3 f lAT Sm o 2.4 ABARTH 20V, 5dr. SUE SPEED, 29,000 mUn. service history. Full leother
, «eea outo, 56k ndes. H leoiher. 2 owners, o/c. ABS, alloy wheels.
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penotfelectrksinroof.iotnov,o!Ioys ...................................................................C5.800 VOIKSWACEN C O U 1.9 CTTOI1 lO b l^ met gtey, MOT 03 2008, ASS. e/w, e.'
"«?|3;WWv»coftfreI,raorts$e<ifs.$UPtt£lRIVE........................................................................£4,000 S AUDI A3 U SC 5 dw , ion Sue, PAS, e/w. oiloys, MOT 11/07, high maes with Fufl Aufi history,good c
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lANOROVER'irVeUHDER U X n , ’ s'iii'irwCMIwiberkiterio^84.000'tniles, J ^ [ J O K E E JEEP 7 S TURBO DIESEC block. PAS. EW. oBeyi. 12 mthiMOk wperh diesd
< sonTb>;3i fai iVei '7^'SiL 02 WRTSLER PT CRUISER 1 2 CRD U D , mot. SiKer. leother/suede Imeriof. PAS, e/w,
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- J r , PAS, CO. low ins. low lax silver........................................................£t,995
2001 51 MITSUBISHI SPACE STAfl 1 .6 H IH A G E , special epilipn, P A S . E/VV cJlocliing ........................... .......................£2,995
R PEUGEOT 405 2.0 IX EST, PAS, C L EW, O 'M " ........................................ ..............................£1,495
North'Valley Road, Colne (opp Matalan) Tel ©1282- 863@.T2 i m r^ ^ S ^ ygIr'iT^ K2!iS.'PAi'^d a
^ 5 S IC AUTOMATIC savef/llue md, PAS. EW »o 4 dosb. A/C £3 800
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w.ongnt|Pw<.J» n M VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT a 2.0, 4dr
> lolsoFbinsI................... SERVICE, MOT PREPARATION AND VALETING WE BUY CARS FOR ................. Lookers Burnley
Accrington Road, Burnley. Telephone: 0800 019 3139.
www.lookersburnley.vollcswagen.co.uk
............... ...........................................£3.200 ,2
R VAUXHALL ASTRA 1.6 ARCTIC1C 5 dooi htf Il met go^ , 58,000 min with service Morv. r,e/m. power MOT 9108. In end August 07, PAS, I,e/w, iMcoo,(i^
gfeoltw.borg«n .................X 1,39S
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53 VAUXHAU ASTRA 1.6 QUB 16V ESTATE, met block, FSH, 1 owner, PAS, e/w, cir ton, wperb loeiing estate, boigoin, lock cl this pike........... .......................
-M.800
9 8 R RENAULT ESPACE 2.2 RT-*dT, 5dr, mcnuol estote, d«el. a/c, oDoy wheels. lOCO ^ k h S v u r ^ w . e/m. p/s. toot reJs, remote lockina first to drive wifl buy!.................0 ,8 0 0 R E N A im S P A a 2.1 TURBO 0 R L Sdr, monod. Sesel 7 seots, gtee^ SERVICE HISTORY, fn & tested, e/w, e/itt, power steering. SUPER FAMILY DIESEL people cartwH.........................£1,700
05 PEUGEOT 10 0 7 1 .4 DOLCt petrel monuol. metiavtt48TO maes, PAS, EW.elec^sW^ . . .. .
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330 D S t Mel Blue, grey leolhij £/W, E/M, oDoft superb perfumcnte ord ------------------- ........................................................ . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . , , . r . . . . . . . . . V . . . ~ . . . .C 7 . 6 0 0 VVAUXHAUCORSA
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98 S MERCEDES BENZ AI60 Aveetgorde ACS Sii. momid, cronbeoy, hotditxxk, 2 ownen, holf leother sects, or con ASS, woNrote oiloys, fSH, super tw loc money!!...................... -£3,800 99 T VOLVO S80 2.9 SE AUTO, Sa«ef. 1081^ FSH, Caffibeh chong^ Sot Nov, elec seois. Full ■ '
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‘ ' ' oirco^i/roci ................. j ...^ .w j^ .X 3 ,5 0 0
Blue, 03,000 miles, some ' londition! £1,600
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06 G O L F 1 .5 S Fs i, Sdr, diamond black . . . . , , ,1,5 •
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£14 295 ..................n e w PA S SA T ESTA T E 2 .0 Tdi S E
06 G O L F 1 .6 S Fsi, reflex silver . . .£ 13 ,495 (■f40ps), steel g re y .........................................£18,495 06 G O L F 1 .6 S Fsi, new river blue .£ 13,995 gg N EW PA S SA T ESTA T E 1 .9 Tdi S (105ps), 05 G O L F 1 .6 S E F s i , Sdr, steel grey£11,995 reflex silver ...........................................................£13,995
WRENAULTCUO M E l » t idJotedmeC 0 ,EW F A k im ^ 6 tr *s Ia , 12nrlMlea£1,89S V VA IWUUC ORS A 1.0 CLUB, 3 dow hali(i. blotk, 49k, V^evy, PAS, e/w. cloys X 1 .70 0
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04 G O L F 2 .0 GT F s l , diamond black£11,995 06 G O L F 1 .6 Fsi (115ps) Luna,
..........................................................................................£ 12 ,79 5 0 7 NEW PA S SA T 2 .0 Tdi Sport (140ps) I /r ’
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