Around our way, in the Welsh countryside and upland areas, there's a need for what I call a proper 4 x4, a genuinely tough utility vehicle. One of my favourite vehicles, which I have never had the need to own is of course the Land Rover Defender, or Series1,2, or 3. There are still many of these around here. I remember a holiday job I had, where we literally did pull trees out of the ground with one and pulled huge static caravans across muddy fields. It seemed there was nothing this thing couldn't do. I've driven a few in terrain that would have initially looked impossible.

But now it's not made anymore and JLR concentrate on the luxury SUV market, having moved away from utility. Even if these vehicles are as capable,( are they?) they're not as practical for an everyday farmer or outdoor person day to day. And they're exteremely expensive to buy and run. And dare I say fragile, stuffed with electronics and over complicated suspension etc. So what is there out there that replaces the Defender as a proper rugged, immensely practical, genuine off roader? That is affordable? That can go anywhere, pull impossible loads and keep doing that for years? To answer my own question, I think that the pick-up truck has taken over that market, the Hi Lux springs to mind as about the toughest thing on the market right now. But I'm no expert, merely writing what I observe. Interested to hear others opinion.