INEOS Grenadier: The adventure vehicle conceived in a London pub goes for a Highland fling
What do you do when your favourite off-roader goes out of production? Build your own, of course…
The ethos “built on purpose” runs through everything the INEOS Grenadier stands for, that purpose seemingly to take you as far off the beaten track as your dreams dare go. While the classic Land Rover Defender influence is clear enough it’s engineered more like a Mercedes G-Class, while tapping into the spirit of the J70 Toyota Land Cruiser as well. Fans of all these legendary off-roaders (and left cold by modern SUVs) are very much the Grenadier’s target audience, the fact the reaction from many on first acquaintance is to crawl underneath to inspect its mechanical bits suggesting they’re reaching the right people.
To showcase its talents INEOS flew in journalists from all over the world to participate in a relay from the northern tip of Scotland to the Belgravia pub in which the idea for the Grenadier was mooted, and from which it takes its name. Doing so in mid-January demonstrated bloody-minded determination to prove trifles like the weather can’t stop a Grenadier on a mission. Our leg from Inverness to Loch Lomond via jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery in the 32,000-acre Adverikie estate demonstrably proved you don’t need to leave the UK to enjoy world-class scenery.
Controversially leave the UK is exactly what INEOS figurehead Jim Ratcliffe did when it came to out-sourcing production of the Grenadier. But the sad truth is if you want to build a Defender-like vehicle in this day and age it seems you’re better off entrusting it to a Franco-German workforce with easy access to the European automotive industry supply chain.
The chance to follow in our wheeltracks and enjoy a Grenadier on a private Scottish hunting estate will very much depend on who you know, though there are 4x4 tour operators who may open doors on that score. In truth, though, even this was a little tame for what INEOS wants owners to do with its new vehicle, as evidenced by the blank canvas on which you can map out your own off-road adventures, no matter how wild.
Two Belstaff-branded models cater to the lifestylists and posers but real expedition types will likely prefer the two-seat Utility Wagon or the basic Station Wagon as a basis for a personalised overland build. And here the extensive Grenadier accessories catalogue is your friend, optional Rough and Smooth packs respectively adding diff locks and a few creature comforts and everything from winches to roof racks and kayak carriers to sand ladders can be bolted or clipped on via the neat ‘utility belt’ body fixings. It’s all been clearly thought through, and the fact a start-up can launch with such a comprehensive package of extras from the get-go is genuinely impressive.
At the wheel it feels like the real deal as well, the components all sourced from respected suppliers in the off-road and commercial vehicle world in the name of over-engineered dependability. Live axles, diff locks, a low-range transfer case and the body-on-frame construction make it seemingly unstoppable off-road but, in the Belstaff editions at least, the on-road refinement is impressive for a vehicle of this type. Smooth six-cylinder engines from BMW help here, there being a choice of petrol or diesel options. True, it’s no car-like SUV to drive. But nor will you be skinning elbows and knees on bare metal as you might in a trad Defender.
If, as INEOS hopes, overland adventurers take the Grenadier to their hearts and it delivers on the promised ruggedness it could be onto a winner. Leaving the question, where would you take yours?
2023 has truly been a landmark year for automotive adventures. Bold Detourists have, quite literally, driven to the ends of the earth.