I REALISE THE LOOK I’VE GONE FOR MAY NOT BE EVERYONE’S CUP OF TEA

to North Stradbroke Island that the military rubber had to go. While the stiff army-spec run-flat Michelins will probably last forever, they are crap on sand and there’s very little bag to be had from dropping tyre pressures. Plus, being on tubed rims meant sand was getting between the sidewall and the tube, making annoying little pinhole punctures.

So a set of 16x8-inch steelies soon came my way, and I opted to shod them in 265/75R16 Mickey Thompson ATZS. A review set of Narva 215 LED spotties also landed on the Perentie’s snout, but some mounting tabs needed to be fabricated to get them into the right place, which wasn’t an issue.

My attraction to the Perentie is based on it being a tough and reliable beast rather than any passion for military history, so the camo canvas top got the flick as well as a lot of the supporting bar work. Long-term plans are to ditch the camo paint job as well, but that will be a while down the track.

The 4BD1 Isuzu engine may be a bulletproof powerplant with a very usable torque curve, but it’s a pretty agricultural thing. It’s loud and lacking finesse, and the torsional stresses it creates means it’s essentially trying to destroy the rest of the vehicle. New engine mounts are on the shopping list. On the other side the coin, the engine is pretty simple and easy to work on.

I realise the Moab crawler meets Land Rover look I’ve gone for may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it makes for a pretty awesome beach buggy.

Mechanical upgrades are sometime down the track, but in the meantime I’ll keep on grinning every time I head out. Even if I do end up with bugs in my teeth.