10 YEARS AGO AUG 2012

The mag was testing soft-roaders back then but our core value lay with the ‘real’ 4WD vehicles and this issue we had a look at the petrol-powered Jeep Wrangler, a few Tritons, a done-up 200 Series Cruiser, along with a well-worked over Land Rover 101. A bit of an ugly duckling, the forward-control Rover was never really popular here or anywhere else, but the owners of this rig set out to make it a good touring vehicle, which it seems they achieved.

For destination stories we took to the Madigan Line which back then, going by the pics, a track was beginning to form between the marked camps; now it’s a well-formed route – not graded but easier. We also checked out Paddys Ranges State Park in Victoria, while Moonie listed four of his best remote 4WD trips. They included Normanton to Borroloola in the Gulf Country, Cape York (of course), the Gibb River Road (ditto) and across the great Australian Bight between Esperance in Western Australia and Ceduna in South Australia. All four would still make his list if asked to name four great tracks in Australia!