Snow Mobile
The Volkswagen bakkie’s almost ten years old, and to mark the occasion, the Germans have released a new model: the Canyon in Honey Orange metallic. Reason enough for GQ to take it for a spin
TO MY LEFT IS A SHEER DROP, ACCENTUATED BY SEVERAL HUNDRED METRES OF PROTRUDING ROCKS. I’ve managed to tackle a steep, sheer stone face, which wasn’t easy given my tyres are muddy. Now the track, only slightly broader than the Amarok I’m driving, winds up toward the blue sky. I reach the snow line, the anks of the mountains blanketed in white. I’ll only enjoy it at its fullest when I get to the top.
You’d think I was in the Austrian Alps or the Canadian Rockies; but I’m about two-and-a-half hours northeast of Cape Town, just outside Ceres, in the private Matroosberg Nature Reserve.
e challenging 4x4 trail to the top, 2 240m above sea level, is open year-round, but in June and July, a er heavy rains combined with low temperatures, the landscape transforms into a snowy winter wonderland.
For the time being, there’s only oneway tra c on the mountain and access is controlled by strict marshalls, but later, in the a ernoon, people will drive back down it. Trust me you don’t want to meet another 4x4 on this narrow, steep dirt road with deep ruts, lled with icy water and covered in snow.
When I drove here from Cape Town, I thoroughly enjoyed the Amarok Canyon’s potent 3.0-L. V6 power plant on the windy Du Toitskloof Pass. Its torque’s amazing, it pulls out of bends with ease. Its Zf-sourced 8-speed gearbox shi s smoothly and at precisely the right time. e only thing to remind you you’re driving a pickup is the rough ride, especially on bumpy Bainskloof Pass. But with a heavy load in the back, the ride feels smoother.
e rst Amarok was launched in September 2010, followed by the 3.0-L. V6
TDI 4Motion in 2017, then the Canyon’s the latest edition of the well-accepted Volksie bakkie. It has an overboost functionality with 180kw and 580Nm, on-demand and for ten seconds. It’s like what you get in Porsche’s racy family members from Zu enhausen.
It’s a stunner in Honey Orange whose metallic paint job contrasts beautifully with lush green and glittering white backgrounds. It features matteblack door handles, a black radiator grille, chrome-plated body-coloured exterior mirrors, black wheel arches, Canyon decals and unique 17-inch Aragua alloy wheels. My favourites are the partial leather seats with Honey
Orange-coloured stitching and seatbelts with orange seams. Even the black-leather-wrapped steering wheel has orange detailing.
e super-bright standard Bi-xenon headlights pierce through the early-morning mist and darkness, and later in the day, the
LED daytime running lights take over.
On top of the snow-covered mountain is a row of parked 4x4s. People are gunning down the white slopes on bodyboards, building snowmen, making snow angels and having a good time, enjoying this rare sight. e best is yet to come: a long, steep ride back down into the valley.
‘It’s a stunner in Honey Orange whose metallic paint job contrasts beautifully with glittering white backgrounds’