Beech buggy
Frederic Manby enjoys the high life after loading up the VW Amarok Style 205 PS 2.0 TDI 10sp Automatic 4MOTION with half a ton of logs to put it through its paces.
IN June 2019, a Volkswagen Amarok V6 diesel, standard apart from extended fuel tanks and extra lights, set a new record on the world’s longest road. The German endurance expert Rainer Zietlow drove 14,000 miles on the Panamericana highway between Deadhorse, Alaska, and Ushuaia in Argentina in 10 days and 19 hours. A year later the Amarok went out of production.
This year it returned, now built in South Africa by Ford alongside its Ranger and using Ford diesel engines and 10-speed automatic gearboxes.
Amarok and Ford share few exterior items (the roof is the largest bit) and inside the two manage most of their own furnishings. The Ranger has a brasher front, the Amarok rather calmer but still hard to miss.
This arrangement cuts costs for both companies. An earlier collaboration was the VW Sharan and Ford Galaxy people carriers – those emblems of family contentment as the 1990s turned into this century.
Back then the pick-up in the UK was usually for work rather than lifestyle, often with a twoseater cab and long load deck. The champion here and in much of the world was the Toyota Hi-Lux but we also had the Vauxhall Brava and smaller pick-ups like the Ford Sierra-based P100 and another based on the Skoda Felicia and a bright-yellow Fun version for, well, a bit of a laugh.
One pick-up followed us through the second half of the century – the Land Rover. Its longevity has been remarkable but it was never much fun. Mitsubishi got that F-word right with the L200, with models such as the 4Life joining the 4Work.
Let’s rush through to 2017 when the UK pickup market was joined by the Mercedes-Benz X-Class, based on the excellent Nissan Navara and built in Spain. The Navara also was the basis for the Renault Alaskan. The ever-popular Mitsubishi begat the Fiat Fullback. All these, from Land Rover to Fullback, have gone, failing to evolve like the Land Rover, or running into emissions legislations and an over-saturated market.
So, welcome home Amarok, which rejoins the Hi-Lux, the Isuzu D-Max, the Ranger and the SsangYong Musso. Add to them the very expensive petrol/diesel Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster, the electric Maxus from China and the just-launched electric Munro being built in East Kilbride. You’ll also see some imported Dodge Rams posing hither and thither like giants.
Today is about the Amarok. They say its name derives from the word for wolf in the legends of the people living in the Arctic regions. My theory is better. Surely it comes from the 1965 song I am a Rock, by Paul Simon. It seems such an obvious connection once you know.
You can buy the “rock” in four specifications, called Life, Style, PanAmericana and Aventura. All are five-seaters. They have LCV maximum speed limits of 50mph on single-lane roads and 60mph on dual carriageways. They can tow 3.5 tons and all but the Aventura can carry a ton. This restriction means the 240ps threelitre Aventura is not VAT deductible. Prices go from £40,791 for the 170ps Life with manual gears to £59,403 for the 240ps V6 Aventura automatic. All have selectable all-wheel-drive.
We had the Style with a 205ps twin turbo two-litre diesel engine producing 368 lb ft of torque through the 10-speed automatic gearbox. It sits on a traditional ladder frame chassis with strut suspension at the front and leaf springs doing the heavy lifting at the back.
To make it feel wanted, I loaded half a ton or so of beech logs. This took the edge off the 0-60 time but calmed the ride over dale and street and hill. It had a rugged load bed liner, which I further protected with a cover to keep the wood crumbs out of the tailgate mechanism.
Volkswagen already protects the wheel arches and the Style has full-length, rubbersurfaced side steps to help safer, non-slip entry and exit. There are stout handgrips on the screen pillars and centre pillars.
The engine starts on a button and then I
‘You may, wrongly, feel impregnable but I’d rather be back-shunted or side-swiped sitting aloft in one of these than in a car.’
fumble to move the gear selector out of park and into reverse. This has a faffy squeeze release tab on the front surface. Whoever designed it had no care for ergonomic function.
The week passed in rear-wheel-drive with a few sample miles in the other traction options. These are auto 4WD, which engages the front wheels when the back ones spin; constant 4WD; and finally low-ratio 4WD for lower speed traction, engaged after stopping. Traction
settings include towing, deep snow, mud and sand. There is also downhill traction grip which helps prevent the Amarok sliding away on slippery slopes.
It is always easy to feel the appeal of such vehicles, seen by some as anti-social show-off hulks. You sit higher than the common motorist. You may, wrongly, also feel impregnable but I’d rather be back-shunted or side-swiped sitting aloft in one of these than in a car.
There are drawbacks, particularly if you do not need its work ethic. It is greedy on parking spaces and is more ponderous than a car, somehow not as alert as the VW-made original Amarok. The ride comfort is slightly reduced too. The lower speed limits may be frustrating on longer trips. Then there’s its gas guzzler thirst and emissions.
The good news of sorts is that the tank holds more than 17 gallons. When it was delivered for our tests, it was showing a range of 600 miles on a full tank.
VW Amarok Style 205 PS 2.0 TDI 10sp Automatic 4MOTION: £50,931 (£51,531 as tested); engine, two-litre twin turbo diesel; 202bhp; torque, 368.5lb/ft; transmission, 10-speed automatic; top speed, 112mph; 0-62mph, 10.5 seconds; economy, 30-32mpg; CO 2 emissions, 229 to 247 g/km; braked towing, 3.5 tons; length, 212 inches; five years warranty; www.vw.co.uk.