Toby Price is one of the most laid-back, down-to-earth blokes you could ever meet. No matter where the two-time Dakar winner is racing, and whether he’s competing on two wheels or on four, he always finds time for his fans, signing autographs, posing for selfies and having a laugh.

Toby’s positive attitude and never-say-die attitude has won him fans the world over, no matter whether they’re into motocross, enduro, Rally Raid, Stadium Super Trucks, Trophy Trucks or UTVs. The bloke is a machine, obsessed by speed and by racing in just about any format.

Toby was already a legend in the Aussie dirt-bike scene well before his first Dakar win in 2016 made him famous with a wider audience. Before he competed in Dakar, he had already won the Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC) five times, the Hattah Desert Race five times, and the Finke Desert Race four times. He was also a two-time winner of the Australian 4 Day Enduro (A4DE), and he had represented Australia in the International Six Day Enduro (ISDE) squad.

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There’s no denying it’s his Dakar crowns with the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team in 2016 and then again in 2019 that helped make Toby Price a household name. However, as well as his motorcycle exploits, Toby also has an incredible racing record on four wheels: in 2019 he and fellow Dakar competitor Nasser Al-Attiyah came second in the Baja 1000 race in Mexico, and more recently he won the 2021 Finke Desert Race in his Mitsubishi Triton-bodied Trophy Truck. Oh, and he’s also competed in Stadium Super Trucks and various other forms of four-wheeled racing.

Toby is obsessed with racing and in his new autobiography Endurance: The Toby Price Story, he admits: “If one of my mates said he could finish a sandwich faster than me, it would become a competition. To this day if the word ‘race’ comes up, it flicks a switch in my brain.”

Of course, the road to racing glory is not without its perils, and Toby has suffered multiple injuries along the way that nearly ended his career prematurely, even before his Dakar story had begun … and he has suffered several more since, the most recent of which occurred in closing stages of the 2021 Dakar, in which he broke his collarbone, shoulder and hand.

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Back in Australia after the 2021 Dakar crash, Toby found himself in hospital, quarantining for two weeks, before he could be operated on, and he used this time to work on his autobiography.

“Once I got injured in Dakar (last year), spending two weeks in a hospital quarantining was going to be quite boring, so I thought it might just be a good time to jump on it and kickstart it; and Penguin (Random House Australia) was in step, wanting to do something, and we just took the chance,” Toby explains.

In the beginning

For any fan of motor racing, Toby’s autobiography is an absolute cracker of a read, and the story starts when he was a kid growing up in Roto, near the western NSW town of Hillston.

“It was definitely not an easy childhood, where we grew up, where we lived, but Roto was the stomping ground for where it all kicked off for us,” Toby tells 4X4 Australia. “It was an interesting life to live, and it was definitely a difficult one, but we got to ride motorcycles any day of the week we wanted to and for as long as we wanted, and we didn’t annoy anybody, so that was the best part of it all.”

Toby wasn’t the first Price to catch the racing bug; when he was just a toddler, his dad John and his uncle Jeff had turned an old truck in to an off-road racer to compete in the Australian Off-Road Championship, and they won a national title in 1989. But Toby’s own racing career started when he was just four years old, winning his first race on a PeeWee 50 at a meeting in Condobolin. In his autobiography, he recounts, “I went out there and blew the lot of them to the weeds in my first race.”

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Next up was a state meeting in Albury-Wodonga a few weeks later in which Toby lapped the field. This early racing success would have a big impact on Toby and his family, with parents John and Pauline throwing their full support behind him.

“My parents worked extremely hard to give me all the best that they could,” Toby says. “When you are a little kid, you look at other families that are in a better position and more well-off, their set-up is a lot better and things like that, but we never let that get in the way, and dad always taught me the right way of things, and mum was always full-support, and working flat-out to try and help get me get to events.

“We made it work … sleeping in swags, and we had an old van to start with, then we moved to an old motor coach … it was a decent set-up, but it was nowhere near as flash as the guys coming from the city.”

Having to ‘make do’ no doubt set Toby in good stead for the racing challenges he would face later in his career, including his now famous makeshift tyre repair in the 2021 Dakar, in which he used duct tape and cable ties to repair a damaged rear tyre before finishing second on a 709km stage.

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“Living on the farm, we had to make do with what we had out there,” Toby says. “We couldn’t just go 10 minutes down to a store and buy the parts we needed to fix things, so we were always just trying to MacGyver things up and make the equipment work.

“I’ve always had to work for it, my parents have had to work for it, and it’s made a pretty good story out of it. At the end of the day, the chances of actually making it to full-time racing, the percentage rate, is really low, so to have that dream come true, yeah, it’s definitely worked out in our favour a little bit; it was a lot of hard work along the way.”

As well as bikes, Toby got experience driving cars on the property at Roto as a youngster. In fact, when he was six years old, he used to drive an old Datsun 17km to the bus stop each morning to go to school; his old man had extensions welded on to the pedals so he could reach them!

Bike racing would take up much of Toby’s time before racing professionally on four wheels. As a junior, Toby won state titles in 1998, and from 2000 to 2003, and in 2003 he also won national titles in both the 125cc and 250F classes.

Moving up to senior motocross in 2004 with a factory Kawasaki deal, Toby placed big expectations on himself, but injuries meant he was never fully fit between 2004 and 2007. He was dropped from the Kawasaki factory motocross squad in 2008, but he still ran as a privateer.

A phone call

By this stage, though, he was beginning to think his racing career might be over … then in 2009 he got an offer to race Enduro with Kawasaki in the Australian Off-road Racing Championship (AORC). “Honestly, that phone call in ’09, I don’t even know what I would be doing right now if I didn’t pick that phone back up and accept the ride to go in to Enduro racing,” Toby says.

Toby’s first year in the AORC was a ripper, winning the title in the last round over four-time World Enduro Champion Stefan Merriman, who had returned to AORC that year.

If 2009 was an eye opener, 2010 was quite simply a revelation. Toby signed for KTM and won just about everything on offer, including the AORC title once again and, on his first attempt, both the Finke and Hattah desert races. Toby admits those first Finke and Hattah desert race wins might not have come at all had it not been for the help of teammate Ben Grabham, who up until that point was Australia’s undisputed Desert King.

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“Luckily I had Ben Grabham in my corner, and he definitely showed me the ropes quite quickly,” Toby says. “We had a good tussle and a good duel between myself and Grabbo, and we were able to have some fun with it … I love being at high speed, living on the farm and out middle of Australia in Roto, basically that’s all I had to do, just go full gas to get to the other side of the paddock, so it was really nothing new, but it definitely paved the way to where we are to this day.”

In 2011, Toby won rounds 2, 3 and 4 of the AORC, Hattah and the A4DE, and was selected to compete in the Australian International Six Day Enduro (ISDE) team. In 2012, he won the AORC, Finke, Hattah and the E3 class of the A4DE. While 2013 started well with wins in rounds 2, 3 and 4 of the AORC, a big crash in the Californian AMA Hare and Hound National Championship saw Toby break three bones in his neck, and his thumb. After big dramas in a US hospital, and problems with his insurance company, Toby’s family flew him back to Australia where he underwent a major operation to repair his neck. He was lucky enough to walk again, let alone race a bike or a Trophy Truck.

“All the injuries I’ve been through, the body, I’ve given it a fair old whack and used my body up and all my lifelines” Toby admits. “But at the end of the day, it’s all been worth it, and the hard work and sacrifice have all paid off, but yeah, I’ve come very, very close to not living at a normal life and staying on two feet, but I guess it’s just made for one part of the story that anything is achievable if you put your heart and soul in to it, and have a dig, so it’s worked out well.”

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As well as his 2021 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing commitments in Rally Raid and the Dakar and his Trophy Truck win in the Finke Desert Race, Toby also found time to compete in the Baja 1000 again, although he didn’t experience the success of 2019.

“Unfortunately, Baja didn’t go to plan this year for us, but it was cool to go over there and race,” Toby explains. “We handed the truck off in the lead, I did my job, the perfect part that I needed to do, and unfortunately the next driver made an error … and we all do it, so you can’t bury him for it and be upset, but it ended up down in a ditch, in a gully, and the guys tried to help winch it out and one of the straps broke and the truck rolled in to the hills.”

Another Baja goal

Toby is still keen to add a Baja 1000 title to his collection, and he hopes to head back there this year. “Hopefully one day, fingers crossed, we can add a Baja 1000 to our tally as well,” he says. “In 2019, me and Nasser (Al-Attiyah) had an all-wheel drive Mason that’s probably 1100hp, and we actually finished second overall that year, and shocked a lot of people, and it was cool to get a trophy out of the Baja 1000, but I guess when you’re one step short of that top one, yeah, you want to go back and get the top one.”

As well as Baja, Toby also has unfinished business at Finke. He might be a multiple winner on two wheels, and now he has also won on four wheels, but he is still committed to winning the ‘Iron Man’ Finke double – winning in the bike and car categories in the same year. It’s going to be a busy 2022 …

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“Basically, we’ve got five rounds of the (Rally Raid) world championship we need to do on two wheels, so they’re the goals to try and go for next, and then try and get a world championship back, hopefully Dakar goes well in January; but then, other than that, Finke is always on my list, to try and run the four wheels out there … and run the two wheels out there as well, do the Iron Man, and then I want to do the Baja 1000 again, I want to do the UTV World Championships in America, the Mint 400 America and maybe King of the Hammers or something like that.

“A couple of those events would be cool if we can match them all in, but yeah, the main priority, the main goal, is make sure we do the world championship and Dakar.”

The future

Last year, Toby signed a two-year extension to his contract with the KTM factory, but there’s no doubt he’s keen to follow in the footsteps of desert racers like Stephane Peterhansel, Cyril Despres and Nani Roma who have made the transition from two wheels to four wheels in the Dakar … if the opportunity presents itself.

“I’m not gonna deny it, that it is definitely the goal in the future and, like I said, I just love racing, I love being competitive, and I think that’s definitely the next step for me,” Toby admits.

“I’m only getting older and it doesn’t get any easier each year that you compete and race on two wheels … but yeah, watching Stephane Peterhansel and Nani Roma and guys like that, they’ve done an exceptional job of switching over to cars and off of two wheels, and I’m just trying to get a little bit of a jumpstart on it early.”

A jumpstart is an understatement; some of the biggest names in Rally Raid have already been asking Toby what it’s like to compete in events like the Baja 1000.

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“When I first spoke to Nasser about going to race the Baja (in 2019), it’s been one of the races on his list for many years, one he’s dreamed of wanting to do, and previously I’d run the event twice before that, so to do an event before basically Nasser and Carlos Sainz and all them guys that dream and want to do that event was something quite special,” Toby says.

“Having Sebastian Loeb and all them guys approach you about Baja racing, and wanting to know how it all functions, how it all works, it’s a bit of a shock to the system really. Those guys are well-known all around the world on four wheels, world champions and stuff, and it’s cool to have them come and ask me some questions about an event they haven’t done before, so it’s pretty rad.”

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Of course, making the transition to Rally Raid on four wheels is by no means a given. “Unfortunately, in that four-wheel category, if you don’t show up without a half-million euro it’s definitely quite difficult and hard to get a seat in one of those cars, but hopefully with some connections like with Nasser, racing with him, maybe he might get to put in a word somewhere for us … and then with Red Bull’s connection, hopefully something can come from there.

“It’s just something I’m trying to set up for in the future, and if it works I’m gonna be stoked, and if it doesn’t then at least I’m going to hang my helmet up and put it on the shelf and know I gave it everything I could to succeed on two wheels, and try and make a transition to four wheels and know I didn’t leave nothing on the table.”If you want to learn more about Toby Price, make sure you grab a copy of his autobiography Endurance: The Toby Price Story.

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The ARB connection

ARB 4X4 Accessories is another long-time Toby Price supporter, and this relationship came about thanks to ARB director Andy Brown’s love of off-road racing, and his son Danny’s involvement in the sport.

“Andy and Danny Brown, I’ve known Danny Brown pretty much for 11, 12 or 13 years,” Toby explains. “I’d seen him at some events, and I got to know him a lot more once we started doing the Finke Desert Race in 2010, and that partnership with them just kicked off.

“I love to try and keep myself affiliated with Australian brands and Australian-made companies and ARB is just one of them. I went through the whole workshop facility down there (in Victoria) and watching them fold and bend up bullbars, it’s an amazing set-up for what they do here in Australia, and to have a company like ARB on my side is pretty cool.

“Andy and Danny are a bit wild and love off-road racing and going full gas just as much as me, so it worked out good.”

Toby’s Triton

It’s no secret Toby Price has a close relationship with Mitsubishi Australia, which even launched a limited-edition Toby Price Triton a few years ago, so we asked Toby what it was like to see his initials and racing number plastered all over the back of a ute.

“It’s actually quite strange,” he laughs. “To be known as a motorcycle rider and never had a replica two-wheel dirt-bike series put out after me, to have a car come out, it’s pretty cool and exciting.

“Where I used to live in the Hunter Valley, a local dealer there, they used to help out and look after us – Lancaster Motor Group – they put me in touch with Mitsubishi … and they threw that offer, and that idea of making 500 TP Edition Tritons. I’ve had probably four of them now and everyone knows what my life is like, I usually beat the hell out of everything … it’s a super strong, reliable car and great people to be a part of, and I’m super stoked to have them in my corner.”

Those Icelandic builders of all things cool and capable, the crew at Arctic Trucks, haven’t wasted any time applying their talents to the LandCruiser 300 Series.While some of AT’s wilder glacier-crawling rigs are equipped with tyres that measure more than 40 inches (it recently stuffed a set of 38s on portal hubs under a Hyundai Santa Fe!) the AT35 LC300 wears 35-inch rubber as the model name suggests.

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This is a more practical, everyday 4×4 vehicle, much like the AT35 Hilux and D-MAX vehicles created by the team; but, unlike the D-MAX which enjoys factory backing by Isuzu and is available in dealers in the UK, the LandCruiser is not factory supported … yet.The LandCruiser’s standard 265/65 R18 tyres measure in at around 31.5 inches in the old money, so stepping up to the 35s is not a straightforward swap. It requires re-engineering of the frame rails and the inner guards to allow space for the 35 x 12.5 R17 BFGoodrich All Terrain tyres, which are fitted to deep dish 17×10 ET-25 Arctic Trucks alloy wheels.Even with the optimised AT suspension package, the tyres still require massive flares to cover them.

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All the work is done in-house at Artic Trucks and includes heavy duty corrosion protection against the snow and mud that the trucks are built to endure.The trucks are finished off with model-specific badges and details, and all engineering requirements – for Iceland at least.While not the style of LandCruiser you are likely to see exploring the tracks of the Aussie Outback, we still reckon they are pretty cool rigs. Do you agree?

November 14, 2022: Next-gen Prado imagined

With new reports surfacing that the new Toyota Prado will get hybrid powertrains, we’ve commissioned a pair of artist renderings that might offer a look at the new model’s styling. Get all the details, including everything about the hybrid powertrains, at the links below.

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Story continues

The 2023 Toyota LandCruiser Prado is set to make its debut this August, according to sources out of Japan.

Website Creative311 is reporting the new LandCruiser Prado will be an updated version of the current model, rather than an all-new vehicle as has been rumoured.

The report also says Toyota will be halting orders for the current Prado in the coming weeks.

According to unnamed sources, the upcoming Prado update will see the model receive a revised grille and facia garnish, as well as minor colour and material changes inside.

While the 150 Series Prado has been in production since 2009 – a 13-year run – the four-wheel-drive received its last major facelift in late 2017.

Japanese publication Best Car reported recently the next-generation Prado had been pushed out from 2022 to 2024, with ongoing production headaches blamed for the delay.

Multiple issues from COVID-19, the semiconductor chip shortage, and record-high demand has pushed waiting times for the new LandCruiser 300 Series out by as much as four years – forcing the car giant to postpone the new-generation Prado.

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A report from July pointed to a new powertrain being developed by Toyota for use in the next Prado, HiLux, and HiAce, with a 2.5-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine being mated to a hybrid-electric system.

Like the 300 Series, a GR Sport variant of the next-gen Prado is expected, offering a more off-road oriented option for buyers, while the rest of the range will be slanted towards family comfort.

If the 2023 Toyota LandCruiser Prado does end up being a facelifted version of the current vehicle, more details should begin to filter through in the coming weeks and months.

The Nissan Navara D23 copped a major facelift as part of a mid-life update in 2021, with a chunky new grille and higher bonnet and bodylines among the changes designed to give the little pick-up a bolder look. Add in a revised interior and improved safety equipment and the revitalised Navara has found a new lease on life.

While we’ve had the chance to review a few of the grades since launch, this was our first chance to get behind the wheel of the most luxe spec ST-X grade, which is $59,770 with the automatic transmission.

Powertrain & performance

All D23 Navaras in Australia are powered by the 2.3-litre diesel engine. The variance comes with the choice of single or dual turbocharger induction systems, while most of the four-wheel drive Navaras get the dual-turbo set-up, certainly in this upper-spec ST-X grade.

With the bi-turbo arrangement the four-cylinder engine makes 140kW of power and 450Nm of torque. While not enough to match the 500Nm of some of its competitors, the Nissan engine is capable of getting the Navara along at a good pace when unladen and sufficiently with a load on board.

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Its torque comes in at low revs, which matches well with the seven-speed automatic transmission. The Navara ST-X is also available with a six-speed manual transmission.

Under light throttle applications the engine is relatively refined, but the harshness of a four-cylinder diesel is unavoidable under load and becomes evident when you put your foot down in the Navara.

We got pretty good fuel use from the ST-X during our week in it, recording 8.3L/100km over a mix of driving conditions.

On-road ride & handling

The D23 Navara is one of the few one-tonne utes to come with a choice of leaf or coil springs in the rear suspension’s system, although the upper-spec models like this ST-X all come with the coils as standard.

The coil-spring rear end does deliver better ride quality and chassis control than a leaf-spring design, although the difference in the Navara isn’t as evident as you might expect.

Nissan has tweaked the calibration of the suspension and steering of the D23 numerous times since the model was launched in an effort to get it right, and the latest calibrations make the current model the best riding and handling model to date, short of the Premcar-tuned PRO-4X Warrior variant.

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Off-road

The coil-sprung rear suspension does allow a bit more travel at the rear wheels, although not as much as hoped for, so the Navara does suffer from a lack of wheel travel both front and rear, as do all the utes in this class.

The Navvie makes up for it with electronic traction control (ETC) which has been sharpened in its latest calibration but is still not as seamless or fast-acting as the class leaders. The ETC is backed up by a driver-activated rear differential lock, although using the RDL cancels out the ETC across both axles.

The Navara has moderate levels of ground clearance and 600mm wading depth. The ST-X rides on 18-inch alloy wheels with 255/60 highway tyres.

The 17-inch wheels from other grades can be fitted to allow more tyre options with a taller sidewall for better off-road use. Notably, the ST-X is the only variant in the range to get a matching alloy wheel as a spare, while the other grades get a same-size steel rim under the back.

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This car was fitted with the factory steel loopless front bumper and Warn winch option, which are handy items to have straight from the dealer and are covered by your new-car warranty.

Unlike another Navara we had tested previously, the weight of these accessories over the front axle wasn’t as detrimental to the ride and handling as it was felt to be on that previous test – there was none of the hitting of the front bumpstops and springiness in the front end in this ST-X model that was evident in the ST previously reviewed with these accessories fitted.

This makes us think that perhaps the ST wasn’t fitted with the heavier duty front springs that are required to accommodate the added weight over the front end.

Cabin & accommodation

The 2021 styling upgrades extend to the interior, with the inclusion of a new eight-inch centre screen that features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, new seat trims, an off-road monitor and surround-view cameras.

The ST-X gets the best-specified interior, as it is the only Navara available with power adjustable and heated leather seats as part of an option pack. There is also the option of a powered sunroof, which is not available on other grades.

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The seating position takes a bit of getting used to when you first enter any Navara – it’s low and flat and I initially hate it. After a few days, though, I adapt and begin to like it, finding the position very comfortable and accommodating. If you feel the same when you test drive a Navara, give the seating position a second chance.

Upgraded safety kit from 2021 models onwards includes the aforementioned around-view monitor, reverse parking sensors and camera, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning and intelligent lane intervention, blind spot warning with intervention, forward collision warning with AEB, and a TPMS.

This puts the ST-X right up there with the class leaders in terms of looking after its occupants.

Practicalities

The powered and heated seat option takes 5kg off the usually 1024kg payload of the ST-X, and the steel bumper and winch will eat in to that even further. However, a top-spec 4×4 ute that has close to 1000kg payload is doing alright; better in fact than most in the class. You can thank the heavier duty rear diff that Nissan fitted to 2021 Navara 4x4s for that excellent payload, while all 4×4 variants also have a 3500kg towing capacity.

The taller cargo tub on 2021 models will help accommodate that load, and the ST-X’s adjustable ‘Utili-Track’ tie-down system will help keep it secure. It’s a shame the Utili-Track is only on the tub sides and not on the floor, as it was in the older D40 Navaras.

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As well as the choice of Australian-made front bars and other factory accessories, the Navara has always been well-supported by the aftermarket industry to help you equip it to suit your needs.

It’s no longer the case that we’d say you need to replace the suspension ASAP for regular use, as the standard kit in this latest model is just about right. Past experience has shown you might still want to beef it up for regular heavy towing on the coil-spring rear end.

Verdict

With its premium white paint, steel front bar, winch, LED light bar and other accessories fitted, this Navara ST-X tips the till to the tune of $68,017 plus ORC – so you won’t be getting any change out of $70K by the time you get behind the wheel. The ST-X is not a cheap ute by any measure but it is well-equipped, drives well and gets the job done no matter what you throw at it.

The Navara remains a mid-pack performer in terms of its cabin size and the performance of its engine, but both are adequate for the majority of buyers. The mid-life updates make the Navvie a safer, better equipped and more appealing option in the category, so if the competitiveness of the 4×4 ute market allows you to drive your dealer for a better price than what’s quoted, an ST-X could be a very good deal.

2021 Nissan Navara ST-X specifications

There are few images as quintessentially Australian as the sight of a road train barrelling down a dusty highway in the Red Centre.

While many experimented with early prototypes of road trains – in many cases resembling actual trains by using steam engines – arguably the first successful example was created by Australian bush mechanic Kurt Johannsen in the years following World War II.

Johannsen was born on January 11, 1915, to a Danish father and German mother, and spent his life living throughout the Northern Territory.

He acquired his first driving license at 11 when living in Deep Well, around 30 kilometres south of Alice Springs, and won the government contract for sanitary and garbage services there when he turned 15, by virtue of owning his own truck.

“From the age of 15 onwards, it was all work and I became another breadwinner in the family,” Johannsen wrote in his memoir A Son of ‘The Red Centre’.

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In his early 20s, while using a Dodge 4 for his monthly mail run – with a crate on the back for transporting rams, essentially making one of the first utes – Johannsen created his first truck, the ‘Bitzer Mulga Express’.

Made from “bits and pieces from various vehicles,” the machine was much larger than the Dodge, and was able to carry large loads while handling the outback tracks, as well as driving off-road through mulga bushes.

Further iterations of the Bitza ended with the Mulga Express III, which was able to haul up to 22 tonnes – a significant capacity for the time.

After the war, Johannsen was transporting cattle and race horses, when a property owner asked him why he didn’t build a truck capable of transporting 100 head of cattle at a time.

“I told him I already had plans made in my mind for building a road train with self-tracking trailers for negotiating bush tracks, but I didn’t have the money to buy all the equipment, which would probably cost about £10,000 pounds just for starters.”

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The property owner offered Johannsen a £2000 interest-free loan, which he used to buy 23 surplus army gun trailers, using the wheels and axles to build bogies for the trailers.

“I think the idea of the self-tracking trailers for my road trains, which I built after World War II, originated in my imagination when I was about 10 years old,” Johannsen recalled in interviews compiled by the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame.

“I loved to make all sorts of weird contraptions out of tin lids, kerosene boxes and other bits and pieces and hooked my models together with two, three, and sometimes four trailers with wire towbars around bent nails. I pulled them around with a piece of string or a stick.

“I also made up a wind-driven prime mover using a 15-inch fan with 12 blades, cut from a piece of galvanised iron.”

After finding more money to purchase a Diamond T 980 truck, also from army surplus, Johannsen built three 13-metre trailers, specifically designed to follow the tracks of the prime mover.

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The total length of ‘Bertha’ was 54 metres, and was able to navigate the “narrow, unmade, winding, sandy bush tracks” of the Northern Territory with 100 head of fully-grown cattle on board. He eventually grew the fleet to three prime movers and nine trailers.

Kurt Johannsen died shortly after his 87th birthday on January 23, 2002 – 20 years ago today – but his contribution to the Australian outback remains.

Bertha has been restored and is on display at the National Road Transport Hall of Fame in Alice Springs, and you can see an interview with Johannsen on Jeremy Clarkson’s Motorworld TV show on YouTube.

The 2022 Brabus 800 XLP Superblack has been unveiled by the high-performance German tuning company.

Based on the Mercedes-AMG G63, the dual-cab Brabus ute is powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V8 producing 588kW and 1000Nm, allowing the XLP Superblack to hit 100km/h from a standstill in a claimed 4.8 seconds.

The vehicle has some off-road credentials too, sporting front and rear portal axles, improving under-car clearance, and a heavy-duty winch mounted in the front bumper.

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A set of 22-inch Brabus Monoblock HD wheels are fitted, clad in either Pirelli Scorpion all-terrain or Yokohama Geolander X-Treme tyres, while additional roof-mounted LED lamps help to light the way.

Black is the theme across the exterior and interior, with carbon-fibre featuring throughout, and signature seashell leather quilting inside.

While it might be difficult to source a Superblack in Australia, buyers in Europe can pick one up for around €726,260 – or around AU$1.15 million.

UPDATE, February 22, 2022: New Ford Ranger Raptor revealed!

The new 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor has been unveiled at last, and we’ve got a comprehensive rundown on everything you need to know. Catch our stories and big reveal video at the links below.

The story to here

January 21, 2022: The 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor has been snapped undergoing testing in Thailand, this time wearing a digital camouflage wrap.

The performance flagship of the Ranger line-up is believed to be in the final stages of development, with the Raptor expected to be teased by Ford ahead of its full unveiling in the coming months.

The Ranger Raptor appears to lose the innovative step integrated into the rear bumper found on lower models, but looks as if it will continue to get the side-steps as standard, according to these images posted by the Kurdistan Automotive Blog.

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Larger wheel arches, redesigned front quarter panels with unique vents, dual exhaust tips, and chunky all-terrain tyres also feature on the new ute, together with bi-LED headlights reserved for range-topping models.

While there’s no confirmation on powertrains, previous teaser videos from Ford have the model sounding very similar to an V6 EcoBoost petrol engine rumoured to be coming in the Raptor.

Rumours suggest this could be the 336kW/692Nm 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6 from the US-market Explorer ST, but the 242kW/542Nm 2.7-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine from the F-150 and Bronco cannot be ruled out at this stage.

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Another possible option is Australia could receive a version of the 3.0-litre Power Stroke turbo-diesel V6, as has already been outlined for selected Ranger variants, while North American markets get an EcoBoost V6.

Ford recently announced it was investing US$39 million (AU$54 million) to modernise its Straundale engine plant in South Africa’s Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), with manufacturing lines dedicated to the 2.0-litre single and twin-turbo diesel engines, as well as the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6.

“Through this investment we are introducing a third diesel engine to the Straundale operations, in the form of the new 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel engine that will power selected next-gen Ranger models when production commences next year,” Ford South Africa Vice President Operations Ockert Berry said.

Jeep has revealed new ‘e-Hybrid’ versions of the Compass and Renegade globally, although the latter model is no longer on sale in Australia.

Both models have been offered in overseas markets with plug-in hybrid (PHEV) power and the new e-Hybrid versions bring simpler electric assistance that doesn’t require a charging cable.

With a smaller battery powering a 15kW electric motor in a 48 volt system, both power and torque are lower than in the PHEV versions. The main point of motivation is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine producing 95kW and 240Nm.

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The new hybrid system isn’t just for electrically assisted driving either, as it has a ‘coasting mode’ to seamlessly shut down and start up the engine for fuel-free driving.

The system can also propel the vehicle from a standstill for silent start-up and slow speed moving when the battery has a high enough charge – self-charging using regenerative braking to capture energy.

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Jeep has yet to detail any fuel economy figures, but claims fuel savings of around 15 per cent in total – as well as a lower emissions output over the normal petrol version of the same engine. Depending on spec, the Renegade e-Hybrid emits 130-139g/km CO2, while the larger Compass expels between 133-140g/km.

While the new Compass is on sale in Australia, neither the plug-in hybrid or this new e-Hybrid are yet available, however, Jeep plans to offer the e-hybrid system in two versions of the Renegade and the Compass in right-hand drive configuration overseas.

USA EV start-up Bollinger Motors has announced it has stopped the ongoing development of its B1 and B2 SUV and pickup, to focus on developing its EV commercial-vehicle platforms.

“We started Bollinger Motors in 2015 with a dream and a desire to make the best trucks possible,” said Robert Bollinger, CEO of Bollinger Motors.

“We’ve put countless hours of hard work and passion in to making something that makes us proud. However, today we’re postponing the consumer trucks’ development and shifting our focus to commercial trucks and fleets.”

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Of all the EV companies that have popped up over the past decade, the B1 and B2 promised to be the most exciting off-road vehicles, with their bespoke in-house-engineered portal axles, height-adjustable suspension and proper off-road capability.

The prototypes have been undergoing testing in a range of conditions in the USA over the past five years and certainly look capable and super practical.

We crawled over the B1 prototype at the SEMA Show a few years ago and were suitably impressed with the engineering, innovation and design of the vehicle, and were very much looking forward to seeing the vehicles come to market.

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Bollinger Motors will continue to develop and manufacture all-electric platforms and chassis cabs for commercial vehicles under Classes 3 to 6 trucks. These EV platforms are designed to slip under truck and bus bodies to suit a wide range of applications.

Hopefully, the success of the commercial truck platforms will enable Bollinger to renew development of the B1 and B2 at some time in the future.

UPDATE, January 19: The Back to the Future Toyota Pickup replica has sold at auction for more than $34,500.

The hammer fell last night on the HiLux, with the winning bid of $32,100 (plus 7.5 per cent buyer’s premium) securing the pop culture icon for the new owner.

The story to here

January 17: A replica of the 1985 Toyota Pickup SR5 from the classic 1980s’ trilogy Back to the Future is up for auction in Australia by Grays.

Badged as a HiLux locally, the Toyota extra-cab ute comes complete with custom bar work, KC lights, ‘TOYOTA’ windscreen decal, and black with chrome steel wheels on Goodyear Wrangler tyres. The only thing missing is the US-spec amber parking lamps.

Maybe our favourite detail is the ‘Statler Toyota’ sticker on the rear window, from Hill Valley, California.

While the 2.4-litre ‘22RE’ four-cylinder petrol engine fitted to the US-market Pickup probably wouldn’t have had much of a chance against Needles’s Ford F-150, this particular model is powered by a 2.2-litre ‘4Y’ Toyota engine, showing 315,000 kilometres on the clock.

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The ute might have been overshadowed by the DeLorean time machine – credited with being the most recognisable movie car of all timelines – but the vehicle did help cement Toyota as a ‘cool’ alternative in the 1980s, when Japanese cars didn’t enjoy the reputation they have today.

Despite playing second fiddle to the DeLorean, replica BTTF Toyota utes have been pulling big money in recent years, with one selling for US$110,000 (AU$153,000) back in October 2021.

At the time of writing, the auction was already above AU$25,000. If you’re wanting a truck to head up to the lake with, you can check out the Grays auction listing by clicking here.