V-Cross

The late afternoon light was fading fast as we crept into the early evening. I was hunched over my laptop at the kitchen table when the phone rang. It was Daisy, my eldest daughter, and the sound of panic in her voice sent a jolt through me. Between choked sobs, she managed to explain – she'd been in an accident. Her beloved 2010 Fiat Panda, her first car that'd taken her on its fair share of adventures, was now on its side in a farmer's field, and she was still in it.

It's Wednesday and I'm driving an Isuzu D-Max V-Cross around a quarry. It is masterful over shale, stone and rock, cruising through a three feet deep river, gliding up a 42 deg sandy hill with ease and managing serious ruts and bumps smoothly.

You may not be familiar with Isuzu as the pickup truck is their only offering in the UK, but they have quite an illustrious history which include racing cars as well as commercial vehicles and buses. They produced 650K vehicles in 2019.