Fans of “classic” Land Rovers were devastated when the stalwart Defender was finally pensioned off in 2016. The sad fact was that the old Defender had become a dinosaur, incapable of meeting modern-day emission and safety standards and lacking many of the mod cons that today’s drivers take for granted.

And traditionalists were not appeased when the “new” Defender arrived in 2020, variously citing it as too luxurious, too expensive, too complex and probably a bit too precious to carry out the tasks that the original was designed for.

As a result, adventure-loving tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe spotted a void in the market and set about trying to fill it by developing the car many believed the new Defender should have been.

The project was first mooted in 2017 in Ratcliffe’s favourite pub, The Grenadier in London’s Belgravia. Just five years later and production of the Ineos Grenadier was well underway at the “Smartville” factory in Hambach, France, which Ineos bought from Mercedes-Benz as a going concern at the end of 2020. Just for good measure, Sir Jim also bought the Grenadier pub.

First drives of the production version took the form of an event labelled “Expedition 1”,in which a relay fleet of Grenadiers started at the Castle of Mey, six miles west of John O’Groats and ended up in Belgravia where it all began. Brummell was invited to take part in the second leg, which ran from Inverness to Glasgow amid snow, ice and bitter cold. Perfect conditions.

At first sight, the shape penned by Toby Ecuyer – an automotive debut for a man best known for designing superyachts – appears to have been clearly inspired by the old Defender, albeit with a front end that has more in common with the celebrated Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen.

But make no mistake: the Grenadier is no pastiche of anything that has gone before, but a completely new vehicle from the ground up. Starting from the bottom, it has been given a massive ladder chassis, a pair of hefty beam axles and a set of good, old-fashioned coil springs rather than the high-tech (but potentially troublesome) air suspension units found on many modern off-roaders.

That set-up alone is enough to demonstrate that the Grenadier really is designed to take the (very) rough with the smooth, a fact backed up by the three differential locks (front, middle and back) that ensure power goes to all four wheels at all times in tricky off-road situations.

Under the bonnet there’s a choice of petrol or diesel-powered, three-litre, six-cylinder BMW engines that drive through a mighty ZFeight-speed automatic gearbox with manual override and a choice of high or low ratios.

Inside, the cab is rugged but comfortable with a choice of trim options and an innovative control set-up that’s divided between a split dashboard (touchscreen infotainment above, business-like knobs and buttons below), and an aircraft-style overhead console that houses switches for activating features such as the differential locks, hill descent control, “wading” and “off road” modes. The overhead console is also fitted with a multitude of auxiliary switches which can be quickly linked to extra lights, winches, external power supplies and so on, while other neat touches that enhance the car’s versatility include stout lashing points on the roof (which can carry a direct load of up to 420 kilos when static or 150 on the move), ingenious clips along each side of the body for attaching accessories such as tables and tents, and a 2,000-litre cargo area that can be configured in numerous ways.

The drive routes in the remotest parts of the 50,000-acre Ardverikie and Luss estates were designed to test the Grenadier’s mettle. The car certainly didn’t disappoint, not least because of a feeling of invincibility that really does inspire an urge to pack it all in and head off on an adventure taking roads less travelled, and more gravelled.

There are currently three models of Grenadier: a two-seater “utility wagon”; the five-seater station wagon; and the higher-spec“ Belstaff Editions” in ultra-rugged “Trialmaster” or more refined “Fieldmaster” trims.

Prices start at around £55,000 for the two-seat utility wagon, although the heavily accessorised, five-seat Fieldmaster we drove came out at more than £75,000.

But go on – you only live once…

ineosgrenadier.com