On the road: Toyota Hilux Invincible X - car review

'The wasted capacity made me feel guilty I wasn't transporting a Portaloo or towing a horse'

What a beast, what a gigantic monument to shininess. When they parked the Toyota Hilux Invincible X outside my house, my first worry was I might need planning permission. It has a massive, open flatbed with a flap-down back door, along the lines of a classic pickup, with extra bling. I texted my mother a picture of it to ask if she needed anything. "Can I have seven labourers from the 1930s?" she said. "I have work they could do and crusts of bread." Seven cases of wine didn't even leave a trace on its capacity. I stuck the kids in the back. They begged me to drive down the road. I realised how illegal that was, and how much the world had changed.

It has legitimate seats as well, of course: a double cab and four seats. Imagine yourself in a regular car, with a huge other car stitched on to the back. There is nothing obnoxious, jerky or hard to control, but it's unlike anything else, even any other SUV, I can think of. It has a 2.8-tonne towing ability; the sheer bulk of the engineering makes it more like a removal expedition, or driving a ski lift.

Continue reading...