Hitting the trail less taken

FORD RANGER: 4X4 STACKED WITH SO MUCH MORE

- Mark Jones

• From long open road trips to grinding up side of a mountain, Tremor did it all.

It has been a great six months with our long-term Ford Ranger Tremor, but it is that time again, where we must bid farewell to this premium 4x4 double cab bakkie as it heads back to Watloo, Pretoria, the home of Ford Motor Company South Africa.

From long open road trips to grinding up the side of a mountain, from high-speed testing to trundling around the suburbs as a daily commuter, right down to being used as a R978 600 rubble remover, our Ford Ranger Tremor did it all.

I didn't choose the Tremor as our next long-term vehicle, it was Charl Bosch, our digital motoring guru that begged and pleaded for this Ranger. Having just got out of the more off-road orientated Wildtrak X, I wanted us to propose to Ford that we change to the ultra-luxury model in the range, Ranger Platinum, but it was Charl that won out this round of debating, and a Lucid Red Tremor duly arrived at our office to begin its six months with us.

But one of the online dictionary definitions of irony is written as, "A state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result".