Me and my car

A car is a wonderful thing – it gives you the freedom to visit the destinations of your choice, at your own pace. It doesn’t matter if you drive a hatchback or a kitted-out 4x4 – it’s the desire to explore that matters! We spoke to readers about why they love their cars.

- TOAST COETZER

DEVLIN, KATIE, SOPHIA 10AND JOSH 9 FOGG

Home town:Howick

Occupations:Owner of Yonda Bicycle Finance (Devlin); mountain bike race organiser (Katie)

Car: Toyota Hilux, 2012model

Mileage: 196470km

Instagram:@4ina4x4

Toyota Hilux

We bought “Hamba” the Hilux in July 2019, when we started planning the big overland trip we’re currently on. It’s a 2012 D4D 3.0 DC and it had 130000km on the clock when we got it.

Since then, Hamba has literally become part of our family It came with some kit – a bull bar and suspension lift – but we’ve added more over time. We’re grateful to RSI SmartCap for helping us get fitted with an awesome canopy, and to 4x4 Megaworld for taking us on as brand ambassadors and adding kit to our vehicle, such as a winch, better suspension, a drawer system, recovery kit, recovery tracks and undervehicle protection.

A Hilux offers a good blend of abilities for the varied terrain you’ll encounter on a long trip. We’ll sometimes be driving 100km/h on a tar road in the morning and 10km/h on a tough off-road track later the same day.

We’re on a year-long trip, which means we must be able to live out of our vehicle – and out of our Echo 3 trailer from Echo 4x4. The Hilux provides a great platform to which you can add everything you need for life on the road, like a dual battery system, fridges, drawer systems, roof racks and more.