Posted by Piers Ward at 6:00PM on Thursday 10 January, 2008 4 Comments
This isn't one of the most radical and out-there ideas I've ever come up with at Top Gear. Certainly not in the league of the TV guys bunging a Reliant Robin on a rocket, that's for sure.
The new Toyota Land Cruiser is launched, the new Land Cruiser will be as reliable as April showers in the UK, so why not test it in Africa, the continent that it has become synonymous with?
You think France and Italy are bad for only buying one particular make of car. You should try driving around Africa for a week and seeing how many Toyotas you spot.
Which is exactly what we intend to do. Or Namibia, more specifically. This is a country that's nearly the size of Germany and Spain combined, with just two million inhabitants. And about half a dozen oryx and some wild horses.
Which means that driving along the roads is risky. Break down out here and it could be a while before another car passes to come and rescue you. So the Namibians place reliability above all else, which is why Toyotas have become so loved out here. And 'loved' isn't overstating it - there's genuine affection.
So over the course of this week, I'll be driving round Namibia, or rather the south western corner, to see whether this new Land Cruiser meets the standards set by its sharpest critics. And at the end of every day I'll post a blog here, courtesy of a satellite phone and laptop.
Read the next instalment of Piers' Namibian voyage
Photography: Stephen Perry
4 Comments for "A diamond in the rough"
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Hi Piers. You're a lucky man. Would love to be helping you out.
We Aussies love our Toyotas too for the same reasons - big, tough and built to take anything you can throw at it. Have fun and be careful. They are tough but not truly bullet proof...
Namibia is definitely the place to be test driving the new Land Cruiser. I am Namibian and the roads are not as risky as you think, unless you drive at night where you will definitely come across oryx, kudus, springboks and warthogs. You just need to be aware of your surroundings, that's all.
Namibia is definitely the place to be test driving the new Land Cruiser. I am Namibian and the roads are not as risky as you think, unless you drive at night where you will definitely come across oryx, kudus, springboks and warthogs. You just need to be aware of your surroundings, that's all.
We in Namibia love Toyota cars, because they are the tough cars that our grandparents drove us around in when we did not have tarred roads to get to our villages.