Ineos Grenadier
The Indomitable Ineos Grenadier – A Modern Day ‘Old School’ Off Roader
If you’ve never heard of the Ineos Grenadier, we don’t blame you. This isn’t an SUV – an acronym for ‘Sports Utility Vehicle’, (the name for what offroaders turned into when they went all mainstream and family friendly). No, the Ineos Grenadier is a reminder of what a true ‘off road’ vehicle used to be, without pandering to the urban dwelling morning commute battler, or the over protective school run crowd. This is a machine which remembers that offroading involves more than just parking on a grass verge once in a while.
Why does such an apparent throwback exist though? Simple, the old model Landrover Defender went out of production in favour of the new model defender, which like many old school 4×4 has morphed into a modern lifestyle accessory and been somewhat tamed in order to adopt things like road manners, overt cushiness and the like. With the old school Defender out of production, the Chairman of Ineos – a multinational chemical company offered to buy the design, tooling etc in order to keep it in production, but JLR said no. His response, create an entirely new machine inspired by the Defender – the Grenadier, named after his favourite pub was born and entered production in 2022.
The Grenadier is most definitely a true off-roader in the proper sense. Pictured is the pickup variant – designated the Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster. Of course you can drive it on the road, it has the power to sprint to 60 in an impressive 8 or so seconds, but it’s off road where it’s almost without equal. If you want to nip down to the corner shop, this isn’t the car for it. Want to go on safari, cross a desert, conquer a mountain, invade a small country, or survive a zombie apocalypse though, there’re probably few other machines you’d rather do all of that in! If that sounds lke the sort of thing that up your street, then maybe it’s the car hire choice for you!
On the outside, the Ineos Grenadier is so Landrover Defender Like, JLR tried (unsuccessfully) to claim it infringed their copyright. Boxy, utilitarian, with a definite presence and a unique charm. With numerous mounting points, handles, racks and rails to help with your next expedition. It can wade 800mm deep and looks like Tonka had a hand in the design. Inside, it’s more plush than you’d give it credit for though. There IS an automatic gearstick which is an undisguised selector from BMW, just like the Grenadier’s 3.0 engine, but otherwise, the design manages to be tough without being ‘rough’. Everything is feels as solid as it looks and pleasingly, all the buttons are large, clearly labelled and logically placed. You could operate the car while wearing welding gauntlets and still be able to push all the buttons – do you remember when everything had physical buttons? Ineos remembers!
There IS, however, a touchscreen and also a rotary selector if you prefer, with functionality you’d recognise from modern BMW’s, which can as be connected wirelessly to your phone like all modern vehicles. Modern conveniences have their place after all – utilitarian doesn’t have to be austere, parking sensors and a reverse camera are definitely useful and the Grenadier is all about being useful.
Having said that, it’s not ALL serious – the special ‘toot’ button – a less angry sounding horn ostensibly made just for ‘warning’ cyclists, is one of our favourite features!
The dash buttons are one thing, but the roof is also lined with a whole collection switches too – there’s something super satisfying about using overhead buttons and some of them are there to have functionality added to them should specialisation or modification be needed. Either side of the bank of roof switches are a pair of safari windows (most definitely not to be confused with fripperies like sunrooves!) giving the cab plenty of natural light and an airy feel.
Making The Ineos Grenadier Your Own
The Ineos Grenadier has the look and the vibe of a vehicle that’s been built for maximum utility not just for off-roading, but for future adoption by the services and even the military. Those spare buttons in the various panels seem just waiting to be given purpose, whether that’s for emergency lights, deployable parachute, or something more ‘interesting’.
With a powerful BMW engine 3.5 ton towing capacity and unrivalled offroad capability, what would YOU do with this incredible modern yet retro monster?
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