PART 2
Back to Ford - who has done a pretty good job cashing in its heritage while producing beautiful vehicles. Granted the “new,” ahem,
THUNDERBIRD was a bit of an S-Type-based abomination - but that was all forgotten once the first “new”
GT-40 (2003/2004) broke cover. Wow, what a fantastic vehicle. Simply stunning.
Naturally though, for our collective context, the
NEW BRONCO is the most relevant retro vehicle. Ford certainly rested heavily on its name and incorporated plenty of design cues from the
FIRST GENERATION trucks (1965-1977) into the current ones. I’m sure opinions here vary, but to me, some of the trim levels look really nice and tastefully project the past on the present. I believe that can be said of the current
WRANGLER as well.
[Quick sidebar - I mention the Bronco and Jeep in this post NOT because they compete with the Grenadier [two very different breeds of the same species - thoughts
HERE post 66) but for the “retro” nature of their designs]
That brings us back to Land Rover - a company whose very existence was built upon the bones of a WWII
WILLYS MB surplus Jeep. I said earlier that I’m a bit of a Roverphile and I like to think that I know its history quite well; yet it has heritage I continue to discover. Take, for example, the
JUE477 story of the first production Land Rover vehicle that was acquired, restored, and driven across parts of Mongolia by none other than Sir Jim Radcliffe himself.
Ineos Automotive is a young company with no heritage of its own - there is no automotive lineage - although there will be some day. I lament that there actually isn’t history already in place because I’m so fond of learning about the past. However, it’s quite exciting because each of us in the Global Grenadier community are helping to write that very story.
Despite being all but seven-years-old, the foundation for Grenadier lore had been set. Its tale quickly became legendary and one can even have a pint or the Wellington at its namesake. (
@Stu_Barnes and I discuss Grenadier genesis on
EPISODE 1 of the podcast)
Interestingly though, the very story of the Grenadier is entwined with Land Rover lore and I sometimes think that the Grenadier has a bit of an identity crisis. It is born of a young company in Ineos Automotive and has British, Austrian, German, Italian, and French blood running through its veins. It displays this unique DNA in an oddly familiar skin that encases an amalgam of global components with heritages all their own. It is a new vehicle with a brief yet complicated story and one whose history will be written by those who drive it.
