► We've been driven on and off-road in prototypes
► Back-to-basics 4x4 goes on sale next year, from around £45k
► BMW diesel or petrol power
Within 12 months the Ineos Grenadier will be on sale, completing its remarkable journey from sketch on a beer mat in 2015 to serious 4x4 contender in 2022. The brainchild of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, boss of petrochemicals giant Ineos, the Grenadier will be the first of several products from Ineos Automotive. Whatever shape the others may take, the Grenadier is likely to remain the one closest to Sir Jim's heart – as it's essentially a car built to suit his taste for rugged outdoor activities, and to fill the gap he believed was opened up by the demise of the old Land Rover Defender.
We've not yet driven the Grenadier, but we have been in the passenger seat of pre-production prototypes up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and off-road at an event for potential customers in Shropshire.
There are still hundreds of thousands of testing miles to be done – in hot and cold weather, on all sorts of surfaces – before the Grenadier gets signed off by Ratcliffe and by the type approval authorities, but it's clear that the Grenadier is on target.
What's it like in the metal?
Pretty funky, truth be told. It's a purposeful looking device, bigger than you think, and striking with its mostly flat, business-like surfaces and unfussy detailing. There are shades of G-Wagen, Pinzgauer and Defender, of course, but in the flesh the Grenadier's design hangs together well, looking confident and understated.
You climb up into really good Recaro seats, which are both supportive and super comfy. In answer to everyone's first question, namely 'Is there anywhere to put my elbow?', the answer is a resounding 'yes'. Your arm naturally comes to rest, comfortably, on the top of the door. There's space in here, and the ergonomics are sound.
The cockpit strikes a great balance, feeling functional and stripped-back without any sense of being cheap or basic. The main instrument panel is striking in its clarity, and above it sits the main infotainment screen. Up on the roof, where kids and drunk mates can't suddenly lock both your differentials 'for a laugh' you'll find the controls for off-road driving and four sets of switches for accessories such as winches or auxiliary lights. Chunky design and clear fonts call to mind a plane's cockpit, and match the purposeful aesthetic of the exterior.
For passengers, two chunky grab handles set the tone nicely, and the view out is fantastic, with great visibility and that jutting clamshell bonnet to remind you you're in a vehicle that means business.
Up the hill at Goodwood
Two BMW powertrains will be offered – a petrol or diesel 3.0-litre six-cylinder mated to an eight-speed ZF auto 'box. The engine's quiet and refined on start-up, and the transmission effortless.
Up to the start line, a few waves to the crowd, pin it. The Grenadier takes off with conviction and nary a chirp from its BF Goodrich off-road rubber.
At the wheel is handy rally driver Cameron Davies who, at 14, became Britain's youngest rally champion before going on to compete in various European one-make rally series. With a speed limiter in place and orders not to go to full throttle, I'm not expecting my socks to be blown off.
But we brake admirably late for the first right-hander and go in tyres squealing. At once I'm impressed with the Grenadier's poise and its responsiveness under duress. There's far less bodyroll than you might expect given the car's all-terrain remit and ladder chassis (suspension is good old-fashioned coilovers, beam axles and anti-roll bars – no air) and, as Davies works the wheel and throttle pedal, it's clear the Ineos is happy to respond to his inputs even as we howl through the first corner.
On past Goodwood House the BMW powertrain demonstrates its peachiness – smooth, sonorous and punchy. It's been re-mapped for this application and feels torquier than a tuned tractor.
We jink past the flint wall – again, composure is impressive given this thing's dirt pedigree – and bowl on into the next corner, a tricky off-camber right-hander. The Grenadier laps it up, Davies opening the corner up by grabbing a healthy bit of verge on the inside before powering out, the torque and sweetly-mapped shift strategy meaning there's no temptation to shift manually.
That's it: over the line. And another chance to embarrass a paddock full of supercars by attracting more interest and enquiries than all of them put together...
What about off-road?
The big question about the Grenadier for a lot of people concerns whether its off-road ability will be a match for the old Defender (or indeed the new Defender, or Discovery, or Mercedes G-Wagen, or Jeep Wrangler, not to mention the many pick-up trucks that it's also going to compete with). Based on a 20-minute loop around a not very demanding course in good weather in rural Shropshire, we'll say that the signs are good.
It's smooth and quiet, but not so cosseting that you lose touch with your environment. You feel the wheels moving and hear the diesel straight-six working, but it's all very unstressed and comfortable. Ruts, climbs, drops and changes of surface are all dealt with easily. You're conscious that it's a big, heavy car – but that actually feels like a plus point, adding to your sense of being looked after.
On this route there's no need for the driver to engage the low gear set, and no need to adjust the lockable front, centre and rear differentials. Instead, the vast torque and the smooth auto 'box just get on with the job.
The BMW X5 that shares this powertrain would not have coped so easily with this terrain. The Grenadier's classic off-road chassis, with its good ground clearance and long suspension travel, has clearly been expertly tuned for off-roading. Yet it feels perfectly at home on the paved sections.
Comfortable, too, with its well shaped but unbulky Recaro seats. Although this is not a production car, much about this Grenadier feels just right already – not a high-rise limo, but a working vehicle in tune with the adventure-driving, cycling and yachting tastes of the boss.
Ineos Grenadier: first impressions
We won't drive the Grenadier until 2022, when the healthy list of buyers with an order placed will also start to see their cars. But on this evidence Ineos' 4x4 is shaping up very nicely, feeling like a highly competent, refined and charming road car that'll then happily soak up as much mud and abuse as you care to throw at it.
Despite being out of step with most new cars, the Ineos also feels also feels oddly zeitgeisty (anti-zeitgeist?), winning hearts and minds with its no-nonsense approach (actual ignition key, hose-out interior, boxy but handsome body) and thoroughly traditional powertrain (no EV option here, of course).