Month: January 2025

Morocco is a common destination car makers head to when they launch a new product. Mazda followed suit recently – but took things to the next level.

Morocco. For 40,000 years it has been the bridge between the East, Africa and Europe. It’s a place where powerful dynasties have risen and subsequently fallen, and which European powers have sought to exploit and control.

While its most northerly point may be a mere 8.9 miles off the coast of Spain, it’s another world of ancient cities, rich culture and sand – plenty of sand. To a European, there’s a magic about the country that is beguiling, and this close-to-home but other-worldly feel is why car makers love launching their latest off-roaders in Morocco. Its terrain is harsh enough to flatter the sparkling new product, but its airport allows a quick escape to the company boardroom.

So, on reading the invitation that landed in my inbox one miserable Wednesday afternoon, I was expecting the usual – a pleasant jaunt around some of Morocco’s most picturesque towns for a couple of days, providing ample opportunity to take Instagram-worthy pictures.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Mazda has a habit of putting its cars through gruelling expeditions, and the trip that lay ahead was a two-day 1,100-kilometre hike up the Atlas mountains to the edge of the Sahara desert, and through areas that couldn’t be further from the social media-friendly tourist routes. However, the car that I would be doing this in would be no uncompromising, agricultural, rock-hopping 4×4, but a luxurious SUV with air-conditioned seats and a Bose sound system – Mazda’s CX-60.

My adventure starts in the only place to begin an epic drive of Morocco – Marrakesh. The ‘Red City’, as it’s nicknamed, is still a thriving metropolis where goods are traded and cultures mix, and after a night of fine food in one of the city’s famous souks, it’s time to point the Mazda south-east to our overnight stop in Ouarzazate – a solid nine-hour drive.

With such a slog on Morocco’s most challenging roads ahead of us, an easy passage out of the city is what’s needed. And yet, despite an early alarm call with the sun gently rising above the city’s typically ornate Islamic and Berber architecture, the place is swarming with Tuk-tuks, battered Dacias, and carts nearly toppling over with the day’s produce and wares. The locals don’t seem to heed any rules of the road, with my German-registered Mazda, shiny with not a mark on its Soul Red paintwork, proving to be a magnet to every passing vehicle.

After a couple of hours or so, the roads become narrower but no less dangerous. Here, the roads are of uneven quality and the traffic even more disorderly than where we began the day. The High Atlas mountains are beginning to encroach on the surroundings, and it’s now that we start to see how cruel the landscape can be. Many areas that we ease the big Mazda through are still painfully suffering from the effects of an earthquake that shook the area to pieces in September 2023. Tarpaulins covering piles of rocks that used to be houses litter the sides of the road, yet locals are still residing here – some too proud to leave, while others likely don’t have the means to.

Before long we started to climb. Although a single track in many places, the road surface here initially is remarkably good – it’s the famed Tizi-n-Test pass that stretches upwards to 6,893 ft and connects Marrakesh to the arid plains of the Sahara desert. This road was blasted out of the mountains by French colonialists between 1926 and 1932 and cuts right through the Atlas range.

On first impressions, it’s a gentle trek. But soon there’s a relentless onslaught of hairpins and unbarriered corners where 500-metre drops-offs lie in wait; with the road surface crumbling at these tight switchbacks, care is needed as smooth pebbles littering the road can make the tyres slide towards the precipitous drops.

It makes for a sweaty palms drive, but a stop at the top and the view across the Souss plain with the peaks of the Anti-Atlas mountain dotted on the horizon makes for a relaxing break. And then it’s an easy 18km, fast-flowing blast down the other side.

Smoother, wider roads mean I can pick up the pace to reach our overnight stop by nightfall. Here I’m dancing with the Sahara – skirting its edges and occasionally dipping the Mazda’s wheels into its dusty territory. It’s a quick drive, made special by there being no traffic on the road for hours, and the CX-60’s 3.3-litre straight-six diesel provides effortless power. On fast-flowing roads like this, the CX-60’s balanced ride and engaging steering remind me that I’m driving a modern-day family car after all, not a cumbersome off-roader.

Just as the sun starts to disappear behind rocky outcrops, I turn the Mazda off the main road down a jagged pathway and park it in the middle of a stunning canyon. Some 12 miles south of Ouarzazate, the Ouednoujoum Ecolodge is a wonderfully rustic collection of rooms, free from the fripperies of modern, generic hotel accommodations.

The daytime temperature of 35 degrees slips reluctantly to 22 overnight, and my little hut with terracotta-washed walls, clings onto the heat. It’s a rough night thanks to that warmth and a hard bed, but a very early start the next day sees me making an early dash through Ouarzazate. It’s an odd place; it’s known as ‘the door to the desert’ and because of this, it’s often chosen by Hollywood to stand in for locations such as Tibet, Afghanistan and Egypt. Film credits include Gladiator, The Sheltering Sky and even The Living Daylights.

It was worth getting up early, not just for the CX-60’s air-conditioned seats and comfortable suspension, but for the road that lay ahead. I whip past rivers sitting alongside tranquil oases of fruit and almond trees, and through villages that consist entirely of kasbahs and ksour – fortified houses, in other words, made from earth and mudbrick. The road, the R704, begins to climb. This is the famous Dades Gorge – a simply stunning stretch that’s shrouded with high limestone cliffs. With its tight hairpins, it seems to rudely encroach on this centuries-old landscape.

On and on the Mazda climbs to around 6,000 ft before the tarmac gives up its fight with the topography. From here on, it’s a 4,000-ft trudge that will end with me conquering the highest road in the Atlas mountains. The now single track is deserted, but the road quality is akin to the surface of the moon. I am convinced the CX-60 shod in summer tyres would grind to a halt on the steeper sections, unable to find traction due to the dust and smooth stones that now form the road. But the Mazda plods on until asphalt makes a welcome reappearance right at the top of the summit.

From here on in, it’s a five-hour joy ride back down to Marrakesh. This northern side of the drive unlocks new scenery with every turn; the pink-painted fortified houses are long gone as the landscape gets ever greener – more European, you could say, at times. And then it’s into the melee of Marrakesh once more – oddly it seemed quaintly primitive nearly two days ago, but in contrast to the gorges and barren sandy plains of this morning, it’s vibrant and exotic.

As I parked up the CX-60 to catch my EasyJet flight home packed with tourists, I was amazed at how this very road-biased car with its luxurious interior and unfashionable diesel power coped with such harsh and, at times, dangerous terrain. It shows that the modern crop of SUVs is hugely adept in all sorts of environments, but also that there’s still a place for a diesel car no matter how unfairly hated they’ve become.

By James Batchelor

Ed Jackson and Ross Stirling completed the challenge for the Millimetres 2 Mountains Foundation.

A gruelling charity event has seen a pair drag a new Kia Picanto over 30 miles in 24 hours on foot, raising over £12,000 in the process.

Ed Jackson and Ross Stirling pulled along the new Picanto – which weighs just under a tonne – as far as they could within the 24-hour period along a runway at Bovingdon Airfield, Hertfordshire.

By the end of the gruelling event, the team had raised more than £12,000 for the Millimetres 2 Mountains (M2M) Foundation, which Ed and his wife Lois co-founded. A mental health charity that helps individuals through exploration in the great outdoors, M2M was founded following Ed’s 2017 accident which had seen him misjudge the depth of water in a pool and break his neck – leaving him paralysed from the waist down. Despite being told that he would never walk again, Ed has submitted several mountains – and helped to pull along a Picanto for this event.

Ed said, “Wow, that was a challenge and a half. Every year, we love spreading some Christmas cheer by taking on something a bit daft, and this might just have been our toughest one yet! A huge shoutout to Kia and FJ Chalke for donating the car—not only did it look fantastic, but it made the journey from Somerset to the airfield an absolute breeze. Thank you!”

Ross, meanwhile, has so far raised more than £1 million for charity and is a trustee of the M2M Foundation. He’s currently the creative director of a music venue operator in the US.

Stirling said: “When it comes to fundraisers, I knew this one would be a real mental challenge. Pushing through at 4am in complete darkness was tough, but the incredible supporters who showed up in the morning gave us the energy to keep going! A huge thank you to our amazing sponsors and everyone who contributed—you all made this possible!”

A hardworking truck can make the biggest of jobs easier, but which ones should you check out today?

A pick-up can be the ideal tool for all kinds of jobs. Whether you need to transport heavy goods on a frequent basis or like to take mountain bikes on big adventures, a pick-up truck is something that can make the toughest of jobs a little easier.

Though the pick-up market might have been dwindling over the last few years, there’s still some good variety out there to consider. Let’s see what’s on offer today.

Ford Ranger

Ford’s Ranger has routinely proven to be one of the most popular pick-up trucks in the UK. It’s not hard to see why, either, as with a robust chassis setup and a rugged yet comfortable interior, you can push it to the limit-off road and still have a reasonably refined experience when you return to the paved sections.

There are a good number of specifications to choose from, too, including the range-topping Raptor which throws in a punchy V6 petrol engine and a range of performance upgrades which make it near-peerless on the rough stuff.

Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster

The Grenadier Quartermaster is one of the newest additions to the pick-up market and it does so with a healthy dose of style. Like the standard Grenadier, the Quartermaster is available with BMW-sourced engines which are smooth and responsive. The pleasant gearbox comes courtesy of the German manufacturer, too.

It’s got enough load space to carry a full-sized Euro pallet, too, and just like the standard car should prove very capable off-road.

Volkswagen Amarok

The first-generation Volkswagen Amarok showed that pick-up trucks could drive just as pleasantly as a large SUV and it still continues to deliver a similar experience into its second-generation. Today, the Amarok sits on the same platform as the Ford Ranger but brings a slightly more upmarket experience than its American cousin.

There’s loads of good equipment inside and the whole interior is built solidly as well. Fortunately, it’s backed up by decent off-road manners as well.

Maxus T90EV

It’s not something you expect to find in this list – an electric vehicle. However, Maxus has bucked the trend by delivering its completely battery-powered T90EV, which is here to show that EVs can be just as practical as their combustion-engined counterparts.

It can match many rivals in terms of its load-carrying ability and should be able to return over 200 miles from a single charge. Top-up using cheap home energy rates and it’ll prove a lot cheaper to run than others on this list, too.

KGM Musso

KGM – which was formerly known as Ssangyong – has one of the more hard-wearing pick-ups on the market today with its Musso. It’s available in a variety of specifications, too, with all getting a trustworthy 2.2-litre diesel engine under the bonnet.

Available with both manual and automatic gearboxes, the Musso is a truck which punches well above its weight in terms of capability.

Isuzu D-Max

The D-Max remains one of the ‘core’ pick-ups on sale in the UK today and it’s one which has been around for a little while now. Solidly made and with a 1.9-litre diesel engine under the bonnet, the D-Max is very much a ‘tool’ that will get the job done.

You can also get it in head-turning Arctic Trucks specification, too, which adds in huge wheels and massively bolstered arches for even more performance off-road.