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VEHICLES
TIME FOR A COMMERCIAL BREAK! Construction Plant News is a welcome convert to the “Discovery” Channel.
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re you currently in the market for a shiny new, all the very latest mod cons van? Or perhaps a mighty testosterone fuelled pick-up truck has taken your fancy? Well, hold your workhorses for just a moment. It may have escaped your attention – and we have to confess until a few months ago it had largely avoided our discerning eye – but there is actually a third commercial vehicle option which could turn some previously wellintentioned conventions on their head. Like the best things in life, of course, it comes at a pretty hefty premium, so look away now if you are of a nervous disposition, but for those in construction hoping to make a bold statement about their particular artisanship, or simply spend more time between hard-to-access sites than actually getting their hands dirty on one, then let us take you quite literally on a voyage of Discovery. Not exactly going for a song, but certainly all singing and dancing, the oft affectionately
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abbreviated “Disco” Discovery Commercial from Land Rover is much more sophisticated nightclub than the sweaty church hall of your youth. Expect to pay a not insignificant entrance fee but what you get from then on in is a heady cocktail mix of what has made the Discovery one of the biggest noises in family SUV’s for more than 30 years. In many ways it seems almost a sacrilege to turn it in to a van but clearly the company are
confident that there are sufficient customers out there who value driving creature comforts and top end performance over pure load carrying capacity (748kg payload). In fact, it’s claimed that one in four Discovery models sold in the UK is a commercial, which basically comes without rear seats, which are replaced by a hard-wearing load area and heavily tinted windows. There’s some clever technology on hand to maximise grip for a variety of different surfaces and terrains and, with a permanent four-wheel drive with high and low range gearing, you would be hard pressed to find a typical UK scenario where it could get stuck. At the very rear, the load area is accessed by a powered tailgate operated via the key fob or by pressing a button in the rear number plates. Opened it provides a handy backstop to items falling out and can double as a seat. It’s fair to say that there is nothing else quite like it currently on the market, which can be interpreted in a number of ways, of course. Up
