Super cool pick-up from Arctic Trucks

Head-turning looks, smooth ride, excellent pick-up performance in the most extreme conditions. What’s not to like about the Isuzu D-Max Arctic Trucks AT35? Price would be a reasonable starting point because, at £33,499, the AT35 double-cab retails at around £10,000 more than the conventional Utah-spec D-Max on which it’s based. But, to be fair, that money does buy you a truckful of extra stuff.  Running through the main points of difference from a standard Isuzu D-Max: the AT35 gains 112mm in height, of which 20mm comes from a suspension lift, 30mm from body lift and 62mm from the AT’s taller tyres; the front suspension incorporates Fox Performance Series dampers and springs, the rear gets Fox dampers; the wheel arches are completely re-engineered, inside and out, to accommodate the taller and wider footwear; there are fender flares and side steps; a Witter bar and receiver hitch at the rear of the truck not only accept a standard tow ball but also a variety of mounting brackets and winches; and last, and perhaps the most striking difference, are the colossal 315/70 R17 Nokian Rotiiva AT tyres, which are capable of running at conventional road pressures of 29psi down to around 7psi. Incidentally, there’s also the option of an on-board tyre inflation kit. So, why? The clue is in those tyres and their ability to travel over the most difficult terrain. Icelandic firm Artic Trucks, whose main markets continue to be Iceland and Scandinavia, has been modifying 4x4s to cope with extreme conditions for more than 25 years, and for the past four years has had an agreement with Isuzu in Norway to build top-end Arctic Truck D-Max models. A similar agreement is now in place in the UK, hence the imminent arrival of the AT35 extended-cab six-speed manual (£30,999), AT35 double-cab six-speed manual (£33,499) and double-cab five-speed auto (£34,499). On-sale date is July 25th, through 36 of Isuzu’s dealer outlets. Would you, or should you, buy one? That depends. There’s no doubt that this is no back-street, knocked-together conversion — a bling wagon with no practical purpose other than to make little boys stop and stare. It will certainly do the latter, yet at least this eye-catching appearance is accompanied by genuine engineering substance and nouse: after a brief drive we can confirm that those suspension upgrades and larger 35in tyres, along with their greater approach and departure angles, will take you to parts that other more conventional pick-ups will struggle to reach. On road there’s minimal tyre noise, and our initial impression is that the Fox dampers do a fair job of removing at least some of the traditional back-end pick-up jiggle. Car-like travel? No. It’s still a pick-up. Downsides? Not many. After all, the basis of the AT35 is the well-proven standard D-Max from which it retains its full driveline including the familiar 2.5-litre 163hp twin-turbo diesel, shift-on-the-fly two-ratio four-wheel-drive, and choice of six-speed manual or five-speed auto boxes. Critically there’s also no loss of practical capability: the AT still tows 3.5t and still has a 1,050kg payload. The one disappointment is that the interior contains precious little in terms of specific AT decoration; it’s pretty much standard Isuzu, although the buyer can select from a comprehensive list of options. Which neatly brings us back to the price. Some distance north of £30,000, the AT35 is no cheap pick-up option … but then it’s no ordinary pick-up. And should you be tempted to take the plunge, at least you’ll be able to draw comfort from what are likely to be healthy residuals — that’s been the Scandinavian experience — and Isuzu’s five-year/125,000-mile warranty. Go on, treat yourself. If nothing else, your new look farm transport will certainly create quite a stir down the pub. Look out for a future full drive in an upcoming issue of profi.