This is a variation on the Ineos Grenadier theme. No doubt you already know all about the Grenadier, but here’s a little recap just for fun, because it’s not often these days that we get an all-new car company that doesn’t sell a 1,000-horsepower electric car and a tablet. to the dashboard. In fact, this thing is the exact opposite of that.
The Grenadier is the pet project of Ineos Group CEO Sir Jim Ratcliffe: a car he came up with in a pub in London (the pub was called The Grenadier, hence the name) to fill the gap in the market created when Land Rover killed off the original Defender.
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Before that, Sir Jim tried to buy rights and tools for the Defender, but was told Land Rover wouldn’t sell. After the boxy Grenadier was introduced, JLR tried to stick the knife in by suing Ineos, claiming the two looked too similar. It lost.
So, after setting up Ineos Automotive (Ineos Group’s core business is chemicals with sidelines in fuels, pharmaceuticals and professional sports), buying an old Mercedes factory in north-east France and getting the Grenadier Station Wagon up and running, it’s time for Sir Jim diversify the Grenadier range…
So how does it differ from an SUV?
Well, for starters, it got a different name. Sticking with the military theme, this is the Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster, and if it wasn’t already obvious from the photos, it’s a standard Grenadier that has been converted into a pickup truck.
However, Ineos didn’t just cut the rear of the roof off the Grenadier Station Wagon. The Quartermaster has an elongated chassis with a wheelbase that is 305mm longer than the Station Wagon, meaning it is 5.44m long overall with a hefty curb weight of around 2.7 tonnes. The berth is 1.56m long, 1.62m wide and 48cm high, which means there’s plenty of room for a standard Euro pallet, and you can only use the Quartermaster as a five-seater two-seater.
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Payload is up to 835kg, the same 3500kg towing capacity as the wagon, and the rear door down can hold 225kg for wild picnics.
What engines can I have?
Ah, now they are exactly the same as the station wagon. But they’re great engines: you can have BMW’s 3.0-litre turbocharged inline-six petrol or a 3.0-litre turbocharged inline-six diesel… also from BMW.
The petrol has 283 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque, while the diesel makes do with 248 horsepower but generates 405 lb-ft. Both are mated to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission, and before you ask no, you can’t have a manual.
What else is down there?
Well, the ladder-frame chassis is simple and heavy-duty, and you get Carraro heavy-duty axles, a Tremec two-speed transfer case with a locking center differential (optional front and rear locks are optional), recirculating ball-and-socket steering, Brembo brakes, Bilstein shocks and Eibach coil springs. Yes, there is no leaf spring here.
So, is it worth being a workhorse commercial vehicle?
It really isn’t. Ineos has launched the new van-like Grenadier Commercial in the UK to allow customers to claim VAT back on their purchase. It starts at £51,931.
But because of our complicated tax laws, you’ll likely have to pay VAT on the Grenadier Quartermaster, which means prices start at £66,215. Ouch.
More details can be found under the ‘Buy’ tab, but at this price the Quartermaster’s only real rival in the UK will be the Ford Ranger Raptor, although you can also find people snapping up fancy Volkswagen Amaroks and perhaps even the new Land Rover Defender Commercial.
What sentence?
“With a starting price of around £70k, it’s very much a ‘premium car’ as opposed to a regular work truck»
Ineos openly admits that it is practically the same car as the Grenadier Station Wagon, right down to the rear bulkhead: this is done to make the tooling easier and make the manufacturing process more efficient.
It also knows that with a starting price of almost £70k it’s very much a ‘premium car’ as opposed to a regular work truck, and we have a few reservations about how out of place it looks from the back. And yet, the Quartermaster is so different from anything else out there that we can’t help but feel attached to it.
Yes, there probably won’t be too many houses here in the UK, but those splashing out on a car for a weekend adventure will probably have a hard time.