14 Feb 07
Within a week of getting my Mitsubishi L200 Elegance, which I'll be running for six months, I was stripped of the mistaken belief that I'd never need to use its load bay.
I'd been assuming I would be one of those pick-up drivers who uses his vehicle as a cheap SUV rather than a serious workhorse, but a cumbersome V8 engine that needed moving 100 miles or so presented a challenge that the pick-up was uniquely qualified to meet.
I had a dismantled Mercedes coupe to collect in Sussex. Professional recovery had been arranged but the delivery driver said he couldn't take the engine separately on his truck.
I knew if I didn't take the lump there and then it would end up being left where it was and forgotten about, which would have been a shame as it was a 'dressed' motor show engine with chrome fittings. So instead I had it loaded on a pallet into the back of the L200, resting on the aluminium bed liner (a £377.84 option), while I ignored nagging thoughts about how the hell I was going to get the thing out of the back at the other end.
Luckily the delivery driver had been considering this on the way down the M4 and we managed it once we'd worked out how to get the tailgate to fold out of the way. I still haven't worked out how you lock the tailgate, though, and getting the armadillo roll top cover for the load deck (a £1,248 extra) to match up with the tailgate takes a bit of practice.
