Car of the Week: Ineos Grenadier

There’s certainly no shortage of big, high riding SUVs but when it comes to cars that can genuinely get you out of a tricky situation, there’s really very few. Sure, a Range Rover will cart you across a rough patch in absolute luxury but few would consider it for an expedition across the Okavango Delta or even a blast around the military training grounds on the Salisbury Plains. For that, you’ll be needing Ineos Grenadier. Trust me, I’ve been lucky enough to pilot it in both of the aforementioned scenarios The former while sitting next to its creator, petrochemicals tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

It takes less than a minute of speaking with Ratcliffe to understand why he created the Grenadier. The man is adventure obsessed. If he’s not running an ultra across the Sahara, or celebrating his birthday by driving from Paris to Peking in a Bentley Blower, he’s dreaming up more adventures and, crucially, vehicles to conquer them in. Which brings us neatly onto the latest iteration of his four-wheeled creation.

New and updated for 2026, the Grenadier (starting from £62,495) is treated to a smattering of visual upgrades, such as slightly bigger headlights and more branding on the back, while the majority of changes are under its boxy, utilitarian skin. In come some extra safety aids, such as a speed limit warning system and lane keep assistance, as well as a new steering box with a variable gear ratio that makes it easier to handle on the road.

Other than that, it’s business as usual for the Grenadier and by business, I mean conquering terrain you wouldn’t even consider crossing in a tank. Its boxy aesthetic is reassuringly functional. The bumpers and wheel arches are hardy but separate from the rest of the body panels, so when they inevitably get scratched or worse when hacking through the undergrowth, they are easy to replace. Which happily is a running theme for the rest of the car, even on the inside where it’s spartan interior is tough as nails. Children, dogs and potentially even predatory wild animals will have a hard time dislodging anything from a Grenadier.

Under the hood is either a BMW-sourced 3.0-litre turbo petrol, which produces 283bhp and 332lb ft of torque, or a turbodiesel, which puts out 248bhp and a hefty 405lb ft of torque, which is enough to ensure the car can wade, climb or churn its way through most things. Underpinning everything is an old-school ladder frame chassis, with an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission to lay all that power down smoothly.

As expected, the options list is extensive and wouldn’t look out of place on the desk of a Ministry of Defence procurement officer. Think NATO-spec winches, auxiliary lighting, electronically actuated diff locks and everything you’d need to survive a zombie apocalypse. Ineos is ‘open source’ when it comes to additional equipment and personalisation.

The Grenedier is as far from a soft, city-based SUV as you can get. It’s not pretending to be particularly adept at doing the school-run and non does it claim to be the ultimate motorway mile muncher. What it does claim to be is a no-nonsense, stripped back workhorse and adventure enabler. And when it comes to that, it is simply sublime.

Read the full interview with Sir Jim Ratcliffe about business success, sports ownership and adventure.