Car blogs

Dan Trent writes:
It's just as well Mitsubishi builds the L200 tough. Because 'my' Barbarian long termer is certainly getting a thorough work out! I write having just got back from a week in the Alps where the L200 not only provided transport there and back but also served as a general on- and off-road hack vehicle for our week of mountain biking.

For the 500-odd miles there and back the Barbarian was just the job, autobox, air-con, comfy seats and surprising refinement all making light work of the French motorways. Thing is, when people know you're taking a vehicle like that out you end up getting asked to carry stuff. Lots of stuff. So I ended up with no fewer than six* bikes hanging off the thing and fuel consumption in the low 20s as a result.

Still, at least diesel is cheaper in France, especially if you duck off the motorway and find a big supermarket where you can fill up for less than a pound a litre.

Once there the Barbarian found itself regularly tasked with ... hauling bikes around again thanks to the fact the bus up to the chairlift station (riding uphill in the alps is best avoided!) was usually full to bursting. Thankfully the Thule racks Mitsubishi has fitted to the Barbarian are quick and easy to use so this took a lot of the stress out of loading and unloading and worrying about whether the bikes would stay put round all the hairpin bends, which is just as well when you've been entrusted with someone else's four-grand downhill bike.

The lousy weather did get too much at one point so I decided that day's off roading would take place on four wheels, not two, and went exploring the resort in the Barbarian. Plenty of fun and not as muddy as on the bike! Suffice to say there is fun to be had scaling steep ski pistes in an L200!

I wasn't the only one either, it turns out. Indeed, the resort staff also seem to like their L200s, though I noticed they had somewhat chunkier tyres fitted. I get the impression these lead a hard life out here but the Mitsubishis seem a popular choice among the locals, which is good to know.

As well as the six bikes we made full use of every nook and cranny in the load bed, this being before...

...and after loading. Not sure we made the full tonne the Barbarian can actually carry but there was certainly a fair load on board.
And on the way home a stop for a night at the campsite revealed another use for the Barbarian.  Yup, the tailgate functions pretty well as a bar!

Dan

*Yes, I know there are only five bikes in this picture but the owner of the sixth made alternative arrangements for the way home!
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Links:
Month two:  Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian
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Tags: Long Termers

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A Barbarian across the alps was originally published by Inside Track. Read the full story by clicking here.