The Isuzu D-Max AT35: Built for Everest, Bought for IKEA

As of yesterday, UK buyers can now get their hands on the new Isuzu D-Max Arctic Trucks AT35. Price: £57,005 excluding VAT. So if you’re over compact crossovers and craving something that can climb a hill and let you sleep on top of it—this is your rig.

Naturally, it’s massive, wide, and unapologetically stiff. It rides on 35-inch tires, with Bilstein suspension, all-wheel drive, and a locking rear differential. It’ll tow 3.5 tonnes or haul a metric ton of coal. Or, if necessary, your ego.

Under the hood is the familiar 1.9-liter turbo diesel. Nothing revolutionary, nothing flashy, but it gets the job done. With 360 Nm of torque, it’s not breaking any records, but it will get you through mud, snow, or the kind of cratered DIY store car park that could pass for a mountain trail in Tajikistan.

Inside, you get leather seats, a 9-inch touchscreen, wireless charging, dual-zone climate control, and a suite of driver assists. Because if you're paying luxury car money for a pickup, the least it can do is remind you when you forget to blink.

Design-wise, it looks equally prepared for an Antarctic expedition or a Sunday screw run at the hardware store. Tall, broad, and (reportedly) with a lower center of gravity—everything a “serious off-roader” needs for that Instagram hero shot. There are wide fender flares, underbody guards, hulking mud flaps, and tread-heavy wheels, because if you’re buying this truck, it damn well better look like you can bulldoze through a forest. Even if your daily route is school run to supermarket.

The Isuzu D-Max AT35 is a vehicle for people who either work knee-deep in mud—or just want the neighbors to think they do. Is it technically good? Almost certainly. Does anyone actually need it? Only if your house is in a ravine and your post arrives by helicopter. Still, you’ll always have #adventure.