Endless Summer

Born on the beaches of Queensland, Jay’s Ranger lives for summer camping.

- Dan Everett

IT DOESN’T take a rocket scientist to realise there’s been a large paradigm shift in Australian motoring. Where red-bloooded young men used to strive for a night hooning around the back streets in an A9X Torana or GT Falcon with their Stubbies-wearing mates, they’re now buying up late-model dual-cabs en masse, donning their board shorts and heading to the beach to experience what Australia really has to offer. Of course, with the shift in who’s actually buying and driving these 4x4s, the manufacturers themselves have had to drastically change. Capable no longer cuts it, they need to be comfortable enough for daily duties (including family use) and exciting enough to catch people’s eye. “I had a 2005 Hilux extra cab before this,” Jay Gill, the owner of this adventure machine, told us. “I had test-driven the new Hilux and the Navara and had all but settled on the Navara when the old man told me to give the Ranger a try. I loved it straight away and had to have one.”

Spending his days between the Gold Coast and Brisbane it’s no surprise Jay has transformed his PXII Ranger into a beach eating adventure machine. It’s now capable of doing everything he could ask of it, and more. “The main reason I bought it was to tow boats and jet skis,” he said. “I love getting it on the beach as well and am doing a camping trip over to either Fraser Island or Double Island soon, too.”