Price: to be decided, but much cheaper than any other ATV, possibly between £10,000 and £15,000
Engine: 2.2 litre diesel Ford PT22
Gears: 5-speed manual
Self-assembly: 12 hours
Range: 1,200km
The Roundhouse in Camden has seen some legendary performances in its 50-year history, but probably none quite like this. Up on stage are Nick Mason (Pink Floyd’s drummer and owner of a priceless collection of racing cars), the philanthropist and entrepreneur Sir Torquil Norman, and the renowned automotive engineer Professor Gordon Murray (best known as the man behind the McLaren F1). But they’re not here to talk about supercars. They’re here to launch the Ox: the world’s first “flat-pack” truck and a vehicle designed specifically to bring aid and mobility to the planet’s most remote areas.
Like all the best ideas, Sir Torquil says this one started off in the bath. He heard on the radio that less than 20% of the world’s population have any access to a vehicle. He knew the transformative impact that transportation could have on the poorest parts of the planet, not only for emergency work but at an everyday village level. He decided to do something about it. He envisioned a low-cost, all-terrain vehicle that would be efficient, lightweight, easy to maintain and incredibly tough. It would also be flat-packed (his eureka moment) as that would enable cheap importation (six can fit into a container as opposed to two) and assembled locally by “three men in three days using three spanners”.
It’s taken six years and the genius of Gordon Murray’s engineering team to bring the brief to life, but at the Roundhouse we get the first glimpse of the Ox. Nick Mason says he thinks it could be as important a car as the Model T Ford. Gordon Murray says the Ox “tops everything he’s ever worked on, purely because it has the potential to help so many people”.
Partly made of plywood, the Ox is bright and cheery and does in fact look like something you might pick up at Ikea. But it’s also brimming with clever solutions to tricky problems: it has huge ground clearance and massive individual wheel movement; the tailgate swivels round to double as a loading ramp; the three windscreens are interchangeable; there’s room for 13 adults in the back or eight 44-gallon drums; the rear bench seats can be removed and used as “sand ladders”; the engine can be decoupled and used as a mobile generator… the list goes on.
Sir Torquil now just needs his Global Vehicle Trust Ox to get into production, then, he says: “My dream is to one day see an Ox in every village in Africa.”
Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @MartinLove166
