Ford Territory 2004 Review

How times change. On my recent visit to Blinman, South Australia, the Saturday night line-up outside the pub resembled the yard of an upmarket four-wheel-drive dealership.

It's easy to be cynical of the 4WD trend. Often these leviathans go no further off-road than where I took that faithful old dual-cab 14 years ago.

But, driven properly, they have minimal impact on national park access tracks. By maintaining traction, 30 big 4WDs do less damage to a rutted track than one wheel-spinning 2WD. They can also convey a family and its camping equipment and provisions in comfort.

The great divide between the 4WD segment and the rest of the motoring public is being broken down by "all-wheel-drives". Even Australia's major car makers have joined the trend, which is why I found myself in Ford's top-spec Territory Ghia AWD a week after it hit the market.

Initially, I thought I would become Joe Cool and have rugged outback types running out of the mulga to shake my hand and say "that's a Ford, well done mate". But the reaction of the bloke at the first fuel stop in the southern Flinders was typical.

As the dusty Territory glided up to the pump, he walked outside, slowly circled the wagon, sniffed, then returned to his cash register.

Oozing understated European-style and features, this all-Australian-made newcomer ensures the family wagon will never be the same again. It uses a surprising amount of Falcon parts, including engine, drivetrain and some cabin components, but is in a different class. The top-shelf Ghia is priced from around $53,000 (depending on options) and includes anti-skid brakes, traction and stability control, leather trim, CD stacker, three-position-memory on the driver's seat, and reversing sensor.

Options include a third row of seats to make it a true people mover, and satellite navigation.

It's a lot of car for the money and it could even challenge some similar vehicles in the imported luxury AWD market.

Frankly, though, I struggle with some of this new technology. The sat-nav can direct you to a street number in a city but I'm someone who lives in terror of the children altering the settings on my television/video.

On beautiful Angorichina station, I spent an hour trying to program the sat-nav. When I asked it for the five nearest cities, it replied: "No cities within 50km."

I gave up when a commercial jetliner suddenly appeared in the skies above us. One member of our party jokingly suggested I may be interfering with a civil aviation satellite.

Call me old fashioned, but I also question the headlong rush by some manufacturers to have electronic sensors on everything, particularly on vehicles designed to be used on rough, unsealed roads.

While the Territory handbook stresses this Ford is not an extreme off-roader, typical Flinders Ranges conditions of vibrating corrugations and water crossings are a test of electronics.

The Territory was totally reliable in three days of dirt driving and developed no body rattles. The cabin was dust-free but dirt collects around the lip of the rear hatch and falls on to the unfortunate person who opens it.

The day after fording a river followed by an overnight thunderstorm, campsite observers noticed water pouring out of the front left mudguard when we drove off in the morning.

Those campsite observers all owned large 4WDs and tended to look down on the Territory.

The Territory will never find people trading down to it, rather it is aimed at owners of 2WD wagons or people movers looking for a slightly upmarket allrounder with similar load space.

Certainly, the Territory is undemanding to drive if you are used to big cars.

It came into its own on fast dirt roads. It was unaffected by corrugations, didn't show any signs of body roll in corners and its suspension soaked up washaways without a hint of drama, despite its near two-tonne weight.

It took just 10 minutes in a 4WD ute to realise the extent of development of four-wheel-drives.

I was being driven back to pick up the Territory from the start of a bushwalk. The ute felt extremely skittish and uncomfortable over corrugations that the Ford had earlier sailed over.

It was a bit like the previous night at the Parachilna pub. The public bar of the Prairie Hotel was much as I had remembered it when I last had a beer there 14 years ago. The difference was a $500,000 avant-garde accommodation wing out the back.

Yes, the Outback has changed and new vehicles have been developed to conquer this territory.