A century ago, a revolution kicked off across rural Britain as horse power was replaced by horsepower. Never mind our romantic notions of bucolic peace and quiet – ever since then, the countryside has been shaped by the internal combustion engine.
Thanks to diesel-fuelled mechanisation, farms became vastly more productive. All this produce, and the fish landed in ports, was sent farther and faster to the urban population by vans and lorries. They also brought supplies and processed food back to rural businesses and shops. As private car ownership grew, people found they could live way out in the country but still work in towns. Or indeed live in towns but take their holidays in the countryside.
We’re here to pay tribute to the particular rural vehicles that forged this revolution, and the ones that today energise the very pulse of country life. While regular trucks and cars are as vital in the landscape as they are in the townscape, you already know about them. Instead, we’re saluting the vehicles that are truly characteristic of country life. Get stuck behind any of these on a no-overtaking stretch of road and you’ll know for sure you’re deep in rural Britain.
Like most kids who grew up on a farm, I’d driven many of this list – off the Queen’s Highway, you understand – well before I was old enough for my driving licence. There was a mutual benefit here. My Dad was getting productive work out of me, and I was indulging my fascination for machinery.
Iconic rural vehicles
Vintage tractor – Massey Ferguson 135
- Made 1964-1975
- Power 45bhp
- Top speed 16mph
- Passengers 1
The Massey Ferguson 135 is part of a noble line of machines dating back to the ones that served draught horses with their redundancy papers. To this day, tractors of this age do sterling service around the cramped old yards of livestock farms, thanks to their compactness, versatility, simplicity and unburstable spirit.
Land Rover Defender
- Made 1948-2016
- Power 51-182bhp
- Top speed 30-90mph
- Passengers 7
Every part changed over its staggeringly long production run, but always the same solid old friend, as much of a fixture as a village phone box. Solid, simple and unstoppable, for decades it was essential as go-anywhere transport for farmers, until gradually becoming a cult piece of ruralabilia for weekenders. Finally discontinued in early 2016.
Charabanc Leyland N1 and O1
- Made 1919-21
- Power 36-40bhp
- Top speed 24mph
- Passengers 28-33
To most people in Britain’s industrial and extractive towns, the countryside might as well have been another planet. Then came the charabanc. Factories, mills and mines would give their workers a day off and subsidise an annual trip to the countryside or coast. People got a taste for fresh air.
Pickup Mitsubishi L200
- Made 1996-2005
- Power 113bhp
- Top speed 94mph
- Passengers 5
Rural tradespeople and farmers realised these Japanese 4x4 pickups could do all the towing and cross-country work of a Land Rover, but also carry their family in some comfort. A fiscal wrinkle meant they could replace a ‘business’ car at huge tax saving. Soon L200s, and rivals such as the Toyota Hilux, were everywhere.
Classic sports car MGB Roadster
- Made 1962-1980
- Power 84-94bhp
- Top speed 103-107mph
- Passengers 2
The definitive British classic car. ‘Sports’ doesn’t mean fast: it’s slower than a modern super-mini. Travelling roof-down, countryside smells waft away the car’s aroma of leaking oil. But by its very lack of sophistication, it’s endlessly absorbing to drive. And to maintain – just as well, as you’ll be doing that often.
Modern tractor
The working appetite of modern tractors is immense. They’ll plough, at perhaps six hectares an hour, or seed a landscape in a day, and haul lorry-sized loads off the fields. Much of the driver’s job is automated, for greater precision and productivity. As with cars, their engines’ emissions are strictly controlled.
Modern combine
Combines cut corn and separate out the grain, leaving only straw behind. These vast modern machines are tracked by satellite, continuously measuring the grain yield, so that next year, the tractors seeding and fertilising the land will automatically tailor the inputs to get the best from each individual square metre of soil.
Modern bus
In the countryside, there are few passengers, so the bus services run a sparse timetable… and so few people use them. The routes that remain offer a lifeline, especially to the young and elderly, so deservedly they attract subsidies. Unfortunately, councils are running out of money.
Luxury SUV
A ritzy 4x4 can dismissively overcome rocky and muddy tracks while hermetically sealing its occupants from the effects of rude nature outside. Truth is, most people, even in the country, don’t need the 4x4 traction. But the high-set seats do afford a great view over hedges, and a sense of elevation that’s figurative as well as literal.
All-terrain vehicle or quad bikes
The modern mule. They’ll take the farmer and small amounts of feed or tools pretty well anywhere, and their light weight means they don’t leave damaging ruts. Mostly seen on hill farms, checking or rounding up livestock, dog running alongside. They’re not just a tool – their agility makes them huge fun to use.
Paul Horrell writes for BBC Top Gear Magazine, driving new cars all over the world and interviewing people who design and engineer them.
He knows the countryside, having grown up on a Cornish dairy farm – at the time the world’s only source of Yarg cheese