The last time I was as pleasantly surprised by a car that I expected to despise so much, I was 16.
The 1986 Ford Bronco II with peeling paint and broken driver's seat that I was to inherit from my mother the day I passed my driving test was the last in a long list of cars I wanted to call my first.
But, as soon I discovered just how many rungs of my high school's status ladder I could jump with any set of wheels, regardless of its appearance, I was more than happy with my well-worn inheritance.
Now, I've driven a few Chinese imports over the last year or so and my experience with nearly all of them has left a lot to be desired. They all smelled of creosote and paraffin inside.
Build quality was tatty, to say the least. They all had funny names that sounded like they've been loosely translated from a Cantonese comic book, and overall packages (though very affordable) were very cheap.
Enter Great Wall Motors' double-cab Steed bakkie. As I said, I expected to despise it. Sure, they managed to round off the corners and clone a Copen-cross-Yaris fascia, but surely under the skin it would be just as, if not more, disgusting than the creosote-mobiles I've tested in the past?
I was wrong. Pleasantly surprised. If it weren't for the funny badge (which I suppose is some sort of chromed Great Wall of China rendition) the Steed could easily be one of the Japanese bigwigs. It looks like one, is built like one and even smells like one inside.
But let's go back to that badge for a second. I'm guessing there are plenty of folk out there who won't accept the Steed as a "real" bakkie, no matter how much I rave about it.
The Toyotas and Nissans of the world have been establishing themselves here for almost as long as the Chinese have been growing rice. The word "established" is significant; I'm not saying the Chinese are incapable of it, it's just going to take a lot longer than a year or two.
But nonetheless, GWM's Steed is a sucker punch to the jaws of the established brands. The more I drove it, the more it grew on me and the less and I could fault it. In fact, it took almost a day before I noticed the push-button all-wheel-drive selectors on the fascia.
How can some of GWM's much more expensive all-wheel drive rivals still be using a clunky gear lever to engage bundu-bash mode when GWM is offering it to your fingertips? Baffling...
So, off to Gerotek's off-road test facilities to see how the buttons worked in the real world. Excuse my scepticism but I wouldn't have been surprised if the 4H and 4L selectors were dummies just there for looks. Given the Chinese track record, that is.
Unstoppable
But no. At Gerotek I was warned by the staff not to attempt certain obstacles. Now that was a challenge. A push of the 4H button and off I went. Incredible.
The Great Wall scaled some great walls and just kept asking for more. If it struggled with anything at all, the trusty 4L low-range button was there to bail it out of trouble. Unstoppable.
The Steed's not perfect, though. It simply can't be at around R100 000 less than its Japanese rivals. Its turbodiesel 2.8 is a bit underpowered, even with the R5000 engine conversion on the one we tested which bumped power to 82kW and 280Nm.
The accelerator pedal feels heavy, the square-tubing rollover bar looks like a chintzy afterthought and there are no anti-lock brakes or crash bags (will soon be available for about R15 000 as options).
VERDICT
The Steed is exceptionally good value for money - if you can handle being the runt of the litter at fancy Japanese double-cab off-road escapades, that is.
It has build quality and off-road ability to challenge the established brands but the market it which it competes is dominated by image and badges.
Get over that and GWM will save you enough bucks to make it worth it. After all, 100 grand will buy an awful lot of toys - jetski, quad bike, motorcycle - or a darn good holiday. - Star Motoring