Ironman 4x4's Flinders Ranges adventure

THE proliferation of new 4x4 vehicles that were launched during 2015 has kept the four-wheel drive accessories manufacturers busy in the months since.

There were half a dozen all-new models launched to market last year, and then there were countless model updates and facelifts to keep the engineers, designers and factory workers flat-knacker getting the products out there to feed the buyers.

Ironman 4x4 didn’t hold back, and at one point late in 2015 we spotted 10 brand new, mainly black, new vehicles at its Melbourne headquarters. They were being 3D scanned, pulled apart and crawled over in preparation for new bullbars, side steps, brush bars, snorkels, storage systems and all the other gear we love to fit to our rigs.

This represented more than $500,000 in vehicles alone and, once you factor in the development and engineering to get the product made, you can more than double that figure again.

Fast forward to 2016 and Ironman has its fleet of kitted-up 4x4s on the road and the products are all available to enthusiasts, yet the work never stops. There are still new and refreshed models to have products developed for them, and the existing gear has to be marketed.

Part of developing and selling 4x4 accessories means marketing them, and when the team at Ironman invited us on the trip to the Flinders Ranges to sample some of the new gear while they photographed and filmed them for marketing use, we couldn’t resist the chance to escape the office.

With a first-class crew on board we drove some of the spectacular Flinders gorges, trekked out to the edge of Lake Frome, and spent a day touring around the stunning Skytrek at Willow Springs. Keep an eye on a future issue of 4X4 Australia magazine for the full story, but check out this video for a sample of the amazing adventure.