BIG, bold and all-American the Ford Ranger is a tough and rugged pick-up that is a global success for the manufacturer.

It can be bought in many a variety of styles and with a choice of a couple of engines and right at the top of the range sits the double-cab Wildtrak.

It combines the ability to shift and move bags of hardware with the comfort and luxury of an SUV. The Wildtrak also offers fantastic towing capacity as well as the talent to go off-road and tackle the rough stuff.

A good-looking pick-up, the Ranger's exterior style is improved by a number of upmarket design features but it is no soft touch.

You can wade through rivers, traverse rough terrain, slip through mud and snow with ease because the Ranger has enough grunt to do it.

On regular roads the Wildrak behaves like most very large SUVs although it does feel a bit bouncy at times and on motorways it will cruise with decent ride and handling.

The Wildtrak features 18-inch machined alloy wheels, a Titanium effect front grille, power-foldable door mirrors with integrated turning lights, side steps, aluminium finish roof rails, puddle lights and an aerodynamic sports bar with loadbox illumnination.

Inside the double-cab offers enough room for a family or for five workers and boasts equipment to satisfy leisure owners. You get satellite navigation, Bluetooth with voice control, a rear view camera, a large touchscreen with Ford SYNC 3 technology, a DAB radio, heated windscreen, rear parking sensors, a choice of seven interior lighting colours, a coolbox in the centre consule and a number of power sockets.

You can also switch at the touch of a button between a choice of drives and low and high ratios.

Safety features include a raft of airbags, hill launch assist, hill descent control and an electronic stability programme with traction control and emergency brake assist.

This Wildtrak came with the larger 3.2 TDCi diesel power plant combined with a manual six-speed gearbox. It punts out 200ps and gives the Ranger a top speed of 109mph and a 0-62mph time of 10.9 seconds.

It has a claimed combined figure of 33.6mpg and I got surprisingly close to that.