THE Ford Ranger is the best-looking pick-up you can buy and that is why it has been a huge success for the Blue Oval badge in the UK.

Big, bold and all-American the Ranger is as tough and rugged as you can get and it can be bought in a large variety of styles and with a choice of engines and transmissions.

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

The Ranger was updated last year and is now even more stylish but it remains a tough customer.

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

On regular roads this flagship Wildtrak version behaves like most very large SUVs although it does feel a bit bouncy on rough surfaces but on smooth tarmac and on motorways it will cruise with decent ride and handling.

The Wildtrak features 18-inch machined alloy wheels, a painted front fender grille, power-foldable heated door mirrors with puddle lights, side steps, roof rails and rear privacy glass.

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, rear parking sensors, a large touchscreen with Ford SYNC 3 technology, a DAB radio, heated windscreen, and a large number of power sockets as well as heated electrically adjustable seats with leather trim and a leather stitched steering wheel.

At the touch of a button you can select 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. There is front and rear parking sensors and a rear view camera.

Other features include a lane keeping aid, traffic sign recognition, a collision mitigation system, intelligent speed assistance and cruise control.

This Wildtrak version came with the 2.0-litre EcoBlue diesel power plant combined with an automaticten-speed gearbox. It punts out 213ps and gives the Ranger a top speed of 112mph and a 0-62mph time of 9.0 seconds.

It has a claimed combined figure of 36.7 mpg but that will depend on how hard you drive it and how heavy it is loaded.