We Roll Through the Wilds of Baja in an Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster

Because, in the march of progress, sometimes it's good to miss a step. From the May/June issue of Car and Driver. It's getting harder to get lost. Civilization creeps like lake ice, encasing the land in smooth ribbons of easily traversed tarmac. It's rare to be out of cell service. If you try to color outside the lines, your car beeps and nudges you back into the lane. You can't even take a wrong turn without a map flashing across three screens. It's not bad, exactly. Most people appreciate security and a paved commute, but some long to discover an unfamiliar road—the rougher and dustier, the better. If we can travel it in a vehicle that cushions some of the bumps without blocking out the sage-scented breeze, that seems ideal. Mexico's Baja California peninsula is the destination for those looking to get lost in order to find themselves. Off-roading was born here in dune buggies and Broncos, on Honda Scramblers, and in small-block-swapped Land Cruisers. Every year, hundreds of racers test themselves against the elements in the Baja 1000. They come with massive Trophy Trucks, support crews, satellite radios, and helicopters. Even with support, it's one of the most challenging races on earth, but it started with just a racer named Mickey Thompson, a magazine salesman named Sal Fish, and a Volkswagen Thing. See all results for new 2026 Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster for sale near h3h 0a1 In 1971, Fish was a high roller in the automotive industry. He'd worked his way up from salesman at Car Craft magazine to publisher for Robert Petersen's Hot Rod, and he enjoyed martini lunches and martini dinners with names such as Penske, DeLorean, and Shelby. Then Thompson suggested Fish quit his well-paying job and go in on a risky new venture he called SCORE International. SCORE was to be an off-road racing series in Baja, NASCAR on dirt. Fish checked his nice watch, twirled the key ring to his fancy car, and said, "Thanks, but no thanks." See all results for new 2026 Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster for sale near h3h 0a1 Thompson kept working on his friend, who was more of an adventurer than the suit and tie suggested. "I don't think I'm adventurous," Fish said when I described him as such. "I don't want to jump out of an airplane, but I guess I would like to know what we're flying over." Okay, curious. Plus, he had a case of Baja fever, contracted a few years earlier when he raced a Baja Bug in the NORRA Mexican 1000, the precursor to what would become Thompson's SCORE series. Whatever prompted it, in 1973, Fish did jump out of the metaphorical plane, straight into a partnership with Thompson. In 1975, traveling only a couple dozen miles or so a day in his 46-hp Volkswagen Thing, he mapped the route of the very first Baja 1000. Fish retired in 2012, but he agreed to go back across the border as my co-driver for the 50th anniversary of the Baja 1000, only on a very different sort of desert run. Michael Emery, a podcaster and off-road enthusiast, started leading safari trips in Baja in 2023 as a counterpoint to the race pace the area is famous for. His routes often traverse the same ranchos and dry lakes that the SCORE races do but at speeds more suited for contemplation than competition, more about discovery than destruction. He calls the concept Slow Baja, and while the speed is slower, the soul is the same. Get out of the ruts, literally and otherwise. I figured Fish had spent enough time in VWs, so I chose a vehicle he might be less familiar with: a 2025 Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster in the off-road-ready Trialmaster trim. Although this was officially a vintage-only drive, Emery waived the requirement for the Ineos, declaring its Land Rover Defender–inspired design and recirculating-ball steering classic enough. The Grenadier was developed with a love of the retro and the tactile, and it excels off-road more than on. It's a new truck for people who want an old truck with heated seats, A/C, a warranty, and wireless phone connectivity. We weren't the only newish vehicle. Emery's support crew included Trophy Truck driver Curt LeDuc and his wife, Kim, in a 2024 Ford Bronco Raptor, as well as Jonny and Alan Feld of Field Van Inc. in two beefy Ford Econolines, brought to offer sleeping accommodations for Fish, our VIP. Upon being offered such luxury, Fish told us he used to sleep on the ground and consider himself lucky when he didn't set up on a scorpion's hiding place. Still, he accepted the hospitality. I went with a truck-bed tent from Amazon and a pile of inflatable mattresses. If I owned the Grenadier, I might invest in a pop-up option designed specifically for this model, but for a week, my cheapie tent kept me above scorpion height. We started in Chula Vista, California, about 10 miles from the San Ysidro border crossing into Tijuana. Over doughnuts and coffee, and punctuated by barks from a large spotted dachshund named Frank, Emery introduced his team, handed out road atlases, and gave us basic instructi

We Roll Through the Wilds of Baja in an Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster

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