The  Toyota Hilux took on the ice and fire of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano, just hours before its eruption brought chaos to the skies of Europe.

The  Toyota Hilux took on the ice and fire of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano, just hours before its eruption brought chaos to the skies of Europe.

The legendary pick-up that Top Gear simply could not destroy and which was the first car to be driven across the Arctic to the magnetic North Pole proved to be the perfect transport for scientists racing to set up monitoring equipment before the long-dormant mountain blew its top and sent a vast cloud of ash 9 000m into the sky.

The vehicles used for the expedition were prepared by specialist firm Arctic Trucks to the same extreme environment specification as the Hilux used by Jeremy Clarkson and James May of Top Gear for their historic polar expedition.

With giant low pressure 38-inch tyres, the go-anywhere Hilux had the measure of every challenge in its path as it made its way through ice and snow towards the volcano’s fiery heart.

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