► In-depth look at the latest Ineos
► The first of a new, more bespoke sub brand
► What’s next for Arcane Works?
You’re looking at the Ineos Grenadier Detour, the beginning of an entirely new chapter for Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s fledgling off-road brand. The debut vehicle from Ineos’ bespoke Arcane Works division, it represents a new level of luxury and customisation over the standard car – and it’ll be the first of many.
To find out more about the new Detour, and where the new luxury sub brand is headed, we looked around one of the first examples – and spoke to Amerpal Singh, Special Vehicles Operations Manager at INEOS Automotive.
What’s it called?
The Detour’s mission statement is simple: it’s a Grenadier that you’ll want to extend your journeys in: ‘It needs to be something that you want to take on that longer route home,’ explains ex-JLR man Singh, one of the people tasked with carving a niche for Arcane Works. ‘So it’s enhancing the level of finish and materials and comfort over the base vehicle,’ he continues. ‘We’ve really tried to fit that brief.’
Look around the car and you’ll soon see the differences: At the front there’s an entirely new grille, along with headlamp surrounds and flecks of silver here and there – all giving the Detour a slightly different look. The headlamp covers look particularly good, though they’re not going to be available for all markets:
‘In the U.S. and Canada, the regulations basically say you can’t cover the headlamps at all,’ explains Singh. ‘So they will be off road only for those markets, but for in UK, Middle East, it will come out like this.’
In addition to the bigger stuff, the front of the Detour also features the first Arcane Works branding – just below the windscreen on the drivers’ side. Like everything else on the car, the badge is bespoke with a focus on UK manufacturing: it’s copper, hand-enamelled and made by the Birmingham-based Vaughtons, firm. There’s a Detour badge around the other side.
‘In every vehicle you’ll have that badge,’ says Singh. ‘We’ve chosen “Arcane” because of the meaning being secret,’ he says. ‘There are just 200 globally so it’ll be very rare to see another one. This will become our flagbearer, effectively.’
Other additions include new 18-inch wheels (compatible with the same tyres as the standard car), clear lights, and extended mud flaps. There are an additional four colours exclusive to the Detour: Magma Red, Storm Force Silver, Whiteout Blue and Squall Green – and there arefurther combinations for the roof rails. More discerning customers can have paint matched to other cars in their fleet, though.
The Detour also gets a bespoke exhaust system: ‘We wanted to enhance all that legendary B58 engine that we’ve got under the bonnet,’ Singh tells us. ‘We’ve tried to enhance the bass notes, and we’ve designed it in a way that it doesn’t affect the departure angle.’
What about inside?
The Grenadier retains its utilitarian, Boeing 747-meets-Defender interior, though here you’ll find the same level of elevated craftsmanship as outside. There’s more leather here (provided by Bridge of Weir), machined metal on the main touchpoints, and the floor maps and carpets have also been upgraded. Reach above for the aircraft-style controls, and you’ll find them surrounded by lambswool.
So it’s high quality?
Almost certainly. ‘We build the base vehicle in Hambach and then every single one is taken over to Multimatic in Coventry,’ Singh tells us, as we’re looking around the car. Motorsport fans will know the Multimatic name; it’s also responsible for the Mustang GTD, Porsche 963 chassis, the dampers on the Ferrari Purosangue and much more. How’s that for a CV?
‘Certain things like scuff plates, the seat embroidery, you can have a full paint sample…. It takes a lot more hand manual labour to create something special as this.’
No compromising
It makes sense for Ineos to move into a new luxurious arena; but Singh is adamant that the Detour and future Arcane Works cars won’t trade their off-road capability for luxury.
‘We’re very much wanting to stay the best-in-class 4×4 vehicle out there,’ Singh tells us when asked about the slippery slope to luxury. ‘We made it clear from the start that it’s got to achieve those same foundations that we laid a year and half ago when we launched the base vehicle to customers.’
It’s something you can see around the car, too: while there’s an increased level of fit and finish, there’s no paint where there wasn’t paint before – so the Detour can still be used for more intensive jobs such as going through the brambles, or giving other cars a tow or nudge. It’s the same story inside.
‘It’s going to have the five-year warranty,’ Singh reminds us. ‘It’s going to be tested and signed off exactly the same manner.’
What about the customers?
The Detour should be interesting to prospective customers and existing Ineos owners: Singh tells us that many customers communities have already begun to personalise their Grenadiers, with many watching some of the additional bits and pieces on the Detour with interest.
And they may well be in luck: the Detour will be a test bed for many additional trinkets, some that could soon become available for the standard Grenadier: ‘Potentially in the future we would love to sell [some parts] as a higher volume aspect, but you wouldn’t get them as complete package.’
What’s next?
It’s clear that the Detour is just the beginning of the Arcane Works story, with several cars already planned. So what’s next? Everything, and in all directions, it seems.
‘We want we want to start, let’s say, pushing certain aspects of the vehicle and having an arm of the business where we can do much more hand modifications.’ Singh reveals.
‘We’ll start to push certain aspects off the vehicle, which may then start filtering down into the normal Grenadier: we may start playing around with things like the chassis, things like the powertrain, things like the electrical systems.’
Can you buy one?
Actually yes. The Detour has received lots of interest from new and existing customers, with many prospective Detour buyers most impressed with its high level of customisation compared to its competitors.
However, there are still slots available: ‘We’ve got a number of orders at the moment, but because every single one is unique, it’s just taking us a bit of time to get through them,’ Singh admits. ‘They’re not all spoken for yet.’
If you do join the Ineos owners’ club – and especially the Arcane Works club – expect to play an ever more important rule in the brand moving forward. Singh is clear that the Ineos owners will continue to be a test bed or sounding board for further Arcane Works editions.
‘We’re on that that journey of getting especially with our keen works, getting close to those customers,’ Singh tells us. ‘They will be the ones who get informed first of what’s coming – that sort of thing.’
We’ll update this page when we know more.