Picture this: Back in 2018, a bright-yellow Suzuki Jimny, tiny but fearless, hauled a 3.5 m Christmas tree from the Scottish Highlands all the way to London. Richard Webber from Autocar had volunteered for this slightly unusual side quest. Starting in Scotland, he went off-road and onto a potholed, gravelly track—sliding about on sodden patches of loam, though the Jimny made light work of it.

From there, the team moved through an exposed riverbed scattered with big, slippery rocks. They waited for the underbody thud as the Jimny tackled the boulders, but it never came. The little 4×4 was thrown around like a rag doll as it scaled the exit point, yet it scrambled up and out on the first attempt.

With the Jimny’s off-road prowess confirmed, they looped around to source their special Christmas tree. Once the cargo was secured, they headed south towards an overnight stop in Edinburgh.

Day two brought warnings of gales in the west, and the tree squirmed like a wounded alien, the rear-view mirror filled with flashes of green limbs. As the gales refused to ease, they diverted into a garden centre, where staff kindly trussed the tree for improved aerodynamics and stability. Once optimised—and with the treetop now wagging behind them like an excited puppy’s tail—they pressed on towards home.

They had been unlucky with the weather and the challenges it brought, but the Jimny came through nonetheless, carrying them from glaciated glen to city suburb over 800km. When Richard was later asked if he would drive it back, his response was simple: “Yes—but only if I could keep it.”

We just love the almost boundless artistic talents of Gavin Patterson and his Christmas salute to the Jimny, pictured above, is yet another impressive example of his endeavours. We contacted the ex- Kenyan who now lives in Zurich, Switzerland and asked whether he would allow us to show this image. No problem – so many thanks. You might have seen other Jimny drawings undertaken by Gavin (and yes, he does other brands and models of cars as well – even personalised ones where owners have sent him a photo as a visual reference point).

All Gavin’s work is hand-drawn and he likes it to look that way. It is not a digital manipulation of a photo.

Make sure to check out the 4×4 section on his website – it’s a treat. And, if you fancied, you can commission a one-off caricature of your vehicle in your favourite setting. Prices are quoted in CHF – that’s Swiss Francs, so knowing that, it’s a simple exercise to convert prices into Australian dollars. Obviously Gavin has done a lot of work as an art director in various advertising agencies, but true to his passion of adventurous creativity, he’s also undertaken a couple of epic solo adventures. One was to spend a year to walk the 3,000 kilometres around the South African coastline and the other was to paddle 2,000km down the Orange River in South Africa. That little jaunt took seven weeks. Breath-taking stuff on so many levels.