The premise was quite simple. Can you live with a Toyota 86 on a daily basis? And added to that, can you actually travel with a young family on board comfortably and enjoy a day out? We grabbed the keys to a lovely basic spec manual 86 in a very fetching silver dress, stocked up, piled the kids in and headed for Oman. Fingers crossed it all worked out, else it was going to be a living nightmare.
First job of the day was to ensure we were all fed and watered. Step up to the plate the cool box. Stuffed full of water, juices and the obligatory chocolate bar, would we be able to squeeze it into the rather dinky boot of the Toyota 86? It took some effort, but we made it.
Next job. The kids! With some super cool ‘Bubble Bum‘ Seats, seat belt tensioners and the perfect distraction (Gamers), the boys where holed up in the back and ready for the trip. To be honest though, having two lads under the age of six probably helped a lot! When my eldest decides it’s time for a growth spurt, I think the 86 will become an uncomfortable proposition. In the meantime though, he was happy as Larry in the back and we were ready for the off.
The planned route was simple and obvious: cover as many kilometres as possible, see as many varying types of geography (kids love that)as we could, and hit the coast high up in the eastern region. So with the steering wheel pointed for the Kalba Road we set sail.