New Vauxhall Maloo LSA – a bonkers 528bhp pick-up

The 2016 Vauxhall Maloo LSA pick-up arrives with the same 6.2 litre, 528bhp V8 as the VXR8 GTS, making it the most powerful commercial vehicle in the UK.

The Americans and Aussies have a penchant for pick-up trucks with immense power, but us Brits haven’t really caught the bug. But perhaps the arrival of the new Vauxhall Maloo LSA will change that?

What Vauxhall has done is take the Australian HSV Maloo R8 LSA, added a couple of Vauxhall badges and deliverd the UK its most powerful commercial vehicle, but at a price – £54,500.

For your almost £55k, you get a pick-up able to lug half a tonne, but endowed with a 6.2 litre supercharged V8 producing 528bhp and 495lb/ft of torque, enough to get the pick-up to 62mph in a bonkers 4.6 seconds.

Vauxhall aren’t pretending the Maloo LSA is an economical business tool, and instead are proclaiming that instead of promising improved economy and emissions – like every other CV maker – the Maloo instead offers truly bonkers performance. It’s certainly a USP.

Thankfully, Vauxhall hasn’t just bolted the monster V8 under the bonnet and left you to hold on for dear life, it’s also had a bash at keeping things under control (a bit) by stiffening up the suspension, adding launch control (yes, in a pick-up) and a limited slip diff.

Other tweaks for the new Maloo include leather, Bluetooth, new nose, bonnet air vents, 20″ black alloys, styling package and two new colours – Slipstream (a vibrant blue) and Some Like it Hot (metallic red, if you hadn’t guessed).

Prices for the Maloo LSA start at £55,500 for the manual version and £57,200 for the auto, and if you’re a business user you can get the VAT back and big BIK benefits.

Never has a CV offered so much fun.