Conan the Barbarian is surely the inspiration for this one – the Mitsubishi Barbarian Black, a special edition L200 truck. And it's a big, beefy beast, like the standard L200 Barbarian, only with extra accessories.

While the contents under the hood remain the same as the standard L200, the black additions are plentiful – 17-inch alloys, wrapped roof, front resin guard, fog lamp surrounds, sports grille, wing mirrors, door handles, side steps, petrol cap, tailgate handle cover, embossed leather, side decals and carbon-effect leather seats. Yes, all black!

You can go even further into the black if you go for the Cosmos Black pearlescent paint job, or there's two shades of grey, a solid red, a metallic blue, a metallic brown or a solid white.

Prices start at £23,899 for the manual or £25,299 for the automatic and metallic paint is an extra £410. It's all about added style rather than any technical innovations, but it may well appeal to the image-conscious pickup driver, the funky family or the tradesman whose business is booming despite the recession (and if the price your correspondent was quoted the other day for gas heating installation is any indication, I full expect to see a certain heating engineer in my neighbourhood driving one of these very soon…).

And here’s our full road test review of a black – but not Black Edition – Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian Double Cab 2.5-litre DI-D 5-speed manual.

By Georgia Lewis

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