RAIN glistened on the dark red rooftops of the postcard-pretty houses and businesses of Helmsley.

Jeep had chosen the North Yorkshire market town as the start-point for three days of off-road driving for a few dozen motoring journalists as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations.

Keen to display its off-road heritage, the company not only created a journey as foreboding as the grim weather but also the world’s first pop-up showroom, accessible only by 4x4 hehicles.

The ‘dealership’ opened for three days at Robin Hood’s Bay, installed on the edge of cliffs looking out over the North Sea.

The mobile showroom was towed to the location across the rugged North York Moors terrain by Jeep’s 75th Anniversary Grand Cherokee while the rest of the 75th Anniversary range and an example of the famous Willys Jeep were displayed on-site.

While passing trade wasn’t expected at the remote location, walkers and ramblers were welcomed into the ‘dealership’ to discover more about Jeep’s famed 4x4 credentials.

“Jeep has a long and illustrious off-road history,” said Damien Dally, head of brand, Jeep UK. “In our 75th year, a landmark moment, it seems fitting that we’ve demonstrated that our vehicles really do go anywhere and can do anything by creating the world’s first pop-up dealership which you can only get to in a 4x4.”

Jeep’s 75th anniversary range includes limited edition versions of the Grand Cherokee, Cherokee, Wrangler and Renegade. There's not many of them available in the UK - 125 Cherokee and Grand Cherokee models, 75 Wranglers and 400 examples of the company's new best-seller, the Renegade.

Keen to show that all four models could cut it among the rocks, mud and water of one of the most challenging stretches of off-road driving I have encountered, we journalists were invited by Jeep to take our pick of the cars and head for the hills, ruts et al.

First up was the Renegade, smallest and cutest among the range and responsible for a huge chunk of Jeep sales now. It may be the jazziest Jeep, available in some vivid livery, but it still has to cut the mustard with its bigger brothers.

Presented with a series of obstacles, hill climbs and descents in muddy conditions, the Renegade ticked all the boxes, and I reluctantly handed it over to another journalist for the next challenge.

As the sun began to peer out from behind the clouds, I climbed aboard a Cherokee and it eased along a dirt track at a gentle pace. Nothing here to trouble the robust Cherokee, I thought, but this was a false dawn.

Within minutes, that track had turned into a monstrous section of rocks, boulders and mud that would challenge the car - and driver - to the limit.

An occasional alarming clank signified that the generous ground clearance was not quite enough to avoid the rocks, but the protective cladding underneath was doing its job.

Only with the aid of marshals advising and signalling on steering we we able to negotiate some of the toughest stretches.

The track seemed endless, stretching for mile after mile up and down hills, with only a clutch of Scouts walking their way to a Duke of Edinburgh Award for company.

After 90 minutes of negotiating the rigours of the route, the assembled journalists gathered to compare notes and nod in agreement that whatever the model, these Jeeps were up to the task.

One car had struck a deer, another had suffered a puncture, but all made it back to base.

I was left wondering whether, if I owned one of these cars, I would ever put it though a journey such as the one we had undertaken. Probably not, but hats off to Jeep for risking half a million pounds worth of cars on the desolate North York Moors.