Does anyone remember The Fall Guy? What, not even from re-runs?

Lee Majors, aka The Six Million Dollar Man, played a stunt man who moonlights as a bounty hunter when film work is a little slow.

He drives a GMC pick-up and, while I always used to see myself as more Steve Austin than Colt Seavers, that changed when I climbed, literally, behind the wheel of VW’s Amarok.

Oh, and Amarok is Inuit for Wolf so the signs are good.

Okay, so the Amarok arrived in black, not the brown and gold of Colt's GMC, and wasn’t shod with chunky off-road tyres but I just couldn’t help myself, for the week of my test I was the unknown stuntman.

While my imagination treated me to a distant trip down memory lane the reality is that the Amarok, unlike Colt’s pick-up, is a thoroughly modern commercial vehicle that combines rugged, smart SUV styling with the practicality of a flat bed load area.

It looks tough, rugged with huge flared wheel arches and raised ride height that gives it a go-anywhere, do-anything persona.

While Colt Seavers wouldn't worry about whether he could carry a Euro pallet sideways in the back of his GMC because the Amarok is primarily designed as a working vehicle VW felt it might be important, so it can.

That huge load area – two-and-a-half square metres of it – owes its existence to the Amaroks’s wide body, something that is particularly noticeable in narrow country lanes and in car parks, which frees up 1.22m between the wheel arches.

What VW has managed to do, despite the design being constrained by a pick-up’s purpose, is retain much of the company’s identity. The headlights and grille leave you in no doubt about the origins of the motor even without the massive badge.

Behind the wheel and, aside from the towering view across the vast expanse of bonnet, the experience is the most car-like of any pick-up I’ve driven. It’s typical VW, with high grade, textured materials throughout a cabin that’s clearly capable of coping with life as a working vehicle.

There’s lots of room too. Because of the exceptional width the Amarok can easily accommodate five adults in complete comfort. Passengers, front and rear, are well catered for in both head and leg room.

All the controls are placed within easy reach, with a logical, but simple, layout. Driving position aside, jumping from one of VWs passenger cars into the Amarok requires very little acclimatisation so similar is the experience.

The only criticism I can levy against the interior is the size of the multimedia screen which, given the gargantuan proportions of the rest of the vehicle does look a little odd at just five inches. It’s perfectly functional and the controls are chunky enough to make it easy to operate but it just looks a little lost in the centre of the huge dashboard.

My test vehicle was the special edition Atacama which comes equipped with dual zone climate control, cruise control, leather seats – the front pair are heated although I didn’t have cause to test their effectiveness – 19in alloys, heated door mirrors as well as few model-specific details such as Atacama decals on the side doors.

You do get an excellent view of the road, even out the back if you’ve opted for the tonneau cover rather than some of the other covers that are available.

The reversing camera is essential for manoeuvring in tighter spaces – it doesn’t take long for objects to disappear from view when you start to get close – but in general I found parking to be relatively straightforward.

With 4MOTION permanent all-wheel-drive, low-range gearbox, mechanical locks on the centre and rear diffs, and traction control venturing off-road, if the fancy takes you, is just requires carefully measured inputs with throttle and steering.

It’s on road, however, where the Amarok springs the biggest surprise and reveals superb driving manners, with predictable car-like handling. Refinement is equally as impressive. The ride is not perfect – broken surfaces reveals a slight lack of sophistication – but it is nothing short of remarkable for a vehicle of this class.

There’s a nice meatiness to the steering and, though it lacks some feel, it transmits enough information back to the driver to allow smooth, flowing progress.

Under the bonnet of my test vehicle is a 2.0-litre twin turbo four cylinder 16-valve diesel which, for convenience, I’ll just call the engine from now on. It produces 178bhp and 310lbft at 1,750rpm which will propel the three-tonne pick-up to 62mph in 11.8 seconds and, where legal, a top speed of 118mph.

More importantly, that power will allow you to carry a payload of 1,037kg in the back and tow a braked trailed of 3,200kg (the maximum weight for an unbraked trailer is 750kg).

Fuel consumption averages out at 38.2mpg.

The Amarok’s car-like qualities come to the fore again when you start the engine, which is remarkably muted from within the cabin. It’s only when you go in search of performance that the typical diesel clatter finally permiates the passenger space but, for the most part, the sound insulation is excellent.

I say for the most part because, at motorway speeds, there’s a fair amount of wind noise – whistling – generated by some part of the Amarok’s anatomy that I was unable to identify. Cranking Absolute 80s up on the stereo was all that was required to drown it out but it does marginally diminish its credibility as a motorway cruiser.

VW will argue that the Amarok is a working vehicle, and it’s true that it will earn its crust if it’s asked too but, every time I clapped eyes on it, I couldn’t help think that it would look better with surf boards, rather than bricks, in the back.

It certainly has the capacity, and the ability, to be a workhorse but its car-like qualities and rugged good looks mean that the Amarok won’t disappoint as the chosen mode of family transport.

VW Amarok Atacama 2.0 BiTDI 4MOTION

Price: £34,434

As tested: £35,416

Engine: 2.0-litre 16-valve twin-turbocharged diesel

Transmission: 8-speed automatic driving all four wheels

Max power:178bhp @ 4,400rpm

Max torque: 310lbft @ 1,750rpm

Max speed: 108mph

Acceleration (0-62mph): 11.3sec

Urban: 31mpg

Extra urban: 38.2mpg

Combined: 35.3mpg

Emissions (CO2): 211g/km

For more information visit www.volkswagen.co.uk