Ep. 24 World Tour: The History of the Antarctic Car Industry

Welcome to part one of the this five part World Tour. In this episode, a classic car connaisseur gives you an overview of what cars made it to the giant ice continent and survived to tell the tale!

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Enjoy!

[Tomikos]

Here in Finland I've heard a joke that beetle is a good winter car because if you get cold you can just step outside to get warmer.

[henriquesalvatti]

Types of cars for navigating hostile terrain
Polar zones: VW beetle
Deserts: (read above)
Forests: (read above)
war zones: (read above)
water zones: (read above)
jungles: (read above)

[DavidELD]

"Air cooled, alcohol fueled car that was going to be the billboard for the upcoming Scottish car industry."

Sounds Scottish alright.

[kevinbarry]

The Soviets built two separate and distinct giant vehicles for this purpose. They seem to work reasonably well.

[MrJayrock]

Not surprised it was a Beetle, they’re basically the platform of choice for dune buggies. And really the only difference between a giant sand dune and a giant snow drift is the temperature

[CadetEnjoyer]

I've always been curious about vehicles in locations like the antarctic and artic regions so I'm glad to see someone make a video about it

[dirttdude]

they could easily put the 70s era beetles back into production and people would fight over them. they got great mileage, they were durable, cheap and easy to work on.

[chrisnurczyk]

VW beetle? No surprise! When I was a kid, I remember a TV ad where they asked what the snow plow operator drove on unplowed roads to get to the plow in the first place - a VW beetle! I owned 2 beetles, a fastback, and now a VW kit car I need to restore. My favorite American car was the Corvair (owned 2). Wish I could get my air-cooled beauties back!

[BDUBZ]

Ed, you produce some of the finest "trash" videos on the innnerweb. I like the credit you gave to Mustard. That's integrity!!

[charredskeleton]

Don't hate the beetle, when you get it right you get it right. They nailed it!

[miercolesdenoquis]

Some people from Argentina once drove a Torino racecar on Antartica. Love your videos!

[HumourDownUnder]

The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, led by New Zealander, and first man to climb Mt Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, used farm tractors as their means of transport.

The tractors, Ferguson TE-20s, were totally standard - two were even fitted with a standard farmyard hydraulic front-loader for loading and unloading supplies. The tractors were fitted with an extra wheel on each side and full caterpillar tracks, developed by the expedition in the Antarctic. The track kits were easily removable and in light conditions the tractors were used on standard wheels and tyres. A canvas cabin was added for windproofing. (1955–58).

[Vanilla_Wolfy]

Can't wait for the next 4, really hope you did one on the Brazilian auto industry, we had some pretty interesting cars during the military regime.

[krorook]

I respect someone who isnt afraid to admit that we have been clickbaited

[fredherfst]

Welldone Ed. My first car, a 69 Beatle, was terrific in the snow… I have stories…like looking for an exit off the 401 in a blizzard, finding it blocked by a ridge of snow, about 4 ft deep, left by a snowplow. I swallowed hard, floored the accelerator, and blasted through!!

[captlazer]

Car manufactures test extreme cold starting and driving conditions in Northen Ontario and Northern Quebec. Yes people live there where it can easily get to minus 40 or below. This is lumber country. Most daily drivers that the residences have put in plug in block heaters and a plug in oil heater. Funny to see a power cords hanging out of the grill. They don't salt the roads either because it would not melt. Sand is used for icy roads but not often. Saw as many cars as trucks.

[FlintWestwood]

As a Beetle owner, this makes me even more proud of my little VW ❤️

[sejembalm]

Pick up some vintage 1909 abandoned snow tractors from the 1910-1913 British Terra Nova Expedition that began (after constructing a series of supply depots along the way) on 17 January 1912, led by Robert Falcon Scott, that reached the South Pole (90° S) second after Roald Amundsen's Norwegian South Pole expedition that got an earlier start on 14 December 1911 and was the first to plant a flag on the South Pole in this historic race.

In the 2019 film, Amundsen, Arctic explorer Roald Amundsen had some good suggestions to Robert Scott's Antarctic expedition:
- Wear arctic wolf fur clothing as that is best for extreme cold and removing moisture from you instead of Scott's cotton parkas that got wet easily and took long to dry out.
- Use Greenland sled dogs as they are the best and they will eat fellow dogs fed to them, but Scott used automotive tractors from 1909 that quickly broke down, his Siberian ponies quickly died, and he only had a small amount of sled dogs remaining until they died and the explorers had to drag their sleds slowly to their exhaustion.
- Start as early as you can and build supply bases as far as you can, but Scott started later, his progress was slower, and his expedition died within 11 miles of a supply depot on the journey back when they arrived at the South Pole to see Roald's Norwegian flag planted there nearly a month before.

[BradLancaster]

Last really big snow fall in BC I had a 4 speed dodge colt (mitsubishi mirage/lancer) with chains, that beetle looked about the same. Hand break turns with chains is the best thing ever!

[toddvanwinkle]

Thank you for the wonderful praise of the great VW beetle!! Love them all…