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We don't have to tell you how cold it is today in the UK.
But the UK faces even lower temperatures over the next few days, and plenty of snow is forecast in many places too. Time, then, to look at the greatest snow-beating machines there's ever been. After all, all-wheel drive will only get you so far.
Adding a set of studded snows into the equation will get you further but the only way to truly go off the beaten path in a cold, frozen landscape is with a purpose-designed vehicle. From purpose-designed vehicles that cost millions to home-brewed inventions, here are your best options if you need to drive from point A to point B this winter, even if a small mountain range separates the two:
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Antarctic Snow Cruiser
In the late 1930s, the Antarctic Snow Cruiser supported the US government’s effort to claim part of Antarctica. It was a mammoth, diesel-electric vehicle designed as a mobile living space for a five-person crew. Retractable wheels helped it crawl over the crevasses encountered while driving across the most hostile continent in the world and it was big enough to carry a Beechcraft plane on its roof.
Field tests immediately revealed the Snow Cruiser’s gears weren’t low enough to propel it through deep snow. Researchers left it in Antarctica at the end of their mission with plans to come back and swap in lower gears but the American congress stopped allocating money to the project to focus on World War II. The Cruiser never moved again. It was last seen buried under a thick layer of snow in 1958. It may still be there, it might have been on a part of the ice shelf that broke away and floated out to sea in the 1960s. If that’s the case, it’s somewhere on the bottom of the ocean.
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Antarctica-spec Hyundai Santa Fe
Antarctica isn’t the most car-friendly continent on the planet; the short list of machines that have survived a stint there includes the Volkswagen Beetle and the Lada Niva. Hyundai made history by driving across Antarctica and back in a modified Santa Fe.
Patrick Bergel, the great-grandson of intrepid explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, made the trip in 30 days. The Santa Fe retained its original 2200cc turbodiesel engine, gearbox, front differential and driveshaft but a company named Arctic Trucks modified the suspension and installed low-pressure tires.
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Avtoros Shaman 8x8
Designed and made in Russia, the Avtoros Shaman 8x8 is what we’ll drive if hell ever freezes over. It’s a monster of a vehicle that makes a Hummer H1 look cute and cuddly. Its eight wheels are independently suspended and its entire powertrain is enclosed to protect the mechanical components from damage.
Power comes from a 3000cc turbodiesel engine provided by Iveco. It spins the eight directional wheels through a six-speed manual transmission. The Shaman seats nine or sleeps four depending on how it’s configured. The only part of it that’s more epic than its off-road prowess is its price tag. Avtoros charges nearly €9 million (about $10 million/£8 million) before buyers add options like a propeller that lets it drive through water and a hydraulic winch that costs more than a Lamborghini Urus.
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Fiat Panda monster truck
The Fiat-Chrysler tie-up has spawned a growing number of cars like the Lancia Thema, the Dodge Dart and the Jeep Renegade/Fiat 500X siblings. Against all odds, it also gave Fiat the unmissable opportunity to drop a third-generation Panda 4x4 on a Jeep CJ-7 frame, lift it, install wheels that look like they’re from something New Holland makes and send it to the 2013 Geneva motor show.
Fully functional, the one-off car starred in a television ad. Fiat explained the most difficult part of the build was getting the steering and braking systems to work.
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Foremost Terra
Canadian firm Foremost makes what’s undoubtedly the most off-road-capable bus on the planet. Named Terra, it’s a six-wheeled drive monster tall enough to park over a compact SUV. It offers space for up to 56 passengers and the ability to crawl over anything brave enough to stand in its way.
The Terra bus lives in the places you’d expect to find it in: Canada, where it transports tourists over glaciers, and Antarctica, where it’s the closest thing to public transportation the continent has ever seen. Scientists nicknamed one example Ivan the Terra Bus (pictured).
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Ghe-O Rescue
Romania-based Ghe-O designed the aptly-named Rescue as an all-terrain ambulance. The company boasts its 395bhp machine can out-perform many sports cars while nonchalantly carrying 11 passengers. It looks unstoppable, and it was designed to be, but buyers worried about getting stuck can order a plow, inflatable pillows strapped to the wheels for flotation or tracks on the rear axle.
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Lotus Concept Ice Vehicle
Lotus Engineering helped design this odd, James Bondian machine for the Moon Reagan Transarctic Expedition. The Concept Ice Vehicle (CIV) allowed an explorer to break off from the main group and scope out the terrain ahead before bigger, heavier vehicles attempted to tackle it.
Power initially came from a biofuel-powered, BMW-sourced flat-twin engine but the CIV later received a Rotax 914 engine. Nimble and topless, the CIV was like an Elise for the ice shelf.
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Mercedes-Benz Zetros
Mercedes-Benz offers the apocalypse-proof Zetros in a variety of configurations. It’s available as a fully-equipped camper for those planning to spend the long Arctic night hundreds of miles away from civilisation. It can also be configured as a snow plow that will power through even mother nature’s worst blizzard or as a dump truck for those with something really big and really heavy to haul across the frozen tundra.
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Nissan 370Zki
Nissan introduced a 332bhp snowmobile cleverly named 370Zki at the 2018 Chicago motor show. The roadster received a three-inch suspension lift (a phrase we didn’t think we’d ever write), a set of ski tracks in lieu of the front wheels and bulldozer-like snow tracks on the rear axle. Though not bound for production, the 370Zki is fully functional and Nissan proudly tested it in Wyoming before displaying it in Chicago.
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Nissan Rogue Warrior Trail
The star of Nissan’s stand at the 2017 New York motor show wasn’t a rugged pickup truck or a ‘Ring-bred coupé. It was a Rogue – one of the best-selling vehicles in the US – upgraded with a war-ready camouflage paint job and a set of tracks.
Nissan explained installing tracks on a family-friendly SUV required modifying the suspension but it pointed out the rest of the drivetrain was stock. It also clarified we shouldn’t expect to see the Rogue Warrior Trail join the regular model in showrooms.
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Ripsaw EV2
Some car companies exist solely to spread alternative-fueled vehicles. Others thrive exclusively on an unquenchable thirst for speed. Ripsaw’s calling in life is to deliver a machine that’s part tank, part luxury car to the few who want one – and can afford it.
The members of its Extreme Vehicle (EV) series are among the fastest tracked vehicles on the planet. The company notes the EV2 is hand-made and can take up to six months to build, so plan well ahead if you want one as for the winter.
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Sherp ATV
The Sherp ATV is the epic snow machine for buyers seeking the best bang-for-the-buck option. It looks like something you’d find in your kid’s toy box but it’s at least as capable as any of the vehicles on this list. The huge tires allow it to drive over reasonably tall obstacles like snow banks while a fully sealed body lets it float on water – you can, theoretically, drive it over a frozen lake and not have to worry about falling through the ice. Don’t take our word for it, though.
The Sherp uses a Kubota-sourced diesel engine bolted to a five-speed manual gearbox. It can keep moving with only two wheels and, if the elements gain the upper hand, it’s spacious enough to accommodate for four full-sized beds. Priced at about $65,000 (about £50,000), or less than a Mercedes-Benz CLS in America, the Sherp sounds like a true bargain considering what it can do.
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SnowFootCar
Invented – where else? – in Russia, the SnowFootCar system is one of the cheapest and simplest ways to avoid getting stuck in knee-deep snow. It’s essentially a massive trailer with a wide ski up front and a single axle fitted with a pair of Arctic-worthy tires. Users need to position their car on the trailer (you may need to get creative to achieve this step), link the rear axle to the tires using chains plus an adapter plate bolted to the brake drum and strap down the front of the car to make sure it doesn’t pop a wheelie on-the-go. The end result looks like the unlikely offspring of a monster truck and a Reliant Robin taking skiing lessons.
The catch is that the Snow-Foot system only works with a rear-wheel drive car. It’s not compatible with a front-wheel drive car, unless you enjoy traveling backwards. Four-wheel drive doesn’t work, either, but the possibilities are endless if you’re comfortable using a welder.
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Subaru Trax STI (2009)
Even fully stock, the Subaru Impreza WRX STI is one of the best cars to drive through a blizzard. That wasn’t enough for rally driver Ken Block so he teamed up with Vermont SportsCar to make what was hailed as the fastest track-fitted car in the world in 2009. An array of modifications bumped the turbocharged flat-four engine’s output to 400bhp.
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Tatra V855 Aeroluge
Germany took over the Tatra factory during World War II and rapidly asked the firm’s research and development department to design a car capable of driving across a snowy plain. That’s what they did – sort of. Instead of building a standard car, they dropped a chopped T87 body on four skis and installed an engine-driven propeller on the rear end to move the car forward. The drum mounted right below the propeller helped the Aeroluge get up hills.
Tatra built only one example of the Aeroluge. It’s displayed in the firm’s official museum in the Czech Republic, though the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville owns a replica of the model (as pictured). The Russians later gave the car-on-ski concept a shot by attaching an airplane engine to the back of a GAZ-M20 Podeba.
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Trekol-39041
If a Mercedes-Benz G-Class with portal axles is worthy of wearing the name 4x4², the Trekol-39041 is a 4x4³. It blends the time-tested (read: eminently outdated) technology of a Warsaw Pact-era off-roader made by UAZ with a sizable lift kit and mammoth tires. It doesn’t have the G’s portal axles but it’s the one we’d put our money on in an off-road contest.
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GMC Sierra Denali HD All Mountain concept (2017)
Part pickup and part snowmobile, the GMC Sierra Denali HD All Mountain concept fittingly made its debut at the Vail ski resort in Colorado. The firm installed a set of tracks to increase the truck’s ground clearance and help it plow through dirt, mud or snow.
GMC didn’t hide the fact that it built the All Mountain concept to showcase the aftermarket accessories sold through its dealers. The list of available add-ons includes the step bars and the ski carrier, but winter commuters who want the tracks will need to perform the conversion themselves.
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Trekol-39294
Trekol designed the 39294 to tame Siberia; it’s a Russian Unimog hopped up on a cocktail of Red Bull and steroids. The firm started the design process by sourcing proven mechanical components from Russian automakers UAZ and GAZ and topped the frame with a body made out of composite materials to save weight. The 39294’s six driven wheels are wrapped by ultra-low-pressure tires.
The Russian military tested the 39294 in Arctic conditions in 2014 and noted its fleet effortlessly covered several thousand miles without the slightest problem. Passenger- and cargo-carrying variants serve on military bases located in permanently frozen regions.
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Tucker Sno-Cat
In 2018, Tucker’s Sno-Cat exists at the intersection of classic cars and winter tractors. Company founder E.M. Tucker – no relation to Preston Tucker, of Tucker 48 fame – built his first prototype in 1941 and later proved his machine’s capability by embarking on a series of daunting trips, including a 600-mile winter trek from Mount Shasta in California to Mount Hood in Oregon.
Early Tucker Sno-Cats look and feel vintage, but the ability to drive to the post office in six feet of snow is timeless.
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Venturi Antarctica
On the face of it, Venturi has little business building tracked vehicles for the planet’s polar regions. It’s based in Monaco, where snow is about as common as modesty, and it spent a majority of its existence making sports cars. Its Antarctica-friendly vehicle (uncreatively named Antarctica) is an interesting proposition, though.
It’s powered by a pair of electric motors that each drive a set of tracks, though the firm noted fitting eight individual wheels is possible, too. Drive-by-wire technology lets the driver control the Antarctica with a video game-like joystick. Unfortunately, it only has 13 miles of range.
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