Side-by-side tracks are commonly associated with tanks, but they're far more interesting when coupled with Fiats, motorcycles, and wheelchairs. With your help, we've picked out what we think are the ten craziest tracked vehicles.
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10.) Ken Block's Tracked Subaru WRX STI
Why It's Crazy: Take a rally car, throw on some Mattracks and you've got a 400 hp winter weather destroyer. It's an obvious answer, because it's obviously awesome.
Suggested by: Rattleface Blosues
9.) The Bagger 288
Why It's Crazy: It's designed to dig, and dig it does. The world's largest bucket-wheel excavator, it's the kind of machine that makes you glad we're still on the side of ze Germans.
Suggested by: Whateverist
8.) The Snow Chopper
Why It's Crazy: Built with $10 worth of parts and a ton of dumpster driving, the snow chopper is part Ski-Doo, part tent, and whatever else the builders could find. It'll hit 35 mph on the open snow while looking like something out of Terminator 9: Escape To The North Pole.
Suggested by: Blackfoot
7.) Cinquecentoplow
Why It's Crazy: The Fiat 500 is cute, but it isn't badass. This is badass. Can't afford a tractor? Why not convert your cinquecento into a tiny bulldozer.
Suggested by: fhrblig
6.) Tracked Wheelchair
Why It's Crazy: Is it crazy? It's hard enough to walk in deep snow, imagine trying to traverse it in your average wheelchair. This guy wasn't intent to let himself be kept inside by snow and built this chair out of a Honda HP250 tracked wheelbarrow. And it's gas-powered!
Suggested by: Rusty Van Horn
5.) Bigfoot Fasttrax
Why It's Crazy: Bigfoot's little brother was still a Bigfoot. The Fasttrax was a custom tracked vehicle with a Ford Aerostar-inspired body and dual blown 460 V8s. It was an excellent choice for crushing cars or taking over soccer practice.
Suggested by: Jstas
4.) The HK101/Rabbit
Why It's Crazy: It's a tracked/tanklike motorcycle used to fight the allied forces. Just imagine trying to drive it. The handlebars were tied in with the tracks so you'd brake one with the turn of the bike.
Suggested by: mcholwewa22/RobertoG
3.) B-36 Peacemaker With Tracked Wheels
Why It's Crazy: The B-36 was a giant plane. So giant the Air Force was constantly trying to find a good way to land it. The original tires were 9-feet two-inches in diamater. At some point, they tried tracks. It wasn't a popular solution and they eventually moved on, but it's an amazing sight.
Suggested by: TurbineGuy
2.) The Ripsaw
Why It's Crazy: This is among the fastest tracked vehicles... in the world. It's basically a super fast, remote-control tank outfited with weapons. Need to move a car with, potentially, a bomb in it? Just send the Ripsaw after it. The angry music doesn't do the 650 hp V8-powered death machine justice. They're hoping to mass produce it.
Suggested by: MikeofLA
1.) Crawler Transporter
Why It's Crazy: How do you move a Space Shuttle or a giant rocket? With the crawler-transpoter, of course. It's not quite as large as the Bagger 288, but it's still the largest self-powered tracked vehicle. Specs? It weights aroudn 6,000,000 pounds, has eight tracks, and is laser-guided to maintain stability. They've worked since 1965 and, with an engine upgrade, will keep going.
Suggested by: geistkoenig