If Money Is No Object, These Are The Best Winter Vehicles
From VW Beetles to Fordson Snow Machines, these are the winter vehicles readers would take if they could throw financial sense and caution to the wind.
The battle between all-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive for winter vehicles rages on at Jalopnik. We've extolled the virtues of RWD cars with winter tires before, making a case for its usefulness in the snow when compared against vehicles with AWD. Utility in these cases is mostly down to traction, and proper tires are the key. But we wanted to know what winter vehicles readers would choose in a "spared no expense" scenario.
Readers say the Mazda Miata is still the answer even in the cold. The Volkswagen Beetle was another favorite, which warms my heart. Even when given the chance to splurge, most of you went with pretty sensible vehicles. Some other readers indulged their winter-time fantasies, and that's fine, too. Here are the cars and heavy machinery that readers would take out in the snow, if money were no object:
Mazda Miata Or MX-5
The answer still is
[...] [a Miata with big-ass tires]
Submitted by: huell-howitzer
And...
There are some naysayers out there who believe RWD sports cars can't be driven in the snow and ice, but my unlimited budget says otherwise. My ideal winter car is a custom Miata with snowmobile-style treads and skis. Snow tires are good, but this is better, and now the Miata is the answer to your winter time daily driver as well.
Sure, it's a bit blasphemous on the same level as Dave Chappelle making an omlette with dinosaur eggs on the Chappelle's Show, but that's how you do when you're rich, biatch.
[...] [a Miata with treads]
Submitted by: paradsecar
Kharkovchanka
UkrainianKharkivAntarcticoff-road vehicleSoviet UnionKharkov Transport Engineering PlantUkraine[1]Malyshev Factory[2]AT-TT-54AntarcticareachedSouth Pole[3] Kharkovchanka (Russian: Харьковчанка) or Kharkivyanka (: Харків'янка, "Woman of "), code name: Manufacture 404S, is a model of made circa 1957–1958 in the , designed and built by the , : 8:14–15:46 and later manufactured in Kharkiv by the . Based on the tractor platform (itself based on the tank). In December 1959 two of them ("21" and "23") were delivered to and the . The massive off-road snow vehicle had a total of a small galley, toilet, oven, and eight beds
Submitted by: the_Aught
And...
Damnit you beat me to it. I just watched the megaprojects video on this yesterday.
[...]
Submitted by: ikaiyoo
Ford Fairmont And Your Mom’s Other ’80s RWD Cars
Well, when I was 16 my ideal winter car was my mom's 80s rear wheel drive sedan. The most fun, well second most fun, you can have in a parking lot as a teenager.
Submitted by: 17 Seconds
And...
Yup. My mom's '81 Fairmont wagon was *perfect* for such shenanigans.
[...]
Rootbeer brown, brown interior, 4 speed manual. My mom was a closet Jalop and I never realized it.
Submitted by: huell-howitzer
M1 Abrams
The M1 Abrams. It'll go through anything and has the means to remove slower drivers from your path. Forever.
[...]
Submitted by: Midlife Miata Driver
Any Car With Winter Tires. Yes, Even A Toyota Tercel
The correct answer is: any car you like as long as you install a good set of winter tires.
I've plowed snow in a slammed S195 with Blizzaks and outside of the low ride height causing problems it was one of the best cars I've driven through a Wisconsin winter. Right now my daily is a Doug Nash 84 C4 Corvette with some pizza cutter Blizzaks and it's been great as well.
Submitted by: DannyDorifto
And...
spent a good hunk of my youth in Northern Ontario, drove almost every sort of winter or off road vehicle you can name. Jeeps to full sized trucks to Subarus.
The best, most versatile winter vehicle? The mighty 1993 Toyota Tercel.
engine over drive wheels, light weight and a set of thin winters and that baby would go through anything*
*as long as the snow was less than 8" deep
Submitted by: JaredOfLondon
Antarctic Snow Cruiser
This:
[...]
Or This:
[...]
Submitted by: skwimjim
And...
[...]
can you say restomod?
Submitted by: Ac_slater
Max Valier’s Rocket Sledge “RAK BOB”
Max Valier, bona fide nutter, had the right idea. Terminal velocity of 400km/hr. In January, 1929. Saw this thing in the museum at Munich, it really is just a tiny homemade canoe on skis. With big rockets attached.
Not something that one would necessarily daily drive, but worth including.
[...]
Submitted by: BonaContention
Howe And Howe Ripsaw
No, not the Batmobile-ish Dodge Charger from F&F8 that takes on the Russian sub (I know, you're shocked), but that tracked thing Hobbs drove in the flick:
[...]
That'll get you home—even while dodging heat-seeking missiles.
Submitted by: the1969DodgeChargerFan
And...
They're made by Howe & Howe, and they'll happily sell you one.
[...]
Submitted by: AKBrian
Honda Acty Truck And Other Kei Trucks
Kei Truck. Cheap simple, unstoppable in snow (with the right tires)
Submitted by: Mr2LotusWannabe
Sherp N 1200
Money and sensibility aside?
SHERP N 1200.
[...]
Pretty easy choice. No more of that pesky "worrying about whether you're on ice or not" stuff. Drive on roads, fields, lakes, anything. It'll do it.
Submitted by: dolsh
Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith And The Butler’s Other Cars
Money no object?
Well, google tells me a Butler can expect to earn between thirty and two hundred thousand dollars a year. So whichever price level it is that the Butler comes with their own car. Money is no object, so let the servants drive in the snow and ice instead of you.
https://www.butlerschool.com/home/what-does-a-butler-earn/
Submitted by: skeffles
And...
Whatever the Butler drives is your best car, unless you are the Butler.
Submitted by: plant_daily
Bowler Wildcat
[...]
A Bowler Wildcat and some high quality snow tires.
I do not want Richard "Crashy McCrashington" Hammond.
Submitted by: I think I'm a sofa
Subaru WRX And Other Rally Cars
I did a 12-year stint in Detroit and felt pretty unstoppable in my 2005 Legacy GT, so I'm going to vote full-on winter rally car:
[...]
Submitted by: WeryPert1
And...
Probably some kind of Group B rally car...
Submitted by: MP81
And...
Basically any AWD rally car imo.
Submitted by: Carlos Chosn (in honor of Mergio Sarchionne)
Volkswagen Beetle
The answer is the car that conquered Antarctica, the VW Beetle.
Submitted by: Go Padge (GoPadge)
Arctic Ford E-Series Van
I think you guys posted about the Ford E Series Vans modified for Arctic use in an article back in 2009. This would be my no nonsense winter vehicle. However, I would need to get a sweet airbrushed picture of like Drizzt fighting Icingdeath on the sides to really make a statement.
Submitted by: MLord Longshanks
Fordson Snow Motor
Being the more practical type, my AWD truck (Ridgeline) with snow tires will get me anywhere i need to go with a foot or less of snow, and do so with great comfort and safety, and it only cost me $31k new.
But if you're giving me stupid money, then probably a really nice Lexus SUV...
For off-road, snowmobile with studded tracks...
For all conditions, overpowered airboat with a cabin w/HVAC.
Submitted by: Grasscatcher2