I came across a video of a 1930s model vehicle driven off road as an oil field vehicle. Obviously it wasn't built for off road driving, but it didn't seem to have much difficulty getting through oil fields. What was different about those cars from modern RWD cars that allowed them to be driven off road like a Jeep? Did they have special traction aids? Where there other models of regular cars that were used for rough terrain driving?
Lots of ground clearance, taller wheels & tires, low axle ratios, & drivers who knew what they were doing. In the '20s, there was a car named the "Tulsa" built for just that purpose.
How were they getting through these severe trails with only two wheel driving? Did they use traction aids?
Back when those cars were built there weren’t a lot of roads. Atleast paved ones any way. Back then it was not called off-road driving, it was just called driving. The only traction aids they had back then was different tire tread patterns and maybe tire chains. Wheel ants and termites were a real problem too.
Is that the famous Dodge one, where they roll it over and just keep going? Torquey engines, low gearing and narrow tyres that bite through the mud must have helped
20's and 30's cars are actually very capable "off-road" - Keep in mind, the highway system as we know it now was a long ways away in those days. Lots of unimproved roads, especially in rural areas. There's a recent video floating around of guys driving stock Model A's across a fairly swift-flowing river, about as deep as the bottoms of the doors in places, they handle it with ease. Those cars were built to work. ironandsteele.com
How far are they really capable of going? A friend of mine suggested making a kind of makeshift pedrail wheel by putting planks around the rear tires. I don't know how well that would work.
I know you could get 4x4 set ups as after market stuff for Model A’s. As long as I can get traction and and keep water out of the carb I can go pretty much anywhere in my A. I remember dad telling me when he was younger of going down the road in Sac after it flooded. Didn’t have brakes but as long as no water got in the carb he was good to go. mike
The frames were designed to flex, most of them were of ladder type construction,at that time paved roads were few and far between. HRP
Have seen an editorial bemoaning how the new Fords are no longer capable of off road use as they are too low with too small wheels, have become too fancy for farm and ranch use. It was written in 1935.
Our local T Bums group drive our Model T's and A's on crap roads and cow trails all the time. There is one of our group that I've always said he leads us on trails where cows would trip and fall! No problem for Model T's. This was a 10 hour trip last Friday. Dave
The late teens Dodges & Studes(Stutz's & the like were also good, but very few in number) were very popular for "rough" work, as they were built better, heavy-duty compared to a lot of the same-era cars, lasted longer than the fords - but cost more, too. At least when new. The tourings were very popular w/the old prospectors in the west for hauling rock/etc, instead of pu's. 'Course, by the time they were done w/them, those cars were usually very much junk. Marcus...
They went just about anywhere a buggy could go in those early days. I'd hazard a guess that they got stuck in mud more that anything else. Then some wise cracker from the peanut gallery would yell, "get a horse!" The long distance "races" like NY to SF, or London to Paris were basically publicity events for the new car makers. And the Vanderbilt races and Indy. If you had a car as reliable as a tractor or fire truck, and it was fast, you were the big thing whether on dirt or pavement. Where'd I park my Duesenburg?
there was a 1941 Plymouth driven from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego in 1941; the fenders were cut back and 16" wheels and tires were fitted along with skid plates. Most of that route was pigpaths if anything at all.
Driving speeds have to have been much slower, How about they were NOT expecting to do off road trophy truck speeds of 50+ MPH, I mean if you drive about 20-30 that seems fast off road, like heavy rocky road not just gravel road.
Just what kind of roads do you think they were built to be driven on? Roads were not roads in the 20s!
The Dodge film that was referred at the beginning of this thread. Or as I like to say, "That Dodge took a licking and kept on ticking" HRP
Well of course.... "It's a fucking Dodge!" Actually, most cars of the day were pretty tough (although I doubt that most could duplicate this demonstration) because they had to be!! A lot of design elements (frame, suspension, etc.) were carry-overs from the horse drawn days, expected to be used on the same roads, and repaired by the same blacksmiths. We take a lot for granted now, but the evolution of the car was a long, though obvious course. Just think, though... in the 1920s new cars were as baffling to most people as all the electronic crap on new cars is to us!
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