The story of Red Terror - the VW Beetle that conquered Antarctica
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- Опубліковано 21 чер 2021
- With winds of up to 100 miles per hour and temperatures that go as low as -58 degrees Fahrenheit, the frozen Antarctic isn’t exactly a welcoming place for the common man. That’s why in 1940, the huge Antarctic Snow Cruiser was deployed in the freezing South to act as a mobile exploration base.
The problem is, that impressive machine failed miserably. And I have a complete video on it, which you can watch by clicking up here.
But if a purpose-made behemoth wasn’t up to the task, what was? Well, explorers used tracked vehicles with great success over time, but they were slow and not exactly comfortable.
What about a Volkswagen Beetle, then? Seems like a crazy idea, doesn’t it?
But that’s exactly what happened - several VW Bugs were used in Antarctica with much success, and I’m here to tell you everything about it.
So stick around until the end of this video to find out the story of Antarctica 1 - the first-ever successful use of a pretty much standard passenger car near the South Pole.
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My father Ray Christie drove it in the BP Rally. I have many photos of it as a Rally car. I have also done a replica of it as a it was when my father had it
my father always said, if you take a beetle an put chains on the back itll do anything but climb a tree, he wasnt kidding lol
The Antarctica beetle had a welded diff. However, I once had a 71 VW camper with a locking diff and now own a 91 Vanagon Westy 2WD with the manual locking diff from the Syncro Vanagon...
I’ve owned a few Beetles years ago and not being 4x4 I never failed to make it to or from work in the deep snow and I lived in a very high up village in North Wales🏴 in Britain 🤷♂️🤗
Haven't heard this one. Even more proud of the little bug. Seems like i've always had a air cooled vw in my life. It gets into your blood. Really enjoyed that.
💯VW 💯
Common cars doing uncommon things. Love it!
I find it pretty awesome that it endured all of that, this is just another Testament to the reliability of cars of the past
My dad owned this car from 1966-1971
I grew up in Ontario Canada, my mom had a vw bug....the heater sucked!!!! We called it the "German refrigerator" I loved the car! But- 40C going to Quebec was brutal...thankfully having 10 people in the car made it better, since 7 of them were girls older than me! 😛
O happy day❤❤❤❤!!😊
I bet that Herbie would of loved racing around in Antarctica.
I was in high school back then and drove a 60 VW to school. That little VW engine didn't make enough heat to keep me warm in the winter in the south US I can't imagine how cold it would have been in Antarctica. But they would go in the snow! Great story!
Yeah, the stock heater really sucked. But mail order JC Whitney offered a gasoline powered heater kit that was really toasty. It was plumbed into the stock front fuel tank. The MPG plummeted though.
@@MegaGeorge1948 Actually the gas-air heater was a factory option in the US and later even standard equipment in Canada, and not a mail-order part from JC Whitney though they sold a few service parts for them...
The first of over 100 air-cooled VWs I had was a red 64 Bug I bought from the highschool narc in the mid 80s. It was pretty much unstoppable and went places a two wheel drive car shouldn't and where four wheel dives couldn't because of their size or weight. Another excellent video I've never heard before even have being a VW nut.
the peoples car might not have had the best beginnings but it sure did out perform and outlive its competition
Yes it did
Far ahead of its time, much like its designer.
Dr. Porche wasn't a Nazi, however, it wasn't very healthy to refuse the Fuhrer...
By the way, none of the Germans got the car they were making payments on before the War as Hitler & friends had a number of scams like that going...
@@davidhollenshead4892 well, BMW had a swastika as their logo, VW could'nt be that bad lmao
It's funny how you never hear people bash the Japanese and Italian makes, despite them being adversaries in WWII, as well as the Germans. "You know, the Zero sure killed a lot of Navy pilots but I really enjoy driving my Outlander SUV!"
Porsche knew that rear engine, rear wheel drive was the best set up for hill climbs. He based the original design of this car on those original hill climb designs. These cars are near unstoppable in snow too. These cars were perfect for German winters in the mountains.
It was Mr "H" who told Porsche what the car was to be used for and that it had to be aircooled and simple, among other things. Porsche complied exercising his talents.ua-cam.com/video/7C_d3VxQaxQ/v-deo.html
What a delightful story! I shouldn't be surprized by the extreme cold weather performance, My parents drove VW Bugs for years in Ottawa. They ran perfectly throughout the worst of Ontario winters. Even one memorable -70 degree week!
My first car was a 71 super beetle. Loved it not super warm but comfortable in Colorado winters and never got stuck in the snow
My 1967 splitscreen VW Camper was awesome in the snow, never got stuck and even climbed up steep snow covered roads that modern 4x4's couldn't even get up. just let the tyre pressures down to 18psi and away you go.
This was Great! (And so was the 'Antarctic Goliath-Mobile' Vid!) I had a 'Bug' as one of my 1st cars, and after seeing this, I really took it for granted - didn't know it was so capable. (It had the battery under the seat!! And you opened the trunk to access the fuel tank!!)
I took my vw for granted too
Greatest car ever made for the do it yourselfer.
I rebuilt vw engine in my garage .
Incredible off road .
The schwimwagon was even better 4x4 and lockers
Excellent video, thank you. I've also owned numerous air cooled Beetles and have one now, a 1968. As a kid I grew up with them down in the interior of Brazil in the 1960's and they were everywhere. They probably accounted for 80% of the cars on the road. I had never heard of this story. The video footage is excellent. It reminds me of the VW commercial where the snow plow driver gets to his workplace in a Beetle.
I love these kinds of stories! Please keep it up
From down under. Recently purchased my '64 bug & love reading these stories :)
My first car was a 1963 Beetle. 1200 cc, 34 horsepower. Repainted in a shocking green color, like a Granny Smith apple. And she was a hoot to drive on narrow, winding Swedish gravel roads. And in the snow! Oh, I miss her. The heating was not much to brag about, though. But the flat and very vertical windscreen was easy to reach with a ice scraper from the inside, not like modern cars where the windscreen is so far away you can't reach it. And the steering wheel had lots of large knobs on it, so you could keep a good grip on it, even with slippery knitted wool mittens.
My next car was a 1969 Beetle, though, and it had a Nordic option Eberspächer gasoline heater in it! That one made a whole lot of difference! It was like a flamethrower, bolted into the front passenger leg area, puking out lots and lots of super heated air. It didn't really defrost the windows, as in directing air flow to them, but after a few minutes, the entire compartment was so hot the windows defrosted anyway. The passenger complained, though. At first because she was freezing, and the car was too cold. And then she complained because the Eberspächer was burning her legs. No way to please that one. 🙂
That is awesome video thanks for taking the time to share this information with us 👍
As always God bless you and stay safe in these difficult times 🙋♂️ 🇬🇧
very interesting video
thumbs up!
I had friends who had Bugs and took them pretty much anywhere, so why not Antarctica? Excellent video once more, thank you.
I found that if the rubber seals around the hood were good and the heater boxes didn't leak, the heater would run you out.. I had a 68 and the heater worked great... They didn't mention how the heater worked in these 2 bugs...
Antarctica 1 a.k.a. “red terror” has got to be the most famous early 60s bug second only to Herbie. I have owned 4 early 60s bugs back in the day.
They kept it stupid simple that's why it worked.
Incredible story, never heard of it. Thank you!
Very cool story! Love these interesting and short videos :)
Thank you for this story. It was informative
Cool. Like, literally cool 👍🏼
well done great film
Best car for the job!!!!!
This was very interesting! I am glad YT recommended it to me
Amazing story!
Brilliant.
Nice video!!
"but to be honest, that was little more than a carriage with an engine". Um, sir, a VW is also just a carriage with an engine. hahaha
I appreciate this info
Nice vid, nice voice, good car i want one, i just raised my jettas front end, i drive it on lake geneva evry winter as tradition, i think vw and toyota are the best in the world and this is more proof.
Thanks for the video!
Who Knew!
Bugs Rule!
I drove a VW in Colorado where it was -40. No problem.
When the beetle was created, the reliability of the cars was poor and the need for maintenance was great. It was also the first car model to undergo a long test program.
My favorite car ever
Nice profile pic 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
My dad owned this car from 1966-1971 :)
Very nice video. You said it had a tow ball if so I might know where it is
Slug bug conquered the frozen south!
V W should still produce this air cooled car today.
Moon unit 1 ya got copy over , I was sinking we go Fer coffee in Alaska this weekend.😊
I used to love VW bugs! Changed engines, did restorations, was in love. Until I got in a car accident im my '66. Guy in a big old heavy car pulled right out in front of me. Head hit the windshield- (No, wiseass, it did not make an improvement!)🤣
Anyway, that was my last Bug. Windshield is too close to the front occupants.
Seatbelts?
Sorry about your wreck... hate to see another 66 vw beetle bite the dust. 66 was considered the best year by John Muir, the guy who wrote the vw idiot book.
This reminds me of an anecdote that brings the same idea:
Two engineers, one from NASA and one from the Kosmicheskaya programma SSSR (Soviet Space Program) were talking about their technological achievements. The American boasted that they had invested millions of dollars in developing a pen capable of writing in any temperature and gravity condition. The Russian then praised the feat and replied: We also found a solution to this problem, we used a pencil!
Greetings from Brazil.
I'm thinking Ferdinand Porsche designed a people's car that could go into the higher mountains and the Baltic north of Germany. It wasn't complicated, it wasn't deluxe- it was well made of well made parts and it endured where lesser cars didn't. VW is far from the only car maker that has built a vehicle to thrive in that environment- Skoda, Volvo, and Tatra come to mind. but that the management at VW was far sighted to see the value of this is awesome. And considering who made them and where they were located, I'm pretty sure the Russians called it a "Red Terror" too. The Russians understand the cold, but tractors and locomotives were more important, so they didn't do much of "people's cars" till much later. FR
Porsche designed to to "H"'s prerequisites
The Antarctica beetle had a welded differential which is why it didn't have a later life on paved roads, not to mention the damage to the frame tunnel...
To some extent. A lot of the reason for it being rallied was that it was fresh of a tour around dealerships in Australia as the famed first car in antarctica, so when entered in the BP rally by VW aus, not only was it proving how insanely reliable it was, but it also was recognisable. After that rally though it was thoroughly worn out, hence why it became a display piece until I disappeared.
Nice channel! No more videos?
so what special main bearings were used?? just more clearance?
Anyone no of the 4 by 4 version of the bug completely unstoppable what they were called.
They should send one to Mars…
I wonder why they didn't send a type2 also.
The Beetle is much better on snow than the T2 as it is considerably lighter and has far more rearwards weight bias.
Could probabky also have to do with aerodynamics as well.. i coukd see the catabaric winds movung an old school vw bus
Where is this place they call Antarctic?
Keep going south until it gets colder.
to stop building the Bug is the worst decision vw has ever made
I think I remember reading that sales just didn’t warrant it even though it was so popular for many decades.
Dude why did you stip posting video
Its almost as if the Germans tested it in Antarctica..... Think about it ....
It may not have been the first Beetle down there after all! Maybe they had a KDF-Wagen down there in the 1930’s!
@@MaineMachinist they had a whole lot more than vw bugs there before the 1930s
Great content but please stop telling us to "stick around till the end," its such a buzz kill every time.....
I bet the the engine loved the cold air