this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2026
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HistoryPhotos

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HistoryPhotos is for photographs (or, if it can be found, film) of the past, recent or distant! Give us a little snapshot of history!

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[–] iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world 5 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

AFAIK this device was an utter failure. The Soviets figured a much better one (the Kharkovchanka) and to this day those are still in use in the Antartic base.

[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 11 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

If it wasn't for the old timey cars around it I could have believed it is the new 2027 "Extended cab" Dodge Ram.

[–] IMALlama@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

The body shape and color scheme scream 1970s to me.

[–] turtlesareneat@piefed.ca 2 points 4 hours ago

Colorized photos be a little like this

[–] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 13 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Slick tires... in the snow. 10/10 best idea. Works as well as manhole covers for wheels.

[–] jispal01@lemmy.world 27 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

lol, you aint kidding.

As the vehicle was unloaded from the ship, one of the wheels broke through the ramp.[5] The crew cheered when Poulter powered the vehicle free from the ramp but the cheers fell silent when the vehicle failed to move through the snow and ice. The large, smooth, treadless tires were originally designed for a large swamp vehicle; they spun freely and provided very little forward movement, sinking as much as 3 feet (0.91 m) into the snow. The crew attached the two spare tires to the front wheels of the vehicle and installed chains on the rear wheels, but were unable to overcome the lack of traction. The crew later found that the tires produced more traction when driven backwards. The longest trek was 92 miles (148 km) – driven completely in reverse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Snow_Cruiser

[–] iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

AFAIK this device was an utter failure. The Soviets figured a much better one (the Kharkovchanka) and to this day those are still in use in the Antartic base.

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 7 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Number of Admiral Boyd's Antarctic expeditions: 5

Number of Blaster M's Antarctic expeditions: ???

[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

Give them the same financial backing and see which one is more successful.

[–] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 5 points 5 hours ago

Well then don't take my word for it. Look at the other person's reply to my post that goes to the Wikipedia article about it.

[–] CannonFodder@lemmy.world 13 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

I wonder how many gallons to the mile that bad boy got.

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

As it's use turned out to not work as intended, these are just the design numbers:
2500 US gallons / 5000 miles range = 0.5 gal/mi (= 1.2 l/km)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Snow_Cruiser#Arrival_in_the_Antarctic

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

See that black car in the lower left? I want one of those. I want to convert it to all electric. Then I want to power it using solar panels installed on the roof of my garage.