Thread: Who needs a Land Rover?

Or consider that two wheel drive vehicles drove over much of Australia before four wheel drives were available to most people. An example that comes to mind is the planning team (including Hudson Fysh, later head of Qantas), that drove from Brisbane to Darwin and back in 1918 in preparation for the first flight to Australia in a 2wd Ford - most of the distance had no formed roads. There are many other examples.

But having four wheel drive reduces the amount of shovelling!

Also the ground clearance of those older vehicles was a tad more than a Porsche

Originally Posted by 3toes

Also the ground clearance of those older vehicles was a tad more than a Porsche

There's something about 40 inch wheels with 4 inch wide tyres on them that just screams go anywhere.
i've watched a few old time vids of old A model fords going to places that would shame a modern 4X4

Francis Birtles did quite a few outback trips on push bikes, a Brush, a Model T and later a Bean.
Brush 1912 Perth to Sydney.
Model T 1914 Melbourne, Sydney, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide and back to Melbourne.
The Bean did many trips across Australia and in 1927 London to Melbourne (First Overland !).

Francis Birtles - www.dirtroaddiaries.com.au


Colin

I can not think of any modern 4x4 that would be able to follow this Dodge

People then accepted the vehicle as a working tool. Now people will not accept the compromises inherent in a road going vehicle that would let it do something like that. To do that now and accomodate people's expectations for comfort and gadgets necessitates complicated systems to try to do everything. That is a vehicle built by the engineering department, not the accountancy department.

I suspect that its diff was permanently locked which would mean that it couldn't be driven on today's sealed roads.

I have driven my dads old 1924 Dodge with its 24" spoke wheels on some very muddy ground and it never lost traction, even with their large diff centers they still have lots of ground clearance.