The Volkswagen Beetle can turn its hand to a lot of things. Including snow, it turns out.
It’s well known that the Beetle can conquer the city and the sand with ease, but beneath the indomitable Snow-Trac is the equally indomitable powertrain of a Beetle.
Innes Ireland, buccaneering Formula 1 Grand Prix winner and cult hero of the 1960s, somewhat surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly) owned one and used it when in Scotland, the country of his parents.
And there’ll be an example of the intrepid Swedish machine on the Winter Wagons lawn at the Scramble on Sunday 8 January.
More than 2000 were made by farm machinery firm AB Westeråsmaskiner after its chief designer Lars Larsson started exploring an idea for an all-terrain vehicle to help on his fishing trips. Production continued for an impressive two decades, from 1957 to 1981 and is rare in caterpillar-track transport for having a steering wheel rather than pulleys and levers that change course by slowing either track.
That meant it was an easily manoeuvrable ‘car’ and makes short work of deep and light snow. Ideal for regions of changeable and unpredictable weather, like Innes in the Highlands, or during the 1972 Winter Olympics.
Find the Snow-Trac on the Winter Wagons lawn by Building 123 at the Scramble.