Antarctic Snow Cruiser, a huge exploration vehicle that disappeared in Antarctica

The exploration of Antarctica has been a great challenge for many years, a challenge that has required special vehicles.

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In 1939, a few months before the start of World War II, the United States Antarctic Service Expedition, an initiative of the Navy and several departments of the US government, proposed the construction of a vehicle that would allow exploration of that frozen continent and at the same time serve as housing for four explorers in the inhospitable landscapes of that polar region. The expedition would be led by Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (1888-1957), explorer and officer of the US Navy.

The vehicle, called the Antarctic Snow Cruiser, was built in record time (just 11 weeks) by the Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago. Construction began on August 8, 1939, and the vehicle was tested for the first time on October 24.

When it was brought to Boston to be loaded aboard the US Coast Guard ship USCGC North Star, the vehicle caused massive traffic jams everywhere it traveled due to its large size: 17 meters long, 6 meters wide and almost 5 meters high, with large wheels 3 meters in diameter. An aircraft was to be carried on the vehicle, specifically a single-engine Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing, in order to make reconnaissance flights over the places where the vehicle would be traveling.

The vehicle was so large that it was a red mobile home. Inside there were four beds, a kitchen (which also functioned as a darkroom for developing photos and films), a food storage room, and a laboratory. There were two spare tires in the back. It also had a large fuel tank, with enough capacity to ensure that it did not have to refuel during its entire journey across Antarctica without its two 150-horsepower Cummins H-6 diesel engines running out of fuel. The vehicle cost $150,000 at the time, or about $2.5 million at today's exchange rate.

The vehicle was so large that when it was loaded onto the ship that was to transport it to Antarctica, up to three metres of its rear section had to be cut off to fit it onto the ship. Its arrival in Antarctica at the beginning of January 1940, specifically in the Bay of Whales, was very problematic. The vehicle, known as "The Penguin", weighed 35 tonnes, and the improvised wooden ramps used to unload it were not sufficient, so it was on the verge of falling into the water.

When the expedition finally landed, they encountered another problem. The large Goodyear tires had been designed to be extremely tough and withstand the terrible conditions of Antarctica, but they had no tread. They were completely smooth, so the Antarctic Snow Cruiser skidded on the snow and ice, causing its speed to be much slower than they had initially anticipated (about 48 km/h). The two spare wheels were placed next to the front wheels, as well as chains, in an attempt to solve the problem, but to no avail.

Ironically, it turned out that the vehicle was faster in reverse than forward. It travelled about 160 kilometres across Antarctica in reverse. Finally, in late January 1940, the expedition abandoned the vehicle and returned to the USA. The US entered World War II in December 1941 and the big red vehicle was forced to stay there for five years.

After the war, Byrd returned to Antarctica in late 1946: the vehicle was where it had been abandoned, but with a light covering of snow (the photo you see above was taken during that expedition). After charging its batteries, they were surprised to find that the Antarctic Snow Cruiser was working perfectly. That expedition again left the vehicle abandoned on the frozen continent.

The next US expedition to locate the Antarctic Snow Cruiser took place in 1958. By then, the vehicle was almost completely buried in snow. That expedition placed bamboo poles on the vehicle to indicate its position. This was the last time the large red metal "Penguin" was seen. In 1962, it was confirmed that the ice shelf on which the vehicle had been abandoned had broken into several pieces.

In 1963, a US Navy icebreaker, the USS Edisto (AG-89), spotted bamboo poles marking the spot where the vehicle had been abandoned next to an American polar base (the remains of which can be seen above), but was unable to take any photos of the vehicle. The whereabouts of the Antarctic Snow Cruiser have remained a complete mystery ever since. Some claim that the vehicle was found by a Soviet expedition and taken to the USSR. Others speculate that it may have ended up at the bottom of the sea, although it is also possible that it is still there, buried under several metres of snow.

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Photos: United States Antarctic Service / C.C. Shirley / A.J. Carroll.