Let This Stout Scarab Prove You Don’t Need All-Wheel Drive
Driving in snow just takes chutzpah and, perhaps, quality life insurance.
You don’t need all-wheel drive to drive in the snow! No, really! What you need is vim, vigor, nerve, chutzpah, character and all the other things prized in the boardroom and on the dancefloor. Also, yes, quickness at the tiller and a swift foot. Despite the convincing ads from the folks at Subaru and Audi, purveyors of AWD autos from the early days, many do just fine with a single powered axle. In fact, there are many situations in which a little less traction is a lot more fun: What better time than a snowy one is there to practice J-turns, hand-brake turns and Scandinavian flicks? You’ll wear out long before the tires do.
Take this enterprising winter driver in a Stout Scarab. As a kind of aerodynamic proto-minivan, the Scarab was advanced in many ways, with fiberglass panels draped over an aluminum unibody and four-wheel independent suspension. Inside was a mounted table with configurable seating, and Art Deco furnishings of wood and chrome. For all that, the Scarab was rear-engined, with all the pendulum tendencies the layout implies; a snow-machine, ‘tis not. The woman, though, is unperturbed. Just out for a snowy spin in an experimental, ultra-limited production (nine, with only five known to survive) minivan. That’s vim! That’s vigor! That’s the winter can-do spirit.
