We have very advanced automotive technology like AWD these days to allow us to go off-road, but clearly not all cars can go off-road; how come in old movies you see old cars driving on dirt roads all the time?

Question

Is this just a movie thing? Aside from the lack of comfort, how well did old cars drive on dirt roads, which presumably were everywhere? I can’t imagine they got good traction on those thin wheels, or even produce enough power to push through a bumpy hill, so I’m wondering if there’s something I’m missing here?

In: Technology

Answer 1

I know it was a lot tougher in the past, vehicles stuck in mud was practically a defining feature of the world wars. Apparently 4-wheel drive (different than AWD in that it powers each axle rather than each wheel) was invented in 1893, I have no idea how common it was on vehicles though. I think by the second world war when you had jeeps and APCs designed for off-road use they must have had 4WD standardized by then. In the first world war it seems like wheeled vehicles were confined a lot more to paved or well-maintained dirt roads, and if you had rough ground to cross you’d probably be more likely to do it with a horse than a car, but I couldn’t pinpoint when exactly that changed either

Either way, interesting question