What Is The Best Car For A Survivalist ?

"Margin Of Error" (marginoferror) 01/20/2016 at 11:29 • Filed to: QUESTION OF THE DAY

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Survivalism is great. It’s like going to back to human roots. You care for yourself, you assure your own protection, you build you own shelter, grow or hunt your own food and steal your own supplies, far from that rogue government and its corrupted law enforcing agencies.

But as shown in documentaries such as Walking Dead and The Stand, survivalists still need to be on the move. In a world where fuel supply is scarce, roads are not maintained and CARMAX does not honor its warranties, what is the best vehicle for a survivalist ?

BobintheMtns > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:32

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A Tesla with some solar panels bolted to the roof.... duh.

Margin Of Error > BobintheMtns 01/20/2016 at 11:33

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I don’t trust all this electronic stuff

The Hope of Africa > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:35

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A KanTANKa armoured tank!!!

For Sweden > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:36

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Something communist

B/Xmrrmvr > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:36

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A leased BMW 3-series. You don’t ever have to bring it back.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:36

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Terradyne Gurkha

Or if you are on a budget maybe a used Brinks Truck.

CalzoneGolem > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:38

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Some sort of diesel that can run on biofuels. Also, the simpler the better.

Perfect : http://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/d…

ACESandEIGHTS > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:39

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Whatever it is, buy two, because here’s the rule of thumb for preppers:

ONE IS NONE

&

TWO IS ONE

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:40

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Lets be honest, a bicycle. Gas is going to run out eventually.

BobintheMtns > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:41

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Wait till you see the wiring necessary for a post-apocalyptic
refinery....

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:42

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Early ‘90s F250 4x4 with the NA 7.3 IDI diesel and manual transmission. 4x4 for not getting stuck, the NA 7.3 IDI is simple, reliable, an entirely mechanical engine (no electronics to mess you up), will get you decent fuel economy, and can be easily converted to run on oil. And the manual transmission is much more robust than an auto.

Margin Of Error > Luc - The Acadian Oppo 01/20/2016 at 11:44

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The brinks truck is neat, you can even live in it

Margin Of Error > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 01/20/2016 at 11:44

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This

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:44

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Suzuki Every Joy Pop Turbo.

Margin Of Error > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 01/20/2016 at 11:45

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But how do you carry supplies with that ?

Tripper > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:45

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On the left

Ash78, voting early and often > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:45

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Anything with a rail wheel conversion. Probably a GM 2500/3500 pickup with lots of storage boxes on the back for food, ammo, armor, shelter.

Rapid rail transit when you need it, competent on- and off-road capability when the rails are jammed up. Best of both worlds.

Margin Of Error > B/Xmrrmvr 01/20/2016 at 11:45

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hahaha!

Justin Hughes > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:46

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sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:47

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Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:48

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Cars have too long of support chains to be very useful in a SHTF scenario. Perhaps if humanity just died off en masse, but then there’s little chance the survivalists made it, so there will be an epic amount of stuff just sitting around.

It would need to be able to traverse roads in sketchy condition without damage, be pretty durable in general, require minimal maintenance, and be common enough to repair easily.

I’m going to say an F-150 or F-250. If nuclear warfare is a risk (EMP), go with one prior to fuel injection or a Bronco from that era.

But to be painfully realistic, unless the world came back up to speed producing fuel within a year or two they’d just be big paperweights. Better to invest in horses and/or bicycles.

BorkBorkBjork > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:49

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I would say any GM truck. Your apocalypse parts bin is basically unlimited. Hell, looking out my office window I see 9 GM trucks/SUVs whose powertrains are basically interchangeable.

wiffleballtony > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:49

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Probably a horse.

kanadanmajava1 > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:50

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It depends if there is some fuel available. In Mad Max world the fuel was scarce but the fuel efficiency wasn’t still a thing. But a survivalist would probably need to find a reliable source for the fuel and prepare for the lack of spare parts.

80's Land Cruiser with a diesel engine could be one if diesel fuel is available. It doesn’t require a battery if you are strong enough hand cranks start it. At some point you would still need new engine oil.

Ford Model T could run on nearly pure ethanol so you could grow your own fuel. It also has a magneto ignition so you would need a working battery either. There might be some a bit more modern car that would withstand ethanol but I too tired to think up anything. T is probbaly fairly easy to maintain without proper tools but the ~100 years of age must mean that most parts are already worn out.

A steam car or a wood gas powered one could work with just wood if there wouldn’t even be distilling equipment available.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > For Sweden 01/20/2016 at 11:51

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I like your thinking, however when it breaks it might be very hard to source parts if you’re not in a communist (or formerly-communist) country. But a Lada Niva seems like just what the doctor ordered and I’m sure you could jury rig a fix to just about anything that actually goes wrong with one.

BorkBorkBjork > For Sweden 01/20/2016 at 11:51

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I agree, you can’t get much more prepper AND communist than this:

Margin Of Error > kanadanmajava1 01/20/2016 at 11:53

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In Walking Dead, they haven’t ran out of fuel in 7 years !

The Hope of Africa > Luc - The Acadian Oppo 01/20/2016 at 11:54

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If you are on an even tighter budget, you might want to consider Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo’s Kantanka Armoured Tank.

Ash78, voting early and often > B/Xmrrmvr 01/20/2016 at 11:54

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Choked on apple.

Hoccy > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 01/20/2016 at 11:54

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And if you live in a country with winter:

Ash78, voting early and often > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:55

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That’s partly because they never show that T-Dogg spent all his spare time locating cans of Sta-Bil.

coelacanthist > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 11:55

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Vehicles using wood gass.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > CalzoneGolem 01/20/2016 at 11:57

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There was one of these with a 5-cylinder Duetz for sale on CL for a while.

Still is:

http://columbia.craigslist.org/cto/5382950983…

Margin Of Error > Ash78, voting early and often 01/20/2016 at 11:58

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RIP T-Dog

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Justin Hughes 01/20/2016 at 12:03

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Why did you post a picture of one overheating?

kanadanmajava1 > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 12:06

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They are really fuel efficient drivers?

CalzoneGolem > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 01/20/2016 at 12:10

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That’s sexy. Just need to drop the dualies and add power to fronts.

Margin Of Error > kanadanmajava1 01/20/2016 at 12:12

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A whole bunch of hypermilers

Sweet Trav > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 12:14

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2500 4wd ‘79 Suburban with a stick.

Plenty of room, plenty of cheap, easily scavengable parts, will run on wood gas and cheap gasoline. Low compression 350 might not make much power, but will pretty much last forever.

RallyWrench > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 12:14

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Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > CalzoneGolem 01/20/2016 at 12:15

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Adding power to the front would just drain more power that it doesn’t have. Though, adding power to the front would be cool, if the power for the rear came from the rear...

Rock Bottom > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 12:15

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Easy. An old deuce-and-a-half. The Hercules engines (and maybe others as well) could burn anything. Gas, kerosene, diesel, engine oil, bio diesel, Jet-A anything. Also, indestructible and unstoppable. And you can bring your friends. All of them.

Future next gen S2000 owner > coelacanthist 01/20/2016 at 12:16

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Wood gas is the winner.

CalzoneGolem > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 01/20/2016 at 12:18

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Nah, the Deutz has plenty of grunt.

Justin Hughes > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 01/20/2016 at 12:19

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Renix...

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 12:21

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After that long, gasoline would be useless. Diesel might still be okay from some sources, though.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 12:53

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Are you even trying?

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > Margin Of Error 01/20/2016 at 14:19

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Range Rover Sport Supercharged used without the Carmax warranty. Because the very idea of a survivalist is rather stupid and I haven’t found rational/sane proposal from one oft them. I hope it breaks on them. Lucas electronics.