Another Achilles heel will be inflating those tires - pumps dont last forever, either. But, I would think resourceful survivors will readily identify substitutions for rubber pneumatic tires to keep bike working. It’s not like they will need a high-performane racing rig, just something that rolls okay.
I presume the survivors will replace the rubber tubes with old-fashioned wooden wheels in relatively short order wherever possible.
Agree, and assuming pavement will fall into disrepair, ouch! The wheel, cooked food, agriculture, and probably a few others, are things humanity cannot un-learn, no matter how bad things get for us.
Since the OP specified “automobile” (not vehicle) I’ll go with a dune buggy modified from a VW Beetle. It’s air cooled, has reasonable gas mileage, and it’s the only car I have the skills to fix almost anything on.
In the past people have modified pickup trucks with wood gasifiers that convert wood and charcoal into wood gas that can fuel their engines.
I am not sure how well a modern vehicle would do with such a thing.
More info here:
Yeah, but something like a singlespeed with a steel frame could go a LONG time with basic blacksmithing skills, provided you figured out some way to solve the tire issue.
But yeah, I’m in the horses and mules camp. For the reasons @LSLGuy points out.
If I have to pick a vehicle, I’d choose an older stick-shift pickup truck- probably pre-1970s if I can swing it. That way it’ll run on gas, but when the gas runs out, you could rebore the carb jets and run on ethanol. There’s not any electronics- it’s a distributor and points, and they’re pretty mechanically simple otherwise.
Plastic pumps have lousy long-term prospects. But I remember using steel-constructed, wood-handled, very simple and rugged bicycle pumps that could have leather seals inside - only the outside connection needs to fit the modern tire valves. Those things would last for a long time, even when occasionally used to club small game to death.
Unimog 404. Something like this model:
or better still, with a closed cabin and a winch:
An end '70s model would be ideal. If you have fuel and can lubricate the moving parts it will take you to the end of the world or until the revolution is successful. Zombies? Just ride over them!
Concerning bicycle tires, in a pinch you can travel on just the rims. When the Japanese invaded Malaya in WWII, their bicycle troops started doing this. They made a hell of a racket, which scared the defending British troops, because a bunch of them together sounded like tanks.
Concerning which motor vehicle to pick: one rule of thumb for poor, backward, or sparsely populated places is to drive what everyone else is driving. Parts may be available (and you can scavenge from wrecks), and there may be people who know how to fix that vehicle.
Depending on how we’re defining ‘apocalypse’ here, I’d rule out any gasoline vehicle. The realistic shelf life for gas is less than a year and none of us know how to make any more. Diesel is an all different story. A diesel engine will run on all kinds of stuff that is easy to make, for certain values of easy. An old, pre-computerized anything diesel powered truck is the best bet.
But in reality, bicycle or quadruped is what will actually work.
This was the first thing I thought of too.
It depends whether you need protection from the elements, zombies, etc or just need to travel around. Maybe get the Toyota and chuck a couple of bikes in the back as backup.
Sure, but you don’t have to show every mile.
Define “slow.” I watched The Last of Us. They walked from Kansas City to Jackson Hole. Slow enough for you?
Driving anything that runs is going to put a large, noisy target on your back, for either zombies or looters. I would go with a bicycle. Preferably something that can handle trails and poor roads.
If you have a few hundred thousand bucks to spare, you can get yourself a Ricochet ARV from Plan B Supply.
Here’s a bicycle from WW1 era, I think:
Having read none of the replies so far, and basing it on this:
You’d likely need a small or mid-sized (by today’s standards) SUV. An extended cab pickup has some utility in having a bed that can haul cargo or be used for sleeping (if you have a shell on it), but to my mind that utility doesn’t outweigh the benefits of having a cargo area accessible from the cab. Of course, this mean an actual SUV, not a modern “crossover” with a few inches of ground clearance and standard FWD.
I’m going to go with a first generation, 1984 Toyota 4-Runner SR5 with the 5-speed manual transmission. A solid front axle with the legendary 22R 4-cylynder engine (it went to EFL in 1985, so stick with the 1984 carbureted model that would be easier to repair in the field) meant that it will perform admirably off-road while being mechanically bombproof (or nearly, there were some timing chain issues that could be prevented with routine maintenance IIRC). A rear seat with a respectable cargo bay in the SR5 trim means you can carry passengers plus their BOB’s with ease. Add a locking rear differential, a roof rack, a strong brush guard with a winch and supplementary LED lights and you’ll be set with a reliable and utilitarian overland vehicle. It wouldn’t be ideal for deep mud or extreme snow, but there are few vehicles short of modern 4x4’s with computer controlled traction control like the F-150 Raptor that are. The only thing lacking from the above list is gas mileage; I haven’t a clue what kind of MPG it would get.
In prep you wouldn’t go wrong doing a full engine tune-up with new water pump, timing chain and timing chain guides & tensioner, getting the transmission, transfer case, and differentials inspected and serviced (maybe install a locking rear diff), and put together a well-provisioned toolbox that contains an air pump, some Fix-a-Flat, spare bulbs, extra road flares, a folding shovel, as well the usual assortment of tools. Carry a couple of MagLites, one in the cab and one in the toolbox. Carry spare batteries. Make sure the 4Runner has a fresh battery and carry an emergency rechargeable jump starter. Perhaps install a dual battery setup with a pure sine power inverter permanently installed in the cab so that you can run consumer electronics from the 12v system. In your post-apocalyptic scenario you may not have a need for a cell phone or a laptop, but better safe than sorry. You’ll still need to charge the jump starter, flashlights, and other odds and ends.
You can add another full-sized spare to the roof rack or get a swing-away spare tire carrier for the rear. That way you have two full-sized spares. Before the SHTF you would do well to get a full set (including spares) of new tires. On the roof rack you can carry a hi-lift jack and several extra jerry cans of fuel.
The big appeal of this specific vehicle is dependability and ease of repair. There are minimal electronics if you stick with the carbureted 1984 model, and if you carry spare plugs, wires, a coil pack, and distributor cap (and probably a few other electronic parts things I’m not thinking of), and a Haynes manual you should well prepared to perform field repairs without having to scrounge for spare parts in some atom bomb-destroyed city. A modern vehicle with a PCM controlling everything means that when it dies on you, and there’s no dealer to take it to for a replacement and reprogramming, you’re well and truly stuck. There are other vehicles that would fit most of the criteria but for my money that 4Runner gives you the best combo of reliability, utility, and ease of use.
Where you gonna get gas for that once all the stuff in the tanks goes sour in six months?
I’m not fighting the hypothetical. Sooner or later fuel will go bad and we’ll all be walking but in the meantime I’ll drive where I can for as long as I can.
Use a wood gasifier which I mentioned above…
This is an important consideration - how much driving will you actually be doing, and for how long?
Movies and TV shows where people travel hundreds or thousands of miles, just kind of wandering the wasteland, for months or years on end, are kind of unrealistic. In reality, I’d be thinking of finding a place I can live long-term pretty quickly.
From where I live, Day 1 of the Apocalypse, I’d be looking into heading south, to find some place without freezing winters. But not too far south, so I don’t have to deal with stupidly hot summers. Once I find that sweet spot, it’s time to set up a compound, with plans for subsistence farming. I might take a few scavenging trips a year to local supply depots, but those would decrease in frequency, as my ability to grow food improves, and the supply of old-world goods diminishes.