Slowest Vehicle Ever?

Type Q wrote: My parent's 1970 VW camper van is the slowest vehicle I have ever driven. It probably weighed north of 3500lb with the "Custom" interior my dad built out of 5/8 inch plywood. This included an RV fridge and propane heater. Add 4 or 5 people with all their vacation stuff and the thing was over two tons easily. Pushing this down the road was a fire breathing stock air-cooled 1600cc VW motor that put maybe 45 hp on a good day. It went zero to 60 eventually. Once it was going, it was not easy to stop. The unassisted drum brakes with that much mass to slow, gave your legs a real workout. I gained an appreciation for what truck drivers deal with everyday.

Oh, fancy 1,600cc's, you had the big block speed demon then.

If I had somewhere between three and five minutes between turning the steering wheel, and the wheels turning, I'd probably back out of the throttle a lil' bit too. Especially if the thing I was driving cost a few million bucks.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_light_years_away_is_Mars_from_Earth

andrave wrote: I had a plymouth reliant early on that had extremely steep gears and extremely not power. You could bounce it off the rev limit then neutral bomb in gravel and it wouldn't spin the tires. literally. it topped out on the interstate at around 65 mph pegged to the floor, thus apparently taking the crown of slowest car away from the diesel chevette. lol

I probably had the same exact car. Passing someone was a strategic maneuver. First the person had to be going under 50, or it would never happen. Then you had to fall back so you could get a running start. I would drop back 50 yards or so and put the pedal to the floor. If all went well then by the time I caught back up to the offending slow car I had built up 5 or 6 extra mph and there was no traffic in the opposing lane. Many a time I though I had it going great only to have a car show up going the other way when I was about 80% of the way to the other car. I had to slow down and back off and try again. Frequently it took 4 or 5 runs to make a pass. They raised the speed limits from 55 to 65 on the freeways during my time with car and I was legislated out of being able to receive a speeding ticket. It's been long enough that I'm actually starting to get nostalgic about it.

Appleseed wrote: Crawler transporter.

You have to average it out with the rocket engines that are sitting on it. :)

andrave wrote: In Maryland.

I found the flaw in his plan.

When the Mars Rover is actually moving, its top speed is about 2 inches per second, which is about 0.1 mph.

This is waaay slower than the Crawler-transporter, which can zip up to 1 mph. Not surprising, considering the Crawler has over 5000 horsepower.

I went to college in a '64 VW bus which had blown its original 50 horsepower engine, so I dropped in a '58 sedan engine with 36 horsepower. My current lawntractor is probably quicker.

Slowest...............................................
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Several years back I helped a buddy move from VA to PA. We loaded up one of these beasts and I had the honor of driving it back, even taking it across the Bay Bridge Tunnel. Late at night, no less. It was a 4+ hour drive. 4 spd stick, heaven only knows how many miles on the engine, no steering to speak of. I had a foot cramp by time I got to PA, as I had it firmly pushed to the floor the entire time. I think 50mph was the fastest I got it. Was quite a scary ride on the highway.

And I managed to back into his parents mailbox. Do'h!

In reply to Klayfish:

But you have the admire the way it will pull any hill, in any gear, as long as that gear is first.

We also had the pleasure of driving this truck's younger brother, the mid 80's international 4 speed gas engine uhaul trucks. Same MO. 50 mph top speed, bias ply tires, large and scary, generally...

Type Q wrote: My parent's 1970 VW camper van is the slowest vehicle I have ever driven. Add 4 or 5 people with all their vacation stuff and the thing was over two tons easily.

In 1965 my parents went on a 2-week tour of western Europe (France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden) with 2 other couples. They rented a VW microbus. My father had dozens of horror stories about trying to get that thing from Point A to Point B without getting run down like turtles.

I recall my parent 73 camper van as a kid. I know it went through several engines, but I have distinct memories of having not managed to park on an incline, me and mum pushing then jumping in the side door after my dad bump started it. Once it finaly expired it was a great 'den' to play in before some Aussie students bought it, swaped in another enginer and headed East accross the channel in an attempt to drive back to Oz.

Klayfish wrote:

Did your friend happen to move to Pittsburgh? When I moved a few years back, I reserved a 30-foot U-Haul. The lot was full of nice, shiny new ones until the day I arrived to pick up mine. This exact truck was the only one available, 4-speed and everything. What a beast.

I know that the 240D has to be in the running.

Duke wrote:

Type Q wrote: My parent's 1970 VW camper van is the slowest vehicle I have ever driven. Add 4 or 5 people with all their vacation stuff and the thing was over two tons easily.

In 1965 my parents went on a 2-week tour of western Europe (France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden) with 2 other couples. They rented a VW microbus. My father had dozens of horror stories about trying to get that thing from Point A to Point B without getting run down like turtles.

There was a local guy with an orange VW Bus who discovered he couldn't tow a boat with it. So he bought a wrecked Olds Toronado, yanked the front subframe and put it under the back of the bus. There's a long grade on the road everybody uses when coming back from Lake Murray, it was funny to see jaws drop as this VW Bus towing a 19 foot boat passed 70 MPH traffic on that grade.

Years ago I helped my sister and her family move by driving one of these to Phoenix. It was full of furniture, along with a Ford Mustang on a trailer in back. After the first 100 miles I stopped and cut a stick to fit between the seat and the gas pedal so I could hold it to the floor; leaving from Minneapolis it didn't make it up to 60mph until I hit the Iowa border.

Still beats a Mercedes 220D.

pinchvalve wrote:

Klayfish wrote:

Did your friend happen to move to Pittsburgh? When I moved a few years back, I reserved a 30-foot U-Haul. The lot was full of nice, shiny new ones until the day I arrived to pick up mine. This exact truck was the only one available, 4-speed and everything. What a beast.

I drove one similar to that before the place I worked for bought a GMC cabover (Isuzu) The throwout bearing was shot on the clutch and made some of the worst noises known to man. Thankfully I could shift it without the clutch

Appleseed wrote: Crawler transporter.

It's a moot question now.. but I wonder which would have been more impressive. Watching the shuttle go into space.. or being able to walk next to the crawler carrying the shuttle?