What Utilitarian Vehicles Look Way Cooler Than They Have Any Right To? Autopian Asks

Quick, think of a cool-looking vehicle – car, truck, motorcycle, ATV, anything. Got one? OK, good.

I’m betting your squishy skull stuff has conjured something intended by its manufacturer to look (and hopefully be) some variety of cool. Since we’re Autopians, your idea of cool may be a Pagani or a Peugeot, a Bugatti or bug-eye Sprite, a Cadillac or a Cavalier (Z24, probably), but still, something meant to evoke some kind of coolness, a shape intended to look good for the sake of looking good.

You probably did not think of a farm tractor or a forklift or some other work vehicle or wheeled/tracked driver-operated utility thing. But those types of machines can indeed look pretty doggone cool! And that’s where we’re at with today’s Autopian Asks. We want you to tell us about the utility and work vehicles you think look way cooler than they should, ought to, or need to.

Let’s see what the gang at your favorite website thinks! No, this website. Who said Angie’s List? Weirdo.

I’ll go first. Ever since David wrote about the Clarktor CT-6 airport tug, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. It looks like it came from a parallel universe where WWII was decided by lawn care. It’s fantastic. Just look at that guy driving it. He can’t believe his good luck. Best day of his life. And did the CT-6 inspire the BMW Grille Design Team, if only in scale? Maybe.

Incredibly, I’m not the only airport tug fan here. Your favorite Daydreaming Designer, The Bishop, professed his love for the modern low-slung tugs that push and pull jetliners, and eloquently described them as “sci-fi shit.”

Sci-fi shit indeed! To wit, the Armored Personnel Carrier that took Ripley and the Colonial Marines in and out of LV-426‘s Weyland Yutani-built atmosphere processor in Aliens was in fact a Hunslet ATT77 Air Towing Tractor. The tug’s APC costume covers every bit of it, but there’s no mistaking those proportions and the massive counter-steering front and rear wheels. Love it.

Whereas the APC was packed with Marines (never mind the fact that the APC interior was far larger than what the actual vehicle could fit inside), the ATT77 airport tug is packed with … all that stuff above. Click to enlarge, it’s fascinating!

The Bish also dropped the shot above as a coolest-looking-vehicle-that-doesn’t-need-to-look-cool nominee. It’s an Oshkosh Striker 4500 Aircraft Rescue And Fire Fighting vehicle (ARFF for short). That’s a good acronym, and I assume those are jets of water and flame-retarding foam blasting from the cannons – but they could just as easily be particle beams if you squint (or click this link). Or, hear me out, this truck could be deployed to help make colossal tacos and sundaes as the SAWCAT (Sour And Whipped Cream Application Truck). I’m full of great ideas.

Resident world-traveling Australian engineer rock star Lewin Day came in hot with the Hardi sprayer. Says Lewin, “They’re monstrous, with the biggest models like the Rubicon 9000 hitting over 50 km/h with huge hydraulic motors in each wheel. Watching the giant boom skate over the terrain at speed is wild.” Watch indeed!

David dropped the photo below as a workin’ machine he loves, and man, I get it. That thing looks ready to flatten all comers under those tracks, and the design is all business with nary a curved panel in sight. It’s a Tucker Sno-Cat 1600 operated by Nova Guides, set up for touring Vail, Colorado, and I would absolutely like a ride.

Says David, “I mean just look at it. It’s humongous, and looks as silly as it does menacing, with a super basic, almost shed-like two-box design, four sets of tracks, and an enormity that’s almost laughable.” I dare you to laugh, DT!

I’ll chalk it up to being blinded by the tracked spectacle that is the Sn0-Cat 1600, but I was surprised David didn’t call out the all-time GOAT of vehicles designed purely to perform a job that not only went on to do the job but also succeeded in being incredibly, indelibly, durably cool decade after decade – I speak of the Jeep, of course, in its wonderful, original Willys MB spec. I especially like it with its jaunty fabric top. “Iconic,” to use a much-overused word, but none could be more apt.

Your turn: what are the working machines that hit your cool button? See you in the comments!