Antarctica Beetle Earns Red Terror

The first production car to explore Antarctica was a ruby-red Volkswagen Beetle named Antarctica 1, donated by Volkswagen in 1963. It spent a year at Australia's remote Mawson Station, enduring temperatures of -52 C and winds reaching 200 km/h. Its air-cooled engine never froze, and its tightly sealed body resisted drifting snow so effectively that the scientists nicknamed it the "Red Terror." After returning to Australia with only minor repairs, it won the 1964 BP Rally.

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