A news release for the 2017 Ford Escape trumped heated seats and steering wheel, a windshield wiper de-icer, improved remote start and heated side-mirrors. The windshield wiper de-icer works by heating the area where the blades rest to remove any light snow or ice, according to the release. Ford says it will be able to clear light snow or ice in less than 10 minutes in temperatures as cold as 18 degrees below zero. Ok!

This in turn reminded me of driving many turnpike miles every winter in my 63 Triumph Spitfire from IN to PA with an ice scrapper on the passenger seat. It was so cold in the car the inside of front windshield had to be continually scrapped just to see out. Funny, I look back on that now as a good memory; summer top-down fun made it worth it.

 

True Dave. First year out of High School I worked and I had a 1965 Mustang with the pathetic 200 cubic inch six. The car could not move forward on snowy roads even if I was on a flat surface. A set of rear snow tires changed everything. I was a snow tire believer at 17. I ran MGAs through my first year or two of college. I would use the hand crank to start it when the battery couldn't turn it over and the heater really was a joke. It made a great noise when you started the heater motor. Sounded like a goose bellowing. I would often have to stop that car during snow storms to clear the windshield because the wipers were not strong enough to clear the snow. I would stuff cloth into all the spaces between the door frames and the side curtains and the roadster top trying to keep out the cold, rain and snow. My best winter memory in the car was driving home from my girl friend's house on unplowed roads in four inches of powder. The car did excellent power slides. In my Junior year I got an MGB-GT as a winter driver. Now that was some luxury. The car got warm enough that I couldn't see my breath on even the coldest of days.

 

I had a Ford Econoline van that I fixed up as a camper. (We were much younger.) We used to do winter camping in places liked Yosemite, Sequoia, the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion. We were camping at Cedar Breaks, Utah when it got down to 25° below overnight. Our portable heater ran out of propane and we awoke to the entire inside of the van from the windshield to the seats frozen solid. I had to gradually melt the ice by hand with the propane heater in the morning.

 

Bill, enjoyed your story. Here's a shot of me and my '63 Vette with 'snow tires'.



But, when it comes to the Van story - it is a wonder you did not freeze to death!

 

My Jeep has those creature comforts you mention and I love them all.

Rick's first car was MGB 1965, driven through the winter, studded snow tires.

Dave, I love the pic!

As mentioned in the Porsche thread, Rick may start driving the S in the winter next year. It will be outfitted with proper tires. He much prefers to drive the S over the Subie. His commute to work is back roads and he'll be close enough to retirement that he will only do this for one or two winters. If it snows too much, he can always call in, right? I'll have to take a picture similar to yours if he does this, Dave. He won't have as much hair as you had in your pic.

In the blizzard of 1978 Rick had an AMC Hornet, (1974) three speed manual with good all seasons on it. That car was pretty darn good in the snow. We were able to get home safely without getting stuck when others had given up.

 

I rode a motorcycle to college, 30 miles each way on the Belt Parkway, all winter in my sophomore year. It was quite cold. I'd get off of the parkway one exit early so that I could put my hands near the exhaust pipes to warm them up. When my friends heard me coming they get two cups of coffee for me to hold in my hands from the coffee machine. To this day I drink my coffee black, no sugar because that's the only way it would come out of the cafeteria's coffee machine. Damn, it was cold.

Worse than the cold was the rain. I don't think I've ever been as wet and cold as when I rode my motorcycle to school in the rain. When it snowed I'd leave the motorcycle home and take the subway, but the subway took 2 1/2 hours because I lived in a 2 fare zone and had to take a bus to the subway and the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan and change trains for a train to Queens. By motorcycle, the same trip took 45 minutes.

Since that time, the cold has never really bothered me. To this day I drive my S2000 with the top down all winter, no matter how cold.

 

Great picture, Dave. Look at those knobbies on the back of that thing! I sure do wish I had photos of me with aaaall the cars I have owned over the course of my life. Most of them live now only in my memories.

 

Oh that brings back a great memory, Lainey. The blizzard of 78 I had the MGB-GT. All the roads were closed by the government except for emergencies. I needed to refill a prescription for my mother so I used the opportunity to do a beer run.

 

I was a medic and ambulance driver in Korea, and the most fun over there was driving the 4 wheel drive ambulance on roads that never saw a plow.
They also had great heaters in the back and I slept in that thing many nights while on 24 hour duty.

 

Boot Camp in Great Lakes in the winter of 64. Frigid and those Navy pea coats didn't keep you very warm. Standing outside in the chow line in temps below zero was the worst.