I’ve driven in places and situations where I’ve had to worry about a car overheating. There’s another end of the spectrum, however that I’ve yet to experience. That would be the idea of a car that’s so frozen there’s no way to start it. No way, that is, unless you know what you’re doing… like the two folks in the video below, who clearly understand what it takes to keep a vehicle ready to roll in frozen Siberia.
According to the video, temperatures can dip to nearly -100 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a number I can’t even fathom. The vehicle subjected to these frigid conditions is, I believe, a UAZ Hunter. I have no idea how these drive but I do have to say that it looks pretty sweet. And you can still buy them today, and they look basically like this one.
In order to start waking up the Hunter, the two folks in the video first wrap the body in a tarp and then shove a heater under the engine. It needs to sit there for at least two hours so that the now solid motor oil can turn back into its more useful liquid state. After warming up the UAZ for some time, the hood is popped, and the oil is checked to make sure it goes splish splash. Then the battery is reconnected and the Hunter fires right up. It’s actually quite impressive at how quickly the thing turns off after basically being Han Solo’d.
Next, the tires get some air, and the truck is moved from its spot and driven down the road. The pair quickly discover that whatever defrost system the UAZ Hunter has, it’s no match for the current conditions. The truck is driven to a nearby garage to further prep it for cold weather use. This means adding a leather cover over the grille to keep more heat in the engine bay. A tarp is added under the bottom side of the engine and felt inside the engine bay to keep things as toasty as possible in there.
A secondary layer is added to the windshield. This seems counterintuitive to me as I would assume that cold air could get between the two layers of glass, but it’s all taped off in what I assume is an effort to stop that from happening. Plastic film is added to the side glass. And clearly, these two know better than I because now the glass doesn’t fog up when they take the Hunter back out.
The truck has been prepped, and it’s now able to handle the punishingly cold conditions of Siberia.