Put on your thinking caps, it’s quiz time here at Barn Finds University. Howard, no spitballs! Ok, name a six-wheel-drive vehicle that floats, has an airplane engine, and is “dangerously fast”. Oh yeah, and one that has basically no brakes. This 1971 Allis-Chalmers Terra Tiger 6×6! The seller has it listed here on eBay in Steger, Illinois and they have a $2,995.95 buy-it-now price listed, or you can make an offer.
If you don’t want one of these things after spending four minutes of your valuable time watching this promo video here on YouTube, well then I don’t know how to even go on here. Or, why. And I don’t mean with just this article, but with life, in general. I hope that most of you agree on two things: the earth is actually round and this Terra Tiger would be fun to own. I mean, who doesn’t want a vehicle with 6WD that you can just drive into the water and it’ll float? I know I would love to have one.
We’ve all heard of Allis-Chalmers, the famous farm equipment manufacturer, but maybe not all of us knew that tractor company made an amphibious 6×6. I wish that it were the classic Allis-Chalmers reddish orange, but even when they were new, not all of them were red. Even almost-always-green John Deere made construction equipment that was yellow and some of their snowmobiles were black and/or silver. A gentleman named Marvin Feldmann invented this machine and eventually sold the rights to Allis. They were only made for a few short years, into the early-1970s.
Allis-Chalmers has been around since 1901. It’s a good ol’ Midwest company based in West Allis, Wisconsin, and as with many manufacturers in the 1960s and 70s, they were looking for a way to get in on the outdoor recreational market. I don’t know if their hydrogen fuel cell golf carts (I kid you not) added much income, or if the Terra Tiger was even successful, but it sure looks like a fun vehicle. The seller has modified this one a bit and it’s usable as is, it just needs some new brakes and a few other tweaks.
Speaking of tweaks, the original engine would have been either a 10-hp or 18-hp JLO two-stroke single-cylinder. This one is now fitted with a 28-hp Rotax ultralite airplane engine, which the seller says is good for speeds of 50 mph and that’s with them adjusting the throttle back to 3/4, just to keep it from flying away! I added that last part. It needs some adjustment, and I’d want an all-original one if it were me. Not that I don’t want this one the way it is! Have any of you owned a Terra Tiger?
Really neat! I’d love to see how the steer and drive system works…..
Of course, just outside of my hometown, ARGO continues to make very similar machines today: http://www.argoxtv.com/ca
cheers,
BT
1st line reminds me of a Van Halen song,,”I don’t feel tardy”. “Auntie Alice” had her fingers in all kinds of things before her demise. From semi truck motors( Big Al) to lawn and garden ( Simplicity), industrial generators and farm equipment ( A-C had the 1st turbocharger on a farm tractor), to, well, ATVs. Never knew about the latter. Looks pretty conventional, with long chains( that came off) to drive the wheels, and separate brakes for each side for steering. Not sure where the “50 mph” thing came from, I read, more like 30,( 2 mph on water, FlexSeal, nice going Phil) and even that is a handful with these. More like for crawling over logs and such. Ultralight motor? Well, maybe, but it’s still a snowmobile motor, and I wouldn’t trust one for any kind of flying machine. I had the JLO single in our old Polaris, that never ran right, and straddling that drivetrain makes me nervous in my old age. Again, it’s amazing what ATVs have become from these, and Honda 3 wheelers, humble beginnings. With GPS, heat/a/c, P/S, long travel suspensions, and what not,, can you imagine a time, when this was good enough? I can.
The Rotax “ultralight airplane engine” has proven itself through thousands and thousands of hours powering light aircraft. Well built and reliable. I know you’re very knowledgeable about collector cars Howard A, but please limit your put-downs to equipment you know and understand. Or do some research before commenting.
While cool and fun here is something that I use everyday for ranch chores that is pretty much a go anywhere machine.
But does it float?
Drive it across a pond?
MANY years ago, my friend got ahold of a rig similar to this. He immediately removed the 8hp kohler commercial engine and installed a Rupp 440 nitro snowmobile engine. Within the first 20 feet of it’s maiden voyage, it flipped and broke his collar bone. Not funny. Well, yeah….. funny.
allis is orange not red,get your facts striate
“Orange” you glad nobody commented on your spelling?
bt
Makes me see “red”,,not to worry, just another passerby from Facebook, and if ignored, they usually go away. It’s actually kind of funny, picking on the author, and misspelling the key word of their comment, if any. Besides, most all tractors I’ve seen are more a dull rust colored, as I don’t recall anyone waxing a farm tractor. I think their lack of interaction allows them to think it’s okay to pick on someone, with no consequence.
There was a similar Spanish machine, the ‘Artés Gato Montés’, with a twin-flat Citroën Dyane 34 HP air cooled engine.
These machines are perfect for a Wankel Rotary Engine, eg Aixro.de.
The ‘Croco anfibious’ had a zyon made Syvaro Wankel engine.
Both shown in YouTube
Gesund +
I worked at Argo, in engineering, back in the 80’s. We did the 3 wheeler, Taurus 650 project. I did some work on the 6 and 8 I/C models. Neat little niche machine, for swamp, marsh..
I had many 6 wheelers when i was younger, all different brands, was in a club and we would all go out to a place and blast around, tons of fun!! The soft tires were the only suspension.
Is the MAXX company still up and running in New York? How long have they been in business, around this time?
One banana, two banana, three banana, four… ;)
How does this steer like a skid steer? Very cool but not 3k cool to me!
RMac, on this one the T handle is just like a steering wheel, but most others have two sticks that you use like a tank.
color is Persian orange,as to farmers polishing their tractors many do as the tractor is worth 10 times your car
Learned a lot from the comments that I didn’t realize before, would definitely buy this if I was hanging in the Everglades..
In the summer
of 1975 we had an A/C Terra-Tiger doing siesmograph work in Pinedale, Wyoming. Best I remember it had a Robin engine.
came with jlo 10 hp and jlo 18hp elec start but many got changed over the years
Learn how to spell! Before judging anything!!! So get it
Straight. And it is Persian Orange, with a total of 3 different versions before A-C’s demise. They also had a wide range color palet other than Persian Orange.
SOLD – best offer accepted.