Have you ever looked at a car, stopped scrolling, and just mumbled, “What the hell is that?” That’s exactly what happened when I stumbled across this beast of a rig on Facebook.

Turns out, it was built in 1936 by a guy named Roman Chupp out in Bloomfield, Montana. It's a small "hamlet" near Glendive..” Roman took a Model A Ford, slapped on a Model T truck axle, and gave it the most Montana of all updates: enormous Goodyear tractor tires.

Ford Factory Workers
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Why? Because his buddy Milton Hill had mail to deliver. And eastern Montana winters give exactly zero hoots about your road conditions or your rear-wheel drive. So, Roman built Milton a rig that didn’t just drive through the snow; it drove on top of it.

Mid March Snowstorm Dumps Over A Foot Of Snow In Boulder, Colorado Area
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Busting Through Drifts Like a Polar Bear

The tires were so massive that this thing floated across giant snow drifts. No chains. No snowplow. No problem. Just raw traction and the will to keep going. You can almost hear it chugging across the prairie, hauling letters and Sears catalogs like a Depression-era tundra tank.

This wasn’t a showpiece. It was a lifeline. A critical link for ranches and farms way off the beaten path. And it wasn’t about looking cool, it was about doing the job, whether the weather agreed or not.

Mid March Snowstorm Dumps Over A Foot Of Snow In Boulder, Colorado Area
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This Is What Montana Ingenuity Looks Like

We throw around the phrase “Montana tough” a lot, but this might be the definition. Two guys. One old Ford modified into a Montana Monster Truck. Roman didn’t have a blueprint. He had a problem, a pile of parts, and enough know-how to make it happen. And what rolled out of his shop still blows minds nearly 90 years later.

So yeah, keep your Teslas and your trail-rated SUVs. I’ll take the Roman Chupp snow crusher any day.

2023 Best Looking State Patrol Cars In (Almost) Every State

For the past 10 years, the American Association of State Troopers has held a contest to determine which state has the best looking patrol cruiser. Nearly every state police agency submits their best photo of their sharpest patrol vehicle a chance to win the coveted cover photo on the association's annual calendar. From cop cars rushing through blizzards to vehicles on the Grand Ole Opry stage, here are this 2023's nominees.

Gallery Credit: Rob Carroll