An off-road vehicle, sometimes referred to as an overland or adventure vehicle, is considered to be any type of

vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), ...

which is capable of

driving Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and bicycles. Permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met and drivers are required to ...

on and off

paved Pavement may refer to: * Pavement (architecture), an outdoor floor or superficial surface covering * Road surface, the durable surfacing of roads and walkways ** Asphalt concrete, a common form of road surface * Sidewalk or pavement, a walkway alo ...

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with deep, open treads, a flexible suspension, or even caterpillar tracks. Other vehicles that do not travel on public streets or highways are generally termed off-highway vehicles, including

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...

forklift A forklift (also called lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various ...

s, cranes,

backhoe A backhoe—also called rear actor or back actor—is a type of excavating equipment, or digger, consisting of a digging bucket on the end of a two-part articulated arm. It is typically mounted on the back of a tractor or front loader, the latt ...

bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...

s, and golf carts. Off-road vehicles have an enthusiastic following because of their versatility. Several types of

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of t ...

s involve racing off-road vehicles. The most common use of these vehicles is for

sightseeing Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism m ...

in areas distant from the pavement. The use of higher clearance and higher traction vehicles enables access on

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. ...

s and forest roads that have rough and low traction surfaces. Off-road vehicles can typically ford through deeper waters (i.e., rivers or floodwaters) than on-road vehicles can.

History

One of the first modified off-road vehicles was the Kégresse track, a conversion undertaken first by

Adolphe Kégresse Adolphe Kégresse (1879, Héricourt, Haute-Saône - 1943) was a French military engineer who invented the half-track and dual clutch transmission. Born at Héricourt, and educated in Montbéliard, he moved in 1905 to Saint Petersburg, Russia to ...

, who designed the original while working for Czar Nicholas II of Russia between 1906 and 1916. The system uses a

caterpillar track Continuous track is a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the weight of the vehicle ...

with a flexible belt rather than interlocking metal segments. It can be fitted to a conventional car or truck to turn it into a half-track suitable for use over rough or soft ground. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Kégresse returned to his native

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

where the system was used on

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired 8 ...

cars between 1921 and 1937 for off-road and

military vehicle A military vehicle is any vehicle for land-based military transport and activity, including combat vehicles; both specifically designed for, or significantly used by military and armed forces. Most military vehicles require off-road capabil ...

s. The

company sponsored several overland expeditions with their vehicles crossing

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

. A huge wheeled vehicle designed from

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into ...

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

under the direction of Thomas Poulter called

Antarctic Snow Cruiser The Antarctic Snow Cruiser was a vehicle designed from 1937 to 1939 under the direction of Thomas Poulter, intended to facilitate transport in Antarctica during the United States Antarctic Service Expedition (1939–41). The Snow Cruiser was ...

was intended to facilitate transport in the

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. While having several innovative features, it generally failed to operate as hoped under the difficult conditions, and was eventually abandoned in

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, a huge surplus of light off-road vehicles like the

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Motors ...

and heavier lorries were available on the automobile market. The

Jeeps Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Motor ...

in particular were popular with buyers who used them as utility vehicles. This was also the start of off-roading as a hobby. The wartime

soon wore out, though, and the Jeep company started to produce civilian derivatives, closely followed by similar vehicles from British

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rove ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese Toyota, Datsun/

Nissan , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...

Suzuki is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal co ...

, and Mitsubishi. These were all alike: small, compact, four-wheel-drive vehicles with at most a small hardtop to protect the occupants from the elements. From the 1960s and onward, more comfortable vehicles were produced. For several years, they were popular with rural buyers due to their off-road and load-lugging capabilities. The U.S. Jeep Wagoneer and the Ford Bronco, the British Range Rover, and the

station wagon A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...

-bodied Japanese

Toyota Land Cruiser The (also sometimes spelled as LandCruiser) is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than ...

, Nissan Patrol, and Suzuki Lj's series were all essentially just

bodies on light truck frames with four-wheel-drive drivetrains. Later, during the

1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-16s and McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, F-15s fly over burning o ...

, manufacturers started to add even more luxuries to bring those off-road vehicles on par with regular cars. This eventually evolved into what we call the SUV today. It also evolved into the newer

crossover vehicle A crossover, crossover SUV, or crossover utility vehicle (CUV) is a type of automobile with an increased ride height that is built on unibody chassis construction shared with passenger cars, as opposed to traditional sport utility vehicles (S ...

, where utility and off-road capability was sacrificed for better on-road handling and luxury.

Technical

To be able to drive off the pavement, off-road vehicles need several characteristics: They need to have a low ground pressure, so as not to sink into soft ground, they need ground clearance to not get hung up on obstacles, and they need to keep their

wheels A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to b ...

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

s on the ground so as not to lose traction. Wheeled vehicles accomplish this by having a suitable balance of large or additional tires combined with tall and flexible suspension.

Tracked vehicles Continuous track is a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the weight of the vehicle b ...

accomplish this by having wide tracks and a flexible suspension on the road wheels. ГТ-СМ at Vankorskoe oilfield

The choice of wheels versus tracks is one of cost and suitability. A tracked drivetrain is more expensive to produce and maintain. Wheeled drivetrains are cheaper and give a higher top speed. The tracked drivetrain has greater off-road capability. Tires play a significant role for any off-road vehicle equipped with wheels, as they ensure optimal traction required to keep it moving. The

off-road tire Off-road tires (Off-road tyre) are a category of vehicle tires that use deep tread to provide more traction on unpaved surfaces such as loose dirt, mud, sand, or gravel. Compared to ice or snow tires, they lack studs but contain deeper and wider ...

tread types vary depending on the terrain type. The most common types of off-road tires are A/T (stands for "All Terrain") and M/T (stands for "Mud Terrain"). While the A/T tires perform excellently on the sand, they are barely usable in the mud. There are also unique Sand Blaster and Mud bogging tires used for the most challenging terrains such as dirt, sand and even water to maintain traction at extreme angles and high speeds (off-road

). Most off-road vehicles are fitted with especially low gearing. This allows the operator to make the most of the

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

's available power while moving slowly through challenging terrain. An

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal co ...

coupled to a standard

gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), diff ...

often has an output speed too high. The vehicle often has one of two things, either a very low ("granny") first gear (like the all-wheel drive

Volkswagen Transporter The Volkswagen Transporter, based on the Volkswagen Group's T platform, now in its seventh generation, refers to a series of vans produced for over 70 years and marketed worldwide. The T series is now considered an official Volkswagen Group aut ...

versions) or an additional gearbox in line with the first, called a reduction drive. Some vehicles, like the Bv206 in the picture on the right, also have torque converters to further reduce the gearing. Many wheeled off-road vehicles provide power to all wheels to keep traction on slippery surfaces. For a typical four-wheel vehicle this is known as

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer ca ...

. Vehicles designed for use both on and off-road may be designed to be switched between two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive so that the vehicle uses fewer driven wheels when driven on the road.

Criticism of off-road vehicles

Safety

SUVs are built with higher ground clearance for

off-road Off-roading is the activity of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicl ...

use and thus have a higher

centre of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force may ...

, therefore increasing the risk of rollover. When an SUV turns, the vehicle's mass resists the turn and carries the weight forward, thus allowing the traction from the tires to create a lateral centripetal force as the vehicle continues through the turn. The conflict between the top

weight In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity. Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar qua ...

of the SUV's desire to go straight while the

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction: *Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion of ...

of the

tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...

s on the

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types o ...

cause the bottom of the vehicle to move away and out from under the vehicle during a turn. SUVs are more likely to be in rollover accidents than

passenger cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

. According to a study conducted in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, SUVs have twice the fatality rate of cars and have nearly triple the fatality rate in rollover accidents. Of vehicles in the United States, light trucks (including SUVs) represent 36 percent of all registered vehicles. They are involved in about half of the fatal two-vehicle crashes with passenger cars, and 80 percent of these fatalities are to occupants of the passenger cars.

Environment

In the United States, the number of ORV users since 1972 has climbed sevenfold—from five million to 36 million in 2000. Government policies that protect wilderness but also allow recreational ORV use have been the subject of some debate within the United States and other countries. All trail and off-trail activities impact natural vegetation and wildlife, which can lead to

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is d ...

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, and ultimately

species loss Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

decreasing an

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

's ability to maintain

homeostasis In biology, homeostasis ( British also homoeostasis) (/hɒmɪə(ʊ)ˈsteɪsɪs/) is the state of steady internal, physical, and chemical conditions maintained by living systems. This is the condition of optimal functioning for the organism and ...

. ORV's cause greater stress to the environment than

foot traffic A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with t ...

alone, and ORV operators who attempt to test their vehicles against natural obstacles can do significantly more damage than those who follow legal trails. Illegal use of off-road vehicles has been identified as a serious land management problem ranked with dumping

garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produ ...

and other forms of

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The ter ...

. Many user organizations, such as Tread Lightly! and the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who b ...

, publish and encourage appropriate trail ethics. ORVs have also been criticized for producing more pollution in areas that might normally have none. In addition to

noise pollution Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mai ...

that can cause hearing impairment and stress in wildlife, according to the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

, old-style

two-stroke engines A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

(no longer a component of new off-road vehicles, although some are still in use) "emit about 20 to 33 percent of the consumed fuel through the exhaust" and "discharge from two-stroke snowmobile engines can lead to indirect pollutant deposition into the top layer of snow and subsequently into the associated surface and ground water." In 2002, the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it ...

adopted emissions standards for

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

s that "when fully implemented in 2012... are expected to prevent the release of more than two million tons of

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

each year—the equivalent of removing the pollution from more than 32 million cars every year." File:Motorcycle-Forest-Damage.jpg, Negative environmental effects caused by motorcycles to a portion of the Los Padres National Forest File:Orv-damage.jpg, Negative environmental effects that occurred when off-road vehicle drivers left the posted trail in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Common off-road vehicles

Common commercial off-road vehicles include four-wheel-drive

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

s like the

Ford F-Series The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford since the 1948 model year. Slotted above the Ford Ranger in the Ford truck model range, the F-Series is marketed as a range of full-sized pickup trucks. ...

Chevrolet C/K C/K is a series of trucks that was manufactured by General Motors from the 1960 to 2002 model years. Marketed by both the Chevrolet and GMC divisions, the C/K series encompassed a wide range of vehicles. While most commonly associated with picku ...

, Dodge Ram, and Toyota Tacoma. A number of military vehicles have also seen civilian use, including the

Jeep CJ The Jeep CJ models are a series and a range of small, open-bodied off-road vehicles and compact pickup trucks, built and sold by several successive incarnations of the Jeep automobile marque from 1945 to 1986. The 1945 Willys Jeep was the world ...

and the AM General Hummer. Some, like the early

s, were adapted to military use from civilian specifications. Specialized commonly available off-road vehicles include Utility terrain vehicles (UTVs),

All-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

s (ATVs),

dirt bike The six main types of motorcycles are generally recognized as ''standard'', ''cruiser'', ''touring'', ''sports'', ''off-road'', and ''dual-purpose''. ''Sport touring'' is sometimes recognized as a seventh category or integrated with the ''touring' ...

s, dune buggies, rock crawlers, and sandrails. File:Offroad Jeep 05760 2.jpg,

in action File:Offroadvehicle.JPG, Heavily modified Chevrolet Blazer typical of the United States hobbyist off-roading scene File:Sandrail.JPG, Sandrail at Silver Lake Sand Dunes File:Superjeep,_Reykjavik,_Iceland.jpg, A "Super Jeep", Reykjavik,

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

All-terrain vehicle

Off-road motorcycle

There are various types of off-road motorcycles, also known as dirt bikes, specially designed for off-road events. Compared to road-going motorcycles, off-road machines are simpler and lighter, having long

suspension travel Suspension is the system of tires, tire air, springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels and allows relative motion between the two. Suspension systems must support both road holding/ handling and ride q ...

, high ground clearance, and rugged construction with little bodywork and no fairings for less damage in spills. Wheels (usually 21" front, 18" rear) have knobby tires, often clamped to the rim with a rim lock.

Commercial, military and less common off-road vehicles

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an militaries and utilities have used Land Rover Defenders, Haflingers, Pinzgauers, Volvo L3314, and Mercedes-Benz Unimogs for all-terrain transportation. The Portuguese UMM Alter is less common. The military market for off-road vehicles used to be large, but, since the fall of the Iron Curtain in the 1990s, it has dried up to some extent. The U.S. jeeps, developed during

, coined the word many people use for any type of light off-road vehicle. In the U.S., the Jeeps' successor from the mid 1980s was the AM General

HMMWV The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles previously performed by the ori ...

series. The

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

used the GAZ-61 and GAZ-64 during

. The

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

used the

GAZ-69 The GAZ-69 is a four-wheel drive off-road vehicle produced by GAZ (ГАЗ, or ''Gorkovsky Avtomobilnyi Zavod'', Gorky Automobile Factory) between 1953 and 1956 and then by UAZ, in 1956–1972, though all of these light truck class vehicles were k ...

and UAZ-469 in similar roles. File:Mercedes Benz Unimog Turkey exhibition side.JPG, Unimog at IDEF'07 Arms Fair File:Wojsko Polskie Irak DA-SD-05-12334.JPEG, Two Polish Honkers in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

File:VolvoL3314N.jpg, Volvo L3314N File:Mahindra.jpg,

Mahindra and Mahindra Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing corporation headquartered in Mumbai. It was established in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed and later renamed as Mahindra & Mahindra. Part of the Mahindra Group, ...

Classic used by the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the Land warfare, land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Arm ...

File:ELORV.jpg, Soldiers from the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

test prototype off-road vehicles File:MarshBuggy1928.jpg, Experimental marsh buggy, 1928, stuck in mud File:Bus crossing river (3).jpg, Off-road bus in Iceland

History

Technical

Criticism of off-road vehicles

Safety

Environment

Common off-road vehicles

All-terrain vehicle

Off-road motorcycle

Commercial, military and less common off-road vehicles

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links