UP, OVER AND DOWN INTO A SAND BOWL: Wind forms sand into tall dunes but also scoops out hollows which can be more than 100-feet deep. Some dune bugs could climb straight up and out; others couldn't, so it was a matter of roundy-round side-hilling and letting centrifugal force lend a hand as they spiraled up and out. Either way was fun.

It can be successfully argued that the birth of the automobile and the dawn of off-roading were simultaneous. In the 1890s, when the first car chugged to life, it had nowhere to go except on unpaved roads. To be sure, there were bits of paving in some cities, but horseless carriages frightened people, so–by proclamation–early motorists kept to rural byways which were, of course, dirt.

By the 1920s, the automobile was growing up and better roads were taking much of the adventure out of driving. Some brave souls even tackled deserts once they learned that fat tires would bring relatively safe driving where average vehicles dared not tread. People began off-roading as prospectors, while adventurers and hobbyists learned to use vehicles for roadless travel. Off-road racing, sand drags, rock crawling and other modern forms of motorized mayhem were unheard of before World War II. Skidplates, brush guards, lift kits and other off-road items lay far in the future. And people didn't speak in terms of ground clearance, breakover angles or overhang. But all this would change once the war was over and our GIs returned home safely.

WHEEL TRAVEL?: Early Fords used a transverse spring on a solid front axle that twisted on its center mount, unhindered by shocks. Another benefit of the Ford suspension system meant there was no need for the frame to extend beyond the axles, shortening overall length and reducing weight.