Nicknamed "Big Bertha", The Snow Cruiser was a giant Antarctic vehicle that carried a Beechcraft Staggerwing scout plane on its back. Designed to roll across the uncharted ice fields and climb polar mountains on ten-foot-tires., The Snow Cruiser measured better than 55 feet long, 20 feet wide, 15 feet high, and weighted 75,000 pounds when fully equipped. The giant was equipped with modern living features similar to a current motor home and could carry four crew members in comfort

Designed for use by the U.S. Antarctic service, "Big Bertha" was the brainchild of Dr. Thomas C. Poulter, then scientific director for the Armour Institute of Technology. The vehicle had an all-steel framework sheathed in a steel skin. The bottom was made of 16-gauge welded directly to the I-beam framework, which protruded to act as runners. Fourteen-gauge was used for the curved ends and 28-gauge was used on the sides.

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