Three independent drive sources running from a gasoline power plant. Uses semi truck parts in the drive train. Can operate with the front or rear wheel trinary out of commission. Side and top hatches on the main unit and rear and top on the after section. Full running lights and brake lights for urban street use. External video camera is mounted on the forward pylon located just behind the front top hatch. Could also house the antenna. All pylons are hardened and armored. Can operate in water and will remain sealed when fully submerged. Can float while half full of water.
By Jack Scagnetti
From the March, 1977 issue of Popular Science.
One of the largest and most ingenious vehicles ever built to perform in a motion picture will play a leading role in the sci-fi thriller Damnation Alley, a Twentieth Century Fox film.
The Land Master, an 11 ton, 35-foot-long military machine, is used to transport survivors of a nuclear war eastward from Arizona in search of other humans. In an attempt to reach the East Cost, where they think some remnants of civilization may exist, they battle a continent ravaged by the holocaust and bombarded by freak weather conditions in which only a special all terrain vehicle such as the Land Master can maneuver.
The Land Master was build by Dean Jeffries of Studio City, California, based on the patented invention of Robert W. Forsyth and John P. Forsyth, of the Vehicle Development Corporation. Its most outstanding feature is a system of 12 wheels arranged in triangular sets that enable the machine to run easily through sand, mud, and water. The triangular wheel assembly, gear driven at all times, operates with two wheels on the ground and one above. If the Land Master hits a rock or a hole, the top wheel rotates into position to force the Land Master over or through the obstacle. Highly maneuverable, the vehicle can turn at 30 degrees and make a complete circle in 35 feet. Farm equipment tires, 38 inches in diameter and 24 inches wide, are mounted on special 16.1-inch wheels.
The body is build of steel, sheet metal, and aluminum. "On a high speed run of 55 mph, with a 25 foot drop, the Land Master suffered no damage." Jeffries said.
All doors are weather stripped, and the lower part of the machine is waterproofed with a sealer similar to undercoating. In one scene, the Land Master floats across Flat Head Lake, Montana.
Mounted on the Land Master are six cannons operated by remote control, and a pair of armor piercing bazookas. The vehicle is equipped with closed-circuit television, a radar scanner, two bunk beds, shower and bathroom.
Powering the huge machine is Ford 391-cubic-inch industrial truck engine equipped with special headers by Cragar and an intake manifold by Edelbrock.
Jeffries said that it took his shop nearly three months to build the Land Master -- "the biggest and toughest challenge" of the car builder's long career. His most difficult project before that was the moon vehicle used a few years ago in the James Bond thriller, Diamonds Are Forever.
If you think a Land Master might come in handy and wonder about its
cost, Jeffries would only say that it was in the six figure category.