What is a AATV? It's History? What is ROUTE6x6, Who is behind ROUTE6x6??????????????

The 6x6 ATV is a unique vehicle with an interesting history, an unusual demise and one that is making a surprising revival.

The 6x6 was developed in the early 60's and quickly became popular in both the US and Canada. By 1970 there were almost 60 companies producing amphibious 6x6 vehicles. There was even a professional racing association dedicated to the 6x6 which held numerous competions across the country. The 6x6 was almost a decade old and had firmly established itself as a popular vehicle to enthusiasts and professionals worldwide. Sears-Roebuck even sold their own model. Earning it's own classification and even coining the term ATV (all-terrain vehicle), the 6x6 seemed to have a bright future in the early 70's. Then three items turned the 6x6 industry on it's head: the Arab oil embargo that created the "energy crisis", the introduction of a new 3-wheel vehicle by Honda and the biggest item was the fact many of these new companys were building and selling inferior and poorly enginerred machines, this in turn gave the industry a poor reputation.

The energy crisis took it toll on many vehicle companies, but the hardest hit were manufacturers of recreational vehicles, like motor homes and 6x6 ATVs. New sales plummeted as Americans and Canadians tightened their collective belts. The nail in the coffin for the 6x6 ATV industry, however, came from overseas. Honda Motor Company introduced their 3-wheel "ATC" which sold for a mere $800. Compared to the 6x6 ATV, which had an average price of $1500, Honda had cornered the market by introducing a product that was well below the magic $1000 line. Within a few short years, most of the 6x6 companies had closed their doors forever. Never in the history of the motorized vehicle has a successful design disappeared in the fashion in which the 6x6 industry vanished.

Between 1975 and 1993, little happened in the 6x6 industry. The four surviving companies, Ontario Drive & Gear, Recreatives Industries, Attex and Hustler continued to offer their vehicles, upgrade their equipment and introduce some new models. Attex and Hustler eventually folded in the mid-eighties, leaving only the Argo and Max as the surviving major players of the 6x6 industry. The 3-wheel Honda heralded a new generation of Quad ATVs which has since dominated the industry for the past twenty years. Then starting sometime in 1995, something interesting happened: Quad ATV sales seemed to reach their peak and many people began to look for the next thing in ATVs. A whole generation of people now exist that have never seen a 6x6 and whom are fascinated by this "new" vehicle. This is easily demonstrable. It happens every time I take out my All Terrain Vehicle. People point. People smile. People ask questions and they want to try it. Quads are so common, people don't notice them. 6x6's are so far out, that they are in again.

The future looks bright for the 6x6. A new company in Canada called Triton has introduced a new 8x8 called the Predator. Hydrotrax is a new company doing well. Rumors claim that a company has purchased the tooling from Attex intent on reintroducing that line. Meanwhile, Max and Argo sales are better than ever. Maybe we'll see the races come back...

This site was created as the fruit of my frustration in trying to find information about the history of the 6x6 and its present state and offerings. Other than the Recreatives Industries site and the Argo site, there is NOTHING on the internet concerning six and eight-wheel ATVs (if you know of any other sites related to these vehicles, please let me know). Some of the things I hope this site will accomplish are:

• Letting others know these cool vehicles exist.
• Providing general and technical information on 6x6 vehicles.
• Establishing a rider's club for organizing group trips.
• Create a classified section for used 6x6 ATVs and parts.
• Provide links to related sites.
• Keep everyone in touch with each other no matter which machine they have.

If you have any questions about 6x6 vehicles, send me a note and I'll try to answer. If you have any information, pictures or links related to 6x6 ATVs, please let me know. I'd like to add more information to this site. If you have interesting articles, pictures or ideas for ROUTE6x6. You can reach me by clicking here.

Thanks for visiting and welcome to Route 6x6!

Richard Clark
812-944-1643 12 noon-6 pm EST Weekdays Only
Southern Indiana

ROUTE6x6 is owned, served and provided by Richard Clark for all to enjoy, with NO POP-UPS, NO EMAIL
SPAM, and your email address is NEVER provided to others. PHOTO CLASSIFED AD are prepaid, the DISCUSSION
BOARD is free and moderated to keep it clean for all to enjoy.

I do have a section called PARTS FOR ATV'S in which I have available the worlds largest inventory of new, used and
reproduction AATV parts.

Thanks and enjoy ROUTE6x6

Richard Clark: Editor and Owner
Pete Cagle: ROUTE6x6 Discussion Board moderator
Richard Cherwak: Classified ad manager
Debbie Kaufmann: Adminstration

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