All Terrain Surface Exploration Vehicle
Web site by: Phil Broad

Studio Miniature: These are photos of the "hero" miniature taken at the 1984 Worldcon science fiction convention and later at a Hollywood Prop company.

The Full Scale Chariot:  A small selection of stills of the full size prop.

The Thiokol Snow-Cat:  These are details of the working chassis the Chariot was based on.

Links to other LIS Sites:  These are a few of the many excellent pages to be found on the subject of Lost in Space.

Surface Exploration

Created to provide the crew of the Jupiter II with all terrain transport, the "Chariot" was the real work horse of the expedition once the mission had landed.  Designed to be collapsible (similar to the later real life Lunar Rover), the Chariot could provide transport over most geological surfaces and was even amphibious.  The "Chariot" was one of those few props in Hollywood which actually worked in real life.  It was a tracked vehicle which was built on a Thiokol snow-cat chassis and because of that, it could really be driven across most landscapes.   The snow-cat features a manual transmission with a stick and two vertical handles instead of a steering wheel which are used to control left or right braking systems.  Although it was never used in the snow it would have been right at home there, instead it typically made its way past and around the "Pinnacles", a geological formation found in the desert about two hundred miles north of Los Angeles.  I believe that it is because of the fact that the Chariot "really worked" that made it so popular with the fans.  Some years after the show was canceled the Chariot was sold back the ski resort where the chassis had originally been purchased then the body was removed and abandoned (the working "snow-cat" returned to its real purpose).  Many years later "Lost in Space" fan Chris Tietz found the body rusting away with most of the plexiglass broken out and decided to save it.  He successfully negotiated to purchase the derelict and have it moved to his house in the San Fernando valley, north of Hollywood.  Hopefully a fully restored "Chariot" will be seen at local conventions and car shows in the near future.  If it does, pictures will be posted here.  Stay tuned...

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