I had a lot of fun researching vehicles for the book. I started by Googling things like “Russian 4×4” or “Czech 4×4”. As is normally the case with Google searches and late nights, you start down the rabbit hole of searches that lead to searches until you forget what you were looking for. I also searched the same topics in YouTube to see these vehicles in action. After getting some ideas about vehicles, I needed to decide if the vehicle would be gas or diesel and what attributes it had. To make the experience more realistic I often tried to discover the information as my characters would. I chose the vehicle from a video. That set the appearance and features. As I discovered if that vehicle came with a diesel or gas engine, my characters discovered it at the same time and, together, we had to adapt and overcome. Griff and I both went looking for where the batteries are stored in the UAZ. Through lots of photo searches we would find the batteries lived behind the driver’s seat. This also means that I did not necessarily have all the details worked out as we started down a path, much like the real situations of engineering.
The challenge that I had was to figure out how much detail of my research to include. I studied the transmission, articulating wheelbase, engine placement, weight, dimensions, and even the sound of the engine, brakes, and horn so that I could most realistically share that in the book. Just for fun I have included several of my favorite videos of the Tatra series of trucks.