I learned to drive in snow way back in 1984 using a car just like this:
That is a 1969 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. It had a 472 cubic inch engine, rear wheel drive, and a solid rear axle. It weighed in at ~4600lbs with no posi-traction system. This car was a beast. We also never put an extra weight in the back of this car.
Using only this car and my father's instructions, I managed to navigate our un-plowed, un-salted, un-sanded dirt roads when they snow-packed and iced up in the winter. I learned exactly how to take a hill that had turned into an ice sheet and just putt-putt my way up it with no slipping or spinning using only the all-weather tires that we had put on the car.
So when I see the local drivers packed with fear using their front-wheel-drive ABS-equipped cars to drive down a relatively clear freeway I must scoff.
Dear SUV driver going 5mph on a clear street and dear wanna-be redneck with the large wheels who's now in the ditch.