Golden-era snowmobiling, anyone?

[David Conwill]

We've got our traditional pre-Thanksgiving few inches of snow here in West Michigan and coincidentally I just found this image on the HAMB:

It's a 1940s-era midget sprint car converted into a snowmobile. I've always been intrigued by snowmobiles, but really turned off by the way they look and sound (not to mention the aggressive disregard for property lines possessed by some of their owners).

Something like this, though, particularly if powered by an interesting vintage powerplant (Model T 4-cyl? 80ci Indian Motocycle V-twin? Vintage Evinrude outboard?) could persuade me to try snowmobiling out. I can hear my wife groaning now! "Not another hobby..."

-Dave

 

[Tomasso]

Golden-era snowmobiling, anyone?

Love it, one of my favorite Winter outdoor activities.

 

[Mrs. Merl]

Gosh, I could swear one of the skiing flicks (modern) we just saw had vintage snowmobiles in it...I will have to figure out where exactly I saw that...

 

[Fletch]

MUSH! WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF woof woof ...

Uh, snowmobiles. Well, in the GE they were more or less a Canadian phenomenon, specifically in Quebec, where they didn't plow the back roads in winter. Enter J. Armand Bombardier (say bombardyay). He came out with the first practical commercial auto-neige, the 7-passenger B7, in 1937.

By 1942 Armand had created the B12, a regular north-country jitney, with a 12 passenger cabin. It caught on with the Canadian military, public works and postal services.

Of course this doesn't include cars and trucks fitted with skis, such as this Ford T, which resourceful folks had been cobbling up for years previous.

Bombardier today is a massive industrial concern, making railcars and such.