These 2 were at a swap fair I stopped in at. The yellow one has climbed Mt Washington. Interesting concept. Look carefully and you'll see 2 long skis that run along both sides as well as the 2 front skis to steer (sorta) it. It has a winch at the rear that lifts the entire engine/track system up and down between those long skis, to put the down pressure you need on different snow conditions. Cool.
Wish they'd had the Autoboggan out on the lawn so I could get a better look at it. Would like to see it on snow someday. It was in amazing like new shape. The ride up My Washington would have been crazy enough... sliding that DOWN the mountain... just plain wow...
I'm all about old snow machines.....just picked up two more of them at the GTG last week (Pete brought them in from Michigan for me). Thanks for sharing the pics with us Stinny.....
One guy had an ole Rupp machine there, he wanted $1900 for! Do they get that kind of money for older "antique" sleds?
In some cases they can get a LOT more. I know the mid 70's Rupp Nitro F/A, in good condition, goes for some BIG bucks. Some of the old racing Chaparrals, Rupps, Polaris and Arctic Cat sleds can bring big money. There is a whole culture of vintage sled enthusiasts out there....
Looks like an ammo can on the ski next to the gas can on the autoboggan. Nice vintage machines there.
There is a guy in town that has a big garage ( or small arena) full of sleds with a few on a trailer outside. I would love to get in there to see them all.
I don't know. I looked all around when I was there, but no one was near this trailer. It could be one of a kind... who knows. I thought the idea of being able to raise and lower the track/w engine's weight vs those outside skis, was very clever. I'll bet if it got stuck, that one little feature could come in mighty handy getting it unstuck. Can you imagine a modern machine today? Get it mired in deep snow... get off... crank that rear winch... and lift the whole thing (just about) up enough to put whatever you needed under it to get it out of the hole. I know today... most riders don't even know what deep snow looks like from riding on groomed trails all the time. Showin' my age agin...
Some of those old sleds go for crazy money, especially if they are in good shape. There is a club in northern Michigan that goes on antique snowmobile rides in the winter. You'll see a bit of everything when they are on the trails. I always wanted an old Allouette. I saw one at a show years back and it didn't look like a machine from the 70s. http://www.snowmobile.com/manufacturers/others/1975-alouette-super-brute-795.html I used to have a 76 Arctic Cat El Tigre. 440 free air. It's was pretty fast, and you could always find your way back from the carbon on the trail due to the 20:1 mix that it specified. The engine eventually got tired and it got rolled one too many times. It went to the salvage yard sometime around 2001. Someday I need to pick up something to ride around the orchards and cornfields with.
My boys always had an old sled or two around here. We live next to the power lines so they could ride for miles without problems. Only thing was, these machines were broken more often than fixed. I was so glad when they sold them for newer ones that were dependable. They still have snow sleds, but no longer feel they have to be the fastest thing on the trails.
In the early 70s, my friends and I all had old used sleds and we rode all over with them. No groomed trails, just dragged, sometimes. Scorpion, SnoJet, Skidoo, Arctic Cat, Polaris, Motoski... tinkering and riding all winter long. Lotta fun.
