The only winter car worth owning.

[George Smolinski]

[Paul Dobbin]

I bet the ride was worse than a snow mobile on packed snow.   No suspension, but fast in fresh snow..

[Pfeil]

And the winner is:

 

TV commercial film for Volkswagen "Snow Plow" 1964

[joe_padavano]

Interesting that the first articles on the Rupp Super Sno Sport claimed 100 mph performance. Later articles said 125 mph. This ad claims 150. The older I get, the faster I was...

 

The engine was a Ford 428.

 

 

And then I found an article that claimed 170 mph. 🙄

 

[Terry Harper]

Opposite end of the spectrum... when your not in a hurry.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by Terry Harper (see edit history)

[TTR]

I disagree.

Like all my “cars”, I prefer 4 wheels year round.

Photo taken few years ago during an actual Sunday drive about  45-50 miles away from home or my my shop. Had chains with me, but didn’t need them.

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by TTR (see edit history)

[Marty Roth]

Back in New Jersey in the 1950s and 1960s,

our '58 Renault Dauphine,

and the '60 Corvair with PowerGlide,

were excellent in the snow-

at least until Christmas eve, 55 years ago.

Driving the Long Island Expressway (Distressway?) on our way home from a cousin's wedding

an out of control truck forced our Corvair deep into a snowbank - too deep to extricate at the time-

and then a snowplow sliced it nearly in half - too badly damaged to try to save it !

 

Years later, driving a Saab Model 93 proved an excellent winter car in NJ, and heading for the ski slopes in NY, Vermont, and New Hampshire

Edited December 19, 2021 by Marty Roth (see edit history)

[1937hd45]

THANK YOU TERRY HARPER !!!!!!!! I had no idea they had steam powered sleds, better yet they were in New England. Merry Christmas!

 

Bob 

[Terry Harper]

31 minutes ago, Marty Roth said:

'60 Corvair with PowerGlide,

were excellent in the snow-

at least until Christmas eve, 55 years ago.

In highschool I had a 67 Corvair sedan with the two speed slush box. I remember having one or two cement blocks in the front for the simple reason  that on occasion the front end would slide up onto a hard drift followed by the rest of the car and then you were stuck. Otherwise it went pretty well. Much better that the 70 Vega (with a V8 stuffed under the hood) I replaced it with.

Edited December 19, 2021 by Terry Harper (see edit history)

[Ed Luddy]

So whatever became of Rupp? I remember the very quick snowmobiles they built in the 70's that broke all the time. Just the same as all the other sled's of the day, but they were faster.

[Graham Man]

My son want one of these...

 

[Terry Harper]

31 minutes ago, Ed Luddy said:

So whatever became of Rupp? I remember the very quick snowmobiles they built in the 70's that broke all the time. Just the same as all the other sled's of the day, but they were faster.

My Dad was a diehard Rupp fan. We owned three at one time and covered thousands of miles every year. We have two of those old Rupps in storage. They were fast and light - at a time when most sleds used a steel chassis Rupp used aluminum. While certainly not comparible to today's sleds, the trailing boggie system Rupp used gave a pretty good ride - but than trail speeds were pretty low back then.  I don't remember them being unreliable and no major issues other than replacing a track every now and again - I don't recall ever breaking down along the trail. The 1973 Sprint I had was my daily driver to school during the winter months. It had a CCW (Canadian Curtis Wright) 340. It was fast for its size and it had distinct howl above about 50 mph. I remember outrunning two game wardens on Chamberlain Lake during a extended multi-day trip - they were less than impressed.

 

I gave up sledding a few years ago. The speeds are just insane and after a few close calls (I remember well a sled going past me in the oposite direction at about head height) I decided that it wasn't relaxing or fun anymore.

 

 

[Bhigdog]

5 hours ago, Terry Harper said:

Opposite end of the spectrum... when your not in a hurry.

 

 

 

 

Yowee! ......I can't imagine what that load weighed. Nothing pulls like steam. And they loaded the sleds by hand with peaveys and cant hooks. Try getting today's kids away from their Game Boys to do that...............Bob

[tomcarnut]

Mickey Rupp, the guy who built the snowmobiles, mini bikes and go carts I believe is still alive and well in Mansfield. The mini bikes are shown fairly often at AACA meets. A couple friends of mine from Mansfield, Ohio but now from South Carolina have a bunch of them. 

[bryankazmer]

14 hours ago, Bhigdog said:

Yowee! ......I can't imagine what that load weighed. Nothing pulls like steam. And they loaded the sleds by hand with peaveys and cant hooks. Try getting today's kids away from their Game Boys to do that...............Bob

for "today's kids", Game Boy is a vintage toy.  Feeling old? 

[J.H.Boland]

The best winter cars of many I've had over the years were front drive Buick LeSabres ca. 1989-96. They have ABS, traction control, great heaters, and with a good set of snow tires will go almost anywhere. All that plus the comfort of your living room sofa !

[TTR]

14 hours ago, Bhigdog said:

Yowee! ......Try getting today's kids away from their Game Boys to do that...............Bob

Well, if they take after their parents or grandparents, perhaps they too eventually graduate (from game consoles) to spending countless hours on internet (forums, etc) or watching (sports or some such nonsense on) TV ? 🙄

[Bhigdog]

1 hour ago, bryankazmer said:

for "today's kids", Game Boy is a vintage toy.  Feeling old? 

I knew that when i wrote it but i care so little about those toys it wasn,t worth my time doing any research on the subject. 

And yes, i am starting to feel old but not because of some slackers choice of method to piss his time away......bob

 

 

[Brass is Best]

22 hours ago, Paul Dobbin said:

I bet the ride was worse than a snow mobile on packed snow.   No suspension, but fast in fresh snow..

It would be fun on a frozen lake. Might be a little hard to ride on a trail though.

[West Peterson]

Who remembers the Brut? Liquid cooled. I believe it was outlawed from the racing circuit. Very first liquid-cooled production snomobile, and the fastest production machine at the time.

A really good friend and AACA member from Minnesota built this company.

[TerryB]

I remember this version 

 

[Guest]

20 hours ago, Bhigdog said:

Yowee! ......I can't imagine what that load weighed. Nothing pulls like steam. And they loaded the sleds by hand with peaveys and cant hooks. Try getting today's kids away from their Game Boys to do that...............Bob

 You can't see the man that does the steering in these photos but he sat right up front over the skis.

 He was the first one to see that it wasn't going to make the next corner going down hill.

 As there were no brakes on the machine, and sometimes the trails were iced. 

 Time to bail out!

[Jim Bollman]

I know of two sets of skis that have survived, no idea how many of this accessory Crosley made.

 

 

[alsancle]

If somebody wants to go dig up the Artic Snow Cruiser for me I'll take it.  Otherwise I'll settle for a Tucker SnowCat.

 

 

[TAKerry]

Holy Behemoth Batman, boy is that thing large!  The bottom one looks like the snow cat in the movie The Shining.

[Terry Harper]

 

 

 

 

And the beast in action. This machine set the record by hauling 296 tons of pulpwood (which translates to 108.5 cords) loaded on 22 sleds. This didn't include the weight of the sleds which can tip the scale at well over 3,000 lbs each.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Terry Harper (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

Thats a lot of wood! Whats the deal with the guys throwing it off the cars? have to say it looks very safe what they are doing.

[Terry Harper]

1 hour ago, TAKerry said:

Thats a lot of wood! Whats the deal with the guys throwing it off the cars? have to say it looks very safe what they are doing.

They were unloading the wood from the sleds onto the ice. This was 5th St John Pond near the Maine/Quebec border. In the spring, after the ice went out, the wood was floated down river (west Branch of the Penobscot) to the Great Norther paper mill in Millinocket Maine. A whole lot of manual labor!

 

the sleds and runners are connected with crossed reach poles. This gives a form of articulated steering the full length of sled train so each sled tracks exactly behind the other.

Edited December 21, 2021 by Terry Harper (see edit history)

[Trulyvintage]

The Model T Haunted Snowmobile

on display at The MTFCA Museum

in Richmond, Indiana … 👻

 

 

It runs & drives & it is most certainly

haunted …. 👺

 

I know because I transported it 

several ago - the haul cost some 💰

 

 

Jim

[Guest]

15 hours ago, alsancle said:

If somebody wants to go dig up the Artic Snow Cruiser for me I'll take it.  Otherwise I'll settle for a Tucker SnowCat.

 

 

I drove a snow cat like this, take my word for it, you don't want to go across an ice patch when going across the hill!

 

 Hint, the grossers go side ways. (and so does the cat!)

[hook]

Oh the hecht with the snow. Let's just plow it out of the way !!!!!!

[West Peterson]

6 hours ago, hook said:

Oh the hecht with the snow. Let's just plow it out of the way !!!!!!

 

I'll see your photoshop Classic snowplow, and raise you a real Classic snow plow.

 

 

[intimeold]

Chrysler Sno-Runner, circa 1980

This is not mine. But I do have a new one, still in the wooden, crate; can't get a good pic of it right now.  Mine is Orange

 

I

[alsancle]

13 minutes ago, intimeold said:

Chrysler Sno-Runner, circa 1980

This is not mine. But I do have a new one, still in the wooden, crate; can't get a good pic of it right now.  Mine is Orange

 

I

 

There seems to be a lot of those NOS around.   I'm assuming it is because they just didn't work very well to begin with?

[avgwarhawk]

 

[Terry Harper]

Patented by Ira Peavey in 1904

 

 

[Terry Harper]

 

 

 

[3macboys]

How about the Bombardier Snow Bus, flathead Chrysler powered.  I remember the local Ontario Provincial Police detachment had one of these for years after the blizzard of 77 I believe and numerous people were stranded on Hwy 401 and could only be reached by private snowmobile.  I don't recall them ever actually using it.

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by 3macboys (see edit history)

[Ozstatman]

1 hour ago, Terry Harper said:

 

 

 

 

Love the Model A wheels driving the track arrangement!

[Pfeil]

No plow, no 1/2 tracks, no sleds. Just a car that will do the job even on the coldest days with a six volt electrical system and in one of the coldest places in the world....The Antarctic