Old Sled Zone

Welcome to the wonderful world of vintage snowmobiles

It's sometimes unfathomable the changes that have occurred in the snowmobiling industry since the first sleds came out. Snow machines have evolved from pretty basic models to today's highly specialized units carefully designed for particular terrain and purpose. For many sledders, there is great nostalgia in those early snowmobiles, and older riders have fond memories of family time on sleds when they were young. That evocation of times gone by seems to be, at least in part, why we find the value in vintage snowmobiles and love to see them brought back to good-as-new condition.

A partially restored John Deere 295/S snowmobile.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: Inside the restoration project — 1974 John Deere 295/S

As you can see from this series of photos, Samek is well on his way to restoring this old John Deere to its former glory.

Person sitting on a Snow Cruiser sled.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: A second 1960’s Snow Cruiser

The Snow Cruiser was built by Outboard Marine Corporation of Peterborough, Ontario.

Vintage snowmobiles at the Vintage Snowmobile Show in Saskatchewan.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: Rare 1968 “Sail Master” Snowmobile & Top 10 Photos from the Saskatchewan Vintage Show

Thanks goes out to our go-to-vintage-sled guy, Sid Samek, who attended the Vintage Snowmobile Show held in Regina, Saskatchewan last weekend.

A vintage baby-blue Snow Cruiser, spotted at the Cranbrook Snowmobile Club's annual Show-and-Shine.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone — 1960’s Snow Cruiser

Snow Cruiser exclusively sold snowmobiles in Canada from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s.

A nicely restored John Deere 340, restored by Sid Samek of Manning, Alberta.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: 1970’s John Deere 340

Well-known for their production of agricultural and lawn care equipment, John Deere also ventured into the snowmobile industry in the 1970s and '80s.

Calvin Robinson with his 1970 Sno-Jet Super Sport.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: Vegreville Antique Snowmobile Show & Shine

Billed as the Vegreville “Father's Day” event, this show and shine meet attracts a big and enthusiast crowd — from near and far — to view all things motorized.

An Alouette Brute Junior 295, owned by sled enthusiast Sid Samek.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: 1972 Alouette Brute Junior + Super Brute 295 & 440

Alouette Brute snowmobiles continue to be a popular choice with collectors and sled enthusiasts.

Side view of sled, painted black and red.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: An original, early concept 1997 custom-built mountain sled

Cam Webber, a Sparwood, B.C. resident, built his own vision of a mountain sled in his shop.

A vintage Mercury sled and a Ski-Whiz sled.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: 1970’s Ski-Whiz and Mercury

Our vintage snowmobiling collecting friend from Kamloops, Murray Willis, has another couple of stories to share with us about his vintage collection.

Bright yellow tin cab Ski-Doo.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: 1960 Tin Cab Ski-Doo (A lost and found story)

The 1960 Tin Cab Ski-Doo is a rarity - only 225 models came off the production line.

A backyard full of snowmobiles.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: 1970’s Mercury Snowmobile & a backyard of vintage sleds

It's not too often you see an urban backyard with such an impressive line-up of old sleds like this one has.

A vintage Sno-Jet sled, powder blue in colour.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: 1973 Sno-Jet 338

Sno-Jets were produced from 1965 until 1980 by Quebec-based Sno-Jet Industries, eventually becoming a division of Kawasaki Motors.

A cool powder-blue Snow Cruiser.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: OMC Snow Cruiser

Snow Cruiser exclusively sold snowmobiles in Canada from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s.

Burnt sleds and ATV's sitting outside a business.
Old Sled Zone, Montana

Old Sled Zone: 1975 Ski-Doo 340 survives shop torching

A devastating fire leaves a Montana business reeling.

An orange Moto Ski Zephyr with a light blue seat.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone—1968/69? Moto Ski Zephyr

The Moto-Ski company of La Pocatière, Québec, Canada was purchased in 1971 by Bombardier. The last year of production was 1985.

Ray Kelly's pristine condition Scorpion Mark III - 300 model sled.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: 1969 “Tear-Drop” Scorpion Mark III – 300 model

At this year’s Cranbrook Snowmobile Club event, Ray and his buddies brought out some of their vintage snowmobiles for the annual Show and Shine.

Picture of a Double Eagle Raider snowmobile.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: 1970’s Double Eagle Raider

The invention and brainchild of Bob Bracey, these innovative snowmobiles were definitely ahead of their time

Here is a Skiroule S-400, sitting on the trailside.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: 1970’s Skiroule S-400

Skiroule had a short and colourful existence in the snowmobile world, though the machines remain a popular collector’s item with old snowmobile lovers today.

A complex and unique snowmobile.
Old Sled Zone

Vintage Snowmobile: ‘Rube Goldberg’—Moto-Ski GPS model

A record number of old and antique snowmobiles were on display at this year's vintage rally, held by the Cranbrook Snowmobile Club.

Flipping an old Yamaha Bravo.
Old Sled Zone

Old Sled Zone: Vintage Yamaha Bravo - back flip

You don’t often think of vintage snowmobiles and backflips in the same sentence, but a rider named Chris from Thompson, Manitoba has changed that