Gearheads are firing up the way-back machines during vintage snowmobile racing this weekend, with nostalgic owners clawing through snow on classic machines.
Hundreds of riders and spectators gathered Saturday for the first of two days of vintage snowmobile racing during the Lancaster Grand Prix in the White Mountains.
The machines are underpowered and clumsy compared to today’s sleek, high-powered machines. Many date to the dawn of recreational snowmobiling, which became popular in the 1950s and 60s.
“It’s 10 years older than me,” joked Craig Pothier, of New Boston who entered a 23-horsepower, 1973 Arctic Cat Lynx in the competition.
About two dozen vintage snowmobile races are held across the nation’s northern tier each year, with most of the machines built before 1985, said Ed Stabb, from Northern New York Vintage Snowmobile Racing, which administered the weekend race in Lancaster.
There are also hundreds of smaller “backyard” events each year, said Todd Achterberg, president of International Snowmobile Racing in Eagle River, Wisc.
The events represent a mix of noisy engines and nostalgia, exhaust and excitement, bringing operators and spectators back to the old days.
“To see these old sleds go out there and race brings back a good time in their life, brings back a good memory,” Stabb said.
The oldest machines are in the “bomber class.” They were built in 1974 or earlier. “You found it in the barn, you brought it out and raced it,” said Shane Beattie, an official with the Lancaster Snow Drifters, the snowmobile club that puts on the event.
Achterberg says vintage racing is relatively inexpensive, and that’s part of the appeal.
Pothier, for example, said he has about $1,800 invested in the machine and picked the bomber class because it is a relatively cheap way to have fun with the family. Four generations of Pothiers were racing.
The youngest was his 10-year-old son.
“It’s really fun,” said Pothier’s son, Carter. “You get to enjoy the nice day outside.”