This is, hands down, the best collection of Arctic Cat muscle sleds on the face of the planet. Andy Avelis has not one, but two of my favorite sleds ever - original IFS SnoPro racers from 1977, better known as the "77 and a half" sled. He also has two of my new favorite sleds, original 1974 and 1975 Cat SnoPro's. But that's not all. He's got the nicest original Formula II I've ever seen and the King Kats! My God, you have got to see this guys King Kats!

I was very impressed with not only Andy's collection, but also his restoration work. Andy does all his own work, including the painting. Given the shear volume of sleds in his basement (33 in this house, 4 more in the new house he hopes to retire to in the years to come), and the fact that Andy is a full time Law Enforcement Officer, you have to admire the fact he's finished so many sleds and finished them so well.

A collection like this deserves to be in a museum, and Andy's basement is better then most. It's temperature and humidity controlled to preserve the sleds and prevent rust. They are in a very safe place for now but Andy and his family are soon moving to a new house in the mountains of Maine where they can spend many more months out of the year enjoying the snowmobiling. They spend weekends there right now, and they are in the planning stages for a 28 by 44 addition intended as a playroom/personal museum.

Andy and his dad Andrew Senior started their love affair with Arctic Cat way back in 1968. A friend of the family said he had an air compressor for sale. The two Andy's went to buy it. In the friends garage, they spotted an orange and green thing on a trailer and asked what it was. Turned out to be a 1968 Johnson snowmobile, which sounded like a lot more fun then an air compressor, so they bought it. On their first ride, sparks were flying out from under the machine. When Andy asked his dad if it was supposed to do that, he replied "I don't know I've never ridden one before!"

They took the Johnson to a local lake where other snowmobilers were riding. Of course, when two or more sleds show up on a lake, the racing begins. Andrew Senior got his ass kicked by 399 Arctic Cat Panther. This would not do. Not taking defeat sitting down, Andrew Sr. went right out and bought that machine. A little later, Andy got a brand new in 1971 634 puma with pipes - he was 14 years old. To this day, Andy's father won't stand to have anyone beat him on the lake!

Andy's father also had a 67 Camero and a single place trailer, complete with a very slippery wood surface. One afternoon with the old Johnson, Andy was having trouble getting the sled on the trailer, so he kept using the reverse, going up, then down. His father finally lost his patience, got on, backed the old beast way up, floored it and raced it on to the trailer. Once on the trailer, he hit the brake, but the wet rubber track meeting the wet wooden trailer surface turned the little trailer into a launching pad. The old Johnson wound up in the trunk of the 67 Camero.

Andy has been collecting and restoring vintage sleds since before anyone thought to call them vintage. It's no wonder he has such a nice collection, and such a nice place to store and work on them.

Andy, his father and his wife Cindy all live in a nice house, in a nice nieborhood, where you wouldn't suspect such motorized muscle would be hiding out. One question I had to ask is how his wife puts up with all these sleds in the house. "Mutual lying" replies Andy. "I keep telling her that each sled is absolutely the last one, and she keeps telling me she has a headache" Andy says, chuckling deep enough to rumble the floor.

• 1970 Puma Mod 292
• 1970 Puma Mod 340
• 1970 Panther Mod w/pipes
• 1971 EXT 440
• 1971 EXT Special 292
• (6) 1971 King Kat four cylinder 800s
• (2) 1971 King Kat three cylinder 793s
• 1971 Puma 634
• 1970 Puma 793
• 1972 Turf Tiger 340
• 1972 Turf Tiger 440
• 1972 Kitty Cat
• 1972 Puma 440 (original owner)
• 1972 EXT 290
• 1972 EXT 440 triple
• 1973 Kitty Cat
• (2) 1973 Formula IIs
• 1973 EXT 650 (Abold / Porter style)
• 1973 EXT 650
• 1973 EXT 340
• 1974 SnoPro 650
• 1975 Z 440
• 1975 SnoPro 650
• 1976 SnoPro 440
• 1977 Z 440
• 1977 SnoPro 440
• 1977.5 SnoPro 250
• 1977.5 SnoPro 440
• 2 Cat Cutters