1965 Polaris Factory Racer

How rare can you get? This one of a kind beauty was built by the Polaris factory in the fall of 1964, and is literally the first Polaris "factory" racer.

The History:
It was built by Orman Johnson and Bob Eastman, with Polaris founder Allen Hetten helping out. It may also be the first water cooled engine mounted in a snowmobile. The motor (still the original motor) can't be dated exactly, but it's probably prior to 1965. It is a Mercury 50 horse 4 cylinder outboard. A battery was placed under the rear trunk for the electric start and the hood scoop was created to fit the radiator. The sled even had reverse, by pulling a lever, thus changing the position of magneto.

But this sled was built for a single purpose: race to win.

Allen Hetten, one of the cofounders of Polaris on the 65 racer after winning at the historic Beausejour, Manitoba track.

Bob Eastman got a good look at it prior to restoration. He recalled many, many details about the sled, including the day they finally got it to run. "It was late at night, around 10:00." According to the 1973 World Champion, "It took us several days to get the thing to start. When it finally did, we were so excited, we had to try it, no matter the time!"

A carefully placed phone call to the Roseau Sheriff got the road closed in front of the plant so they could try it out. "It went 65 Miles Per Hour! We couldn't believe we could go that fast on a snowmobile!"

Bob also personally guaranteed all the welds on the sled (except for some goofy ones added later on the skis), as he had welded the sled up himself all those years ago.

The sled was raced by Allen Hetten and he won the 1965 Canadian Power Toboggan Championship with it. In an article from the local paper, the story is told that Allen was actually ill that day from the flu. But that would not stop him from racing. Just a few laps into the race, he wanted to quit as the sled was more then a little difficult to turn, and he did not feel well. When he looked behind him and realized he was in first, well, he figured he couldn't quit just then. You can actually see how tired he is in the photo. There is also a picture of the sled in Bill Vint's classic book "The Warriors of Winter".

Later the sled was "dolled up" with Camaro parts and used as a parade vehicle in Roseau Snomocade celebrations. It just seemed to disappear after that. No one thought about it much until Jim Strandlund found it.

This is how Jim found it. It had been "dolled up" up for parades, complete with Chevy Camaro parts.

The Recovery:
Jim was trying to get a rare poster from an acquaintance. While chatting with the gentleman, he mentioned to the owner of the poster that he was always looked for rare, oddball Polaris. "I have one" the man said. They strolled out behind the mans shop, and there, in the weeds was the 1965 racer. At the time Jim wasn't sure what it was - but with that motor in it, it had to be something.

Seek and Ye Shall Find.

The man explained that his partner got the sled originally, but does not remember where. But there it was, right in Jim's back yard, within 40 miles of his home. A deal was made and like that, Jim had a very special rarebird to ad to his collection of super rare sleds, like the only 1974 Arctic Cat SnoPro twin track still being restored.

Chris Callender in one of this years funniest photos. Chris just crawled inside the track to work on re-reviteing it.

The Restoration:
The hood was remade from an NOS hood Jim found in New Hampshire, as the old scoop had been cut off over the years. Jim hunted down several photos, and recruited Tracy Krueger to assist in the remake of the hood. Jim and super-guy Chris Callender did the teardown. She was sandblasted, rewelded, and repainted by this dynamic duo. Jim made the windshield. The headlight was rechromed, and the seat was mostly reused.

Chris Callender and Jim Strandlund with the plaque from the Polaris 50th display.

The "Outings":
The sleds made it's debut at the big 50th Polaris Anniversary in Roseau in June, then the 2nd celebration in St. Paul in July. Jim will make the sleds driving debut (yes the motor runs!) this winter at the big Waconia show.

Jim would like to thank the people that helped - and hopes he didn't forget anyone!
Jerry Schenk, David Johnson, Orman Johnson, Aaron Johnson, Mike Hetten, Bob Eastman, Bruce Monsrud, Dale Neducheck (photos) and the really GREAT help he got from Chris and his sexy live in cleaning lady Kari Strandlund for letting allowing boys play in the garage so much.

Note the spiffy chaincase.	That's a Merc liquid cooled marine motor stuffed into that baby - the original motor.