Craig's Snorunner

The Chrysler Snorunner was a single ski, narrow tracked "motorcycle for the snow". They were first produced in May of 1979 and were manufactured at the Chrysler Outboard Marine Division in Hartford, Wisconsin. The Snorunner utilized a134cc. 2 cycle Power bee engine that produced 7hp. It had an integral 90 watt alternator and used a Tillotson 320A carb. Power was transferred via a centrifugal clutch. They had the ability to be broken down in a few short minutes by removing 5 quick disconnect pins for transport in the trunk of a car. They originally sold for $699.00 in 1979. Chrysler sold the Snorunners for three years. In 1981, when Chrysler was in big financial trouble, production was ended for good. The remaining stock was liquidated by COMB liquidators who changed the name to Snorabbit by putting a Snorabbit sticker right over the Snorunner sticker. COMB sold them for $288.00 each in the back of magazines. The remaining parts were also sold. It is believed that there was approx. 28,000 made, we will probably never know.

The Snorunner started as a military vehicle. The Marines wanted a snow vehicle that was light weight and had a range of 30 miles to transport a soldier. They paid Chrysler in 1977 to develop one including all the dies and testing of it. Chrysler came up with the Snorunner. It is said that the military version could go 35mph. Apparently, the military checked it out but decided they didn't want it because it couldn't perform in powder snow. In 1979 Chrysler decided to offer it to public. They first detuned it to make it go slower by adding an extra thick head gasket and a restrictive muffler. There is additional information on the history of Snorunners at sno-runner.com

This is my Snorunner. It is close to 25 years old but is in very nice condition. While I live in New jersey, I have had an interest in snowmobiles for a few years. My brother has a pair of snowmobiles and treated me to a ride during a heavy snow a few years ago. The streets were ours, and it was a blast! From time to time I would surf Ebay Motors looking at snowmobiles, but I knew I would probably not get one because of the fact that you need a place to store them, they require a trailer and a vehicle to pull that trailer etc. One day I saw a Snorunner for sale. This looked like the coolest snow vehicle I had ever seen. It basically is a motorcycle (or minibike) for the snow. I frequently checked for listings for them and this year, I took the plunge. I love this little machine! I immediately upgraded the centrifugal clutch to the 15-pin high performance model. I installed the ultra-thin performance head gasket, and upgraded to the Military grade free-flow exhaust. This brought the power from 7 to 10 horse and added to the top end speed (approx 35 mph). I am almost six feet tall and 190 pounds and this little bugger whips me around and comes back asking for more. I plan to strip it down this Summer and give it a makeover to try to shake that 70's look.

LINKS

Click Here to check out this page by Chad Wells, a fellow Sno-Runner enthusiast. His Sno-Racer is what has inspired me to customize one of my Sno-Runners.

Click Here to go to Sno-Runner.com. I purchased my first Sno-Runner from these guys and they are very reputable.

Right Click Here for a Adobe Acrobat PDF file of the Snorunner Owner's Manual. (select "save target as" to download)

Click Here to see the Sno-Runner kickin a little ass!

Click below to see a cheesy 70's Snorunner promotional film

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