
Based on what I'm hearing from people who are going to Arctic Cat's 50th Anniversary party, there are going to be hundreds of drop-dead-gorgeous Arctic Cat machines on display, like this 1971 634 Puma Mod from the Ische family collection.

Tom Ische and his family will bring MANY extraordinary machines, perhaps like this 1970 793 Panther with the big triple.

I snapped this shot of Kirk Hibbert a mile before the finish line of the 1990 Jeep 500 cross-country, which he won in stunning fashion aboard his 1990 EXT Special. Kirk will be at the 50th, along with this very EXT Special and perhaps his '93 I-500 winning ZR.
In fact, the Hibbert family will have a very cool display of this stuff and historical artifacts from Tucker's career. Tucker will be there, of course, and he's mentioned some sweet interactive displays as well.

How about this: Tom Rowland is planning to bring more than 60 machines, many of which are some of the most historic sleds in company history, such as his collection of 1982 Cats.

He's also bringing this early-build 1985 El Tigre, the first of the AFS Cats.

And he'll have his collection of Firecat prototypes, including this late-generation proto.

P.J. Wanderscheid and the Wanderscheid Racing/Country Cat crew will be there, along with many of P.J.'s World Championship-winning oval sleds.

And with a recent shipment of decals from Action Graphics, you can be sure you'll see plent of ArcticInsider decals throughout TRF that weekend.

In fact, check the bumper of your truck before leaving town.
Comments (11):
Todd Ulschmid says:
6/9/2011 12:25:00 PM
Dang, sure wish I could make the pilgrimage up to TRF for this celebration. Hey John, I'll definitely need a few new AI decals for the sled. Ah, I'll assume I get a renewal of my sponsorship contract for next snow season? LOL! Interesting tag line....
Akrider says:
6/9/2011 7:04:00 PM
Nice pictures of the older sleds!
John Zanon says:
6/9/2011 9:10:00 PM
"Can they squeeze all this into one weekend, and all the displays might cover the whole state!"
s.t.i.c.s.9 says:
6/9/2011 9:17:00 PM
Do you have any A/I stickers with the catch phrase, "HOLD MY BEER WHILE I SHOW THOSE YOUNG PUNKS HOW IT'S DONE"?
John Sandberg says:
6/10/2011 7:47:00 AM
Todd: I'll have the contract drawn up and sent to your lawyers.
s.t.i.c.s.9: Great idea, I will use that for the gen-5 decal slogan. Or maybe just "Here, Hold My Beer."
Tom Rowland says:
6/12/2011 2:58:00 PM
Am really looking forward to the 50th celebration. Included in the sleds that I am bringing to the 50th are also some sleds of Eric Bergstrom's and also Aaron Scheele's. All combined...we will have the 7th sled produced in the fall of 1961, the 2nd-to-the-top-finishing Arctic Cat from the 2011 Winter X Games, and a whole lot more in between all of those 50 years. Utility vehicles, vintage race sleds, modern race sleds, trail sleds like we grew up with, experimentals, concepts and more. Many sleds we are bringing are not rare at all, and are really pretty common, they just rekindle fond memories from the past. Needless to say, I have been spending some of my spare time recently cleaning some sleds, painting some skis, etc, etc. Is going to be fun to show our sleds for sure, but, will be even more fun to look at what everyone else is displaying and mingling among a few thousand other fellow Cat fans for 48 hours straight!
Ryan Greening says:
6/13/2011 9:49:00 AM
John, saw your name on the results list for the last round of the mnmtb series. Will you be at afton alps? Let me know, I'm just getting into this MTB thing, hoping it will help with my entrance to the Pro class in USCC this coming winter. Hope to see a familiar face there!
#432
Joe Rainville says:
6/13/2011 8:27:00 PM
John,
Can't wait to see all the cool sleds on display! I am working feaverishly on a prototype racer...err...I mean I am calling Tom Rowland to see how he is doing working on my Cat.
I hope having a Cat on display doesn't ruin my Deere reputation, better put Cari's name on it instead, LOL! I even found an old "ZR Sno Pro" hat to wear as part of my disguise incase I retire my JD garb for the weekend:>)
See you there!
-Joe Rainville
Cat House says:
6/14/2011 11:18:00 PM
I sure hope they have some 580s there!
George Mikulski PhD says:
1/19/2012 12:33:00 PM
Anyone have a 634 puma for sale?
George Mikulski PhD says:
1/19/2012 12:34:00 PM
Looking for a 634 puma. 443-994-9720 doctorgrm@usa.net