The Sweden Snopro Caper – Elsner’s #4 comes back home!

Team Arctic legend Jim Dimmerman has discovered the original snowmobile once raced by his teammate, Bob Elsner. Here’s the incredible story, told by Jim Dimmerman himself.

47 years ago, in 1978, Sno Pro went to Scandinavia. The concept was actually from a promoter, Chuck Rencurrel from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Chuck brainstormed this idea to introduce an exciting new winter sport to Sweden & Finland. Professional snowmobile oval racing. He was already a race promoter in Michigan and the owner of Kalamazoo Engineering, manufacturing snowmobile performance and traction products.

Snowmobiling in Scandinavia so far was mainly a utilitarian sport. The big 4 snowmobile manufacturers all had distribution there. Bringing performance machines and a show certainly had the potential to sell aftermarket performance products.

In Chuck’s case traction products..He pitched a partnership with the factories. He also concocted a points earned scheme with the independent teams so they could attend as well. Races were scheduled in Umea and Ostersund Sweden and a final race on the tour in Rovenimi Finland.

US-made snowmobiles were becoming a thing in Scandinavia. As manufacturers, Skidoo, Arctic Cat, and Scorpion seized an opportunity in marketing. It was a big hit introducing Snopro to a budding new market!

Arctic Cat brought four 1978 Snopro sleds with (2) 340 & (2) 440cc. The plan for all this was coordinated with the Swedish AC distributor AKTIV. This distributor (owned by Bob Persson) had already started the wheel in motion for Sweden to continue with a Scandinavian Snopro circuit after the unveiling we gave.

Arctic Thief River made a deal with this distributor to receive the 4 machines we brought and to keep them after we were done. The distributor announced its newly formed racing team, ”Team Aktiv”.

Unfortunately, the deal fell apart about 3 years later. Arctic Cat had filed for bankruptcy in 1981, and the flow of machines and parts stopped. The Scandinavian circuit pretty much dwindled to a stop by the mid-80s. Most of these sleds were cannibalized and used up, and the pieces that were left simply got tossed out for scrap.

A few survivors were around, usually collecting dust in the corners of barns. That’s where this one came from!

In 2016, I received an email from Sweden from Erik Sandstrom. I didn’t know Erik at all, but his questions were about an Arctic Snopro. Then he told me a little story about a strange machine he had just bought and traveled some 6 hours to get it. I replied back that this sled was a 1978 and I would like a little walk-around video of the machine. I told him that the factory sleds had several very special, very specific parts on them.

I would be able to verify very quickly if I could see them. He sent me the video. I was in awe! Yes, this was an unmistakable our factory snopro. It was in very rough shape. Through the dust, I saw a very special old warrior sitting there, and I knew I wanted it back home. And the saga began…

I asked Erik to give me any story he had found out about its history there, and he shared what he knew. This was Erik’s email to me:

“When the American Arctic Cat team left Sweden after the races here back in the season of 1978, they left 4 sleds. 2x340cc & 2x440cc, all driven by Arctics aces Jim Dimmerman and Bob Elsner. The 340 this story is about was driven by Bobby Elsner. The Swedish general distributor Aktiv and its CEO Bob Persson bought all 4 sleds and resold them to Swedish racers. A young student named Dag von Gegerfeldt from Ljusdal in Härjedalen bought this machine after selling some old motorcycles and other stuff, the last bucks required he borrowed from his parents. Dag raced it with various success in Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands. It was hard to race with the 78,s as they were quite poor in comparison with the 79,s and on top of that racing a 340 against the 440,s does not make it more fun. Dag held on for 3 seasons anyway (the last season the 440 class was dismissed and everyone raced 340cc) and the machine was then sold to a neighbor (Per Järvström) in Järvsö who was going to ride it as a regular sled, you guessed right, this did not work to well. He finally flipped it and the hood, cooler and steering bar broke. It was parked a few years as is after the accident when a man living in the neighborhood (Stefan Larsson) finally decided to buy it and build it back to a race sled. Almost finished he could not for his life understand how the Z-bar was supposed to work and the sled was once again parked but this time for over 25 years until SnoPro enthusiast Erik Sandström got words of it and decided to make a 6 hour drive to check what he thought was an 1980 cat out. Not sure what to think when skiis, fuel tank and some other small stuff pointed to a 78 cat, but the serial number started with 80… he bought the sled and decided that the only way to find out for sure was to send the # to ER. Christmas was early in 2015=) But Sandstrom’s heart pounds for ski-doo and when an 81 Doo snopro (1of4 in Scandinavia) came up for sale he needed cash…The Cat had to go. There are collectors in Sweden who would pay good money for it but, but being a sensitive guy Erik decided that none other then Bobby or Jim deserved it. He contacted Jim and gave him an offer, Jimmy thought about for a day or two and then accepted. From now on it is up to you Jim. Regards Erik”

Dag von Gegerfelt (Swedish Racer)

“The extra tunnel btw, was added during my time. During a race in Boden (far north in Sweden) on a lake, I flew off the course and the snopro crashed on hard snow/ice banks several times until it came to rest. Actually some guy offered me to buy „the crap”, since it would never be possible to race on that thing anymore, he said. But doing military service (in that town Boden) and having a very low budget, I had no other choice than trying to repair it with simple methods. Therefore the extra tunnel. It all happened one week before the first championship race. Swedish championship. I spent every night in Ulf Baudin’s garage working on the machine. Daytime I had to be in the military. Next weekend the machine was ready, I thought, and Ulf and I drove 900 km by car with our snowmobiles on a trailer, to get to the first real race But once there, minus 25 or so Celsius, everything looking good before, I suddenly couldn’t get the machine to start when my first heat took place! Later, too late, we found out that the emergency switch, the one you are attached to by a cable when racing, was broken. It probably got a hit at the crash the week before. So that was very disappointing, of course, driving 900 km back and had not been racing at all.. I But Ulf made a great race, I think. He always did.”

BY LAND OR BY SEA The next task was getting this beast home. Freight shipping sounds simple, and literally, I had two choices: freight container by ship or an express crate on an airplane. I chose plane.. Ship freight containers are cheaper but have a few drawbacks, longer transit time, Several handlers moving it about at the shipyard (fork lift damage), stacking placement within the container (squished) Tracking control (lots of other pieces per container). Crated Air freight is almost a grand more than by boat. Much faster delivery, two weeks vs two months. Fewer handlers and certainly better care placement in an airplane.. One plane, Sweden to Minneapolis, pick up at customs I chose Griffin Co. Logistics to handle the shipping, customs, and declarations.

This is a way bigger deal than you might imagine! Because it is a vehicle and has a manufacturer, the Manufacturer Statement, Origin, and titles and ownership documents become important. To say the least, it has to be completely drained of ANY fluids. The crate could not be constructed with any wood (it may harbor bugs and is a flammable material). Erik built a steel crate for this sled.

Values for customs tariffs documents…I have a thick pile of documents..

Snopro Scandinavia was the racing association that organized these events. For the two years 1978-79 the factories sent over their drivers to bolster these races. In 1980, Arctic only sent some production snopro sleds and parts, no drivers.

In 1981 Arctic Enterprises filed for bankruptcy, and it all stopped. Without the support from the company, these guys were on their own. Dag and 3 others went on racing these machines for three years.

There were several very good drivers in Sweden. One of the standouts was Tord Sundstrom, he drove for the Skidoo distributor. I think he won the Swedish Championships a few times!. They were all good drivers and caught on very quickly to how aggressive the handling was. Some of them used a flat track motorcycle/ speedway driving approach in style and literally slid the back end out and carried the slide all through the corners. Some drivers actually had a pad sewn on their left hip cheek and rested that on the ground through the turn! A little frightening to see!

Needless to say the American factory drivers won all of the events..It was a fun tour, and for most of us, it would be the only time we’d visit Scandinavia. We were treated very well and enjoyed their food and comradely.

A very special thanks to Erik Sandstrom, who allowed me an opportunity to share a very special piece of history with a lifelong friend! And to Tom Ische and family for a wonderful restoration, only you could do!

Stay tuned for Part 2—coming soon! You won’t want to miss what happens when Jim finally gets this awesome sled back in his hands!