Until the 1930's, the snow on rural roads was packed, rather than plowed, to facilitate travel by horse-drawn sleigh. In 1917, Virgil White, a Ford dealer in Ossipee, NH, received a patent for an attachment to convert a Model T into a "Snowmobile". Sold exclusively through Ford dealers beginning in 1922, the $395 kit included skis to replace the front wheels, a heavy-duty rear axle and rear-mounted tracks. Able to travel over 2 feet of unbroken snow at 18 mph, the "Ford on snowshoes" became indispensable for speedy winter travel by doctors, mail carriers, fire departments, power companies and others.
Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum
P.O. Box 2
W11660 US-2
Naubinway, MI 49762
Hours: 906 477-6298
Appointment: 906 477 6192
Copyright © 2009 - 2023 Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum. All rights reserved.