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“Look out, Cat! Look out, Ski-Doo! The Scorpion Stinger keeps comin’ through!” That was Scorpion’s bold claim in its promotional materials during the 1972-’73 seasons and it ran a side-by-side test to show how superior its sleds were.
This was a time when snowmobile manufacturers were all looking for the big breakthrough.
So, beyond the promotional hype, to get snowmobilers to try Scorpions, which was then owned by Fuqua Industries, Scorpion offered multiple engine sizes and colors to create a more customized sled and look for that time.
You could buy a Stingerette with the hood and seat in gleaming Midnight Sun Magenta designed specifically for women and Scorpionwear Fighter Pilot suits to go along with the package.
Or you could opt for a Super Stinger 400 TK with a bright yellow hood and black seat, that was maybe meant to get Ski-Doo riders to move to Scorpion. Then there was the Super Stinger 440 with a white hood and black seat for Polaris riders converting to Scorpion. The rest of the Stingers wore red metal flecked hoods with seats to match and there were great looking black Fighter Pilot suits for riders.
That wasn’t Scorpion’s only move though. The sled maker also dropped its wide-track sleds in 1973. Scorpion reasoned that buyers choose wide-tracks only for stability, and if a conventional track sled could have the same proven stability there’s no reason to increase track width.
Boy were they wrong!
Wide-tracks are used mostly for utility purposes, such as fishing, hunting and exploring. Scorpion lost those sled buyers overnight.
Scorpion also was pushing its “total design ride.” At its heart were a 15-inch wide polyurethane track and the company’s new Para-Rail suspension. They claimed this was the greatest advance in riding in snowmobiling history. Para-Rail consisted of bogey wheels combined with a slide-rail rear suspension. On takeoff it would transfer weight to the sled’s rear for greater traction and then would level off for better ride quality. The bogey wheels helped in low snow conditions, but the Para-Rail worked to give a better ride like a slide rail.
Scorpion’s new design also featured contoured foam-padded handlebars that were fully adjustable to suit individual riders. While a good idea, it took a little time to get used to this handlebar placement.
While Scorpion was making these changes it was NOT participating with the other major makers in the great horsepower race. It was the first to limit its sleds, and did so for three years, keeping its engines at 440cc displacement generating 37.5 horsepower. Scorpion used Rockwell JLO engines made in Germany and CCW engines made in Japan. All featured Scorpion’s Power-Thrust/Torque Sensing clutches to put the power to the track. And while the Scorpions had sufficient power, what its lineup lacked was a high-performance model like Polaris’ TX or Arctic Cat’s El Tigre, or Ski-Doo’s TNT.
Yet these were light models, the Stinger 340 weighing in at just 325 lbs. and 386 lbs. for the Super Stinger 440. So they didn’t need a ton of horsepower.
Scorpion anticipated big sales, so increased sled production capabilities to 100,000 units per season at its Crosby, Minn., plant. However, estimated production for 1972 was just 25,000 to 30,000.
While great looking sleds, Scorpion sales didn’t match its lofty expectations. The company made way too many and had a lot of carryover models for the next season, never a good thing for cash flow. By 1978 Scorpion was sold to Arctic Cat and disappeared after Cat’s bankruptcy in 1981.
But in 1972 and ’73 it was great to see Scorpion try all those crazy colors with the suits to match.