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In 1967 Keith Hubers built a prototype snowmobile in Galva, Ill.
About the same time in West Bend, Wis., a travel trailer company, Mallard Coach, needed something to keep the factory busy during slow manufacturing times. Mallard’s owner, Silvester Hron, saw that snowmobiles were selling like crazy across Wisconsin.
It seemed the perfect match, so Hubers sold his design to Mallard Coach, while also making a snowmobile called Snowbirdie, which he later sold to Chaparral in Denver, Co.
I’ve been told the first 12 Mallards used JLO motors and were painted red. Apparently most of those sleds were sold to, or ridden by, employees. The next 25 sleds were made with Mag single-cylinder motors that had been made in Switzerland.
Automotive Design
Mallard’s touted themselves as the “First with Automotive Design,” with the Mallard Sno-Wing featuring a molded fiberglass body that was pop riveted to its Uni-frame. That frame ran all the way to the rear of the sled, holding the rear axle. All Sno-Wings were a bright teal blue.
The automotive design carried over to the suspension with the Sno-Wing using a rear leaf spring setup for the rear axle, which was made up of three 12- x 1-inch leafs. That was an “exclusive” feature for the Sno-Wing! Also, because of the leafs, the sled’s body had to be made a bit wider than most.
Sno-Wings featured a disc brake mounted on the front drive axle for direct braking and it had bicycle-looking handlebars and bicycle controls for the brake and throttle. It looked pretty unique!
In the earliest of its sleds, in 1968, Mallard put the fuel tank under the seat. The problem was you had to unfasten seven snaps to fuel up; not very convenient. But by the 1969-’70 Mallards, a 4-gallon fuel tank had been moved to the sled’s rear-end.
Using Apex chain cases and Salisbury drive clutches Mallard didn’t have much trouble with the mechanicals.
The company literature claims that the 18-horsepower Mallard would move along the trail at 40 mph. It further says Mallard’s “Automotive Design attracts the many who want worry-free family fun.” Plus the promotional copy claims its “Dual headlights increase visibility range for safe nighttime ‘SNO-WINGING.’”
All was not perfect though. Mallards had their problems. The JLO 292cc had a small head gasket that would blow out frequently. Additionally, its bogey wheels would flip over and tear up the track. Bad tracks also showed up from time to time.
Ultimately the sleds required a lot of repairs and way too much warranty work as sleds were constantly coming back to be fixed. Hron finally decided to get out of the snowmobile business after the 1970 model year and after building somewhere between 200 and 400 units. Vintage sled collectors tell us they know of three 1968 models remaining.
Hron was upset with himself after the Sno-Wing’s failure and sold off many of his spare parts, but with the rest built a big pile in his backyard. … then lit a giant bonfire. Later he admitted it was a very bad decision for his company to build snowmobiles.
Special thanks to Mike Knier and Valdi Stefanson for pictures and information regarding the Mallard.