northway

About a decade after the peak of the Diablo Rouge's brief run, the Quebec-based Northway Snowmobiles Ltd. of Pointe Claire, Quebec, tried to work its way into snowmobiling's "big time" with a series of unique designs. Two features stand out with the Northway. First was the way the hood lifted from the front like an automobile's. Second was the Super Cushion Ride that combined the features of a slide rail with the wear of rubber bogie wheels.

Under the front-lift hood you would find a wide choice of power plants for 1974. Canadian-Curtiss Wright, Sachs, Kohler or Hirth manufactured engines were prevalent with many of the smaller sled makers of the time. Ski-Doo had sewed up Rotax by this time. While Yamaha shared year-old "customer" engines with Sno-Jet, the Sachs motor was available in virtually all 1974 Northway models ranging from 340 to 440 cubic centimeter displacement. By 1974 the high performance 650cc motors were passé. Choices of suspension ranged from a true bogie wheel design to the "super cushion" ride. There was even a limited availability slide rail version in the deluxe Explorer DS 440 model.

The track came in a narrow 15-inch or wider 18-inch version. It featured an internal lug drive that was the trend of the times and said to reduce noise levels.
 
The Northway Interceptor series featured a 5-gallon fuel tank with an auxiliary one-gallon "emergency" tank.
But, like many of the small sled makers of the 1970s, Northway failed to successfully make the transition into the 1980s, as it could not compete with the resources of fellow Quebec sled builder Bombardier. However, Northway models still can be found at swap meets and offer unique features worthy of collectible nostalgia.