racing a catillac

I like vintage cross country racing. For one thing, I like cool old terrain sleds, but more importantly, I can actually WIN on a vintage sled occasionally, which is nothing short of miraculous and a heck of a lot more impressive than what I can do on my Sno Pro 500. 
    Vintage cross-country conjures up images of sleds like Ski-Doo 340RVs, Arctic Cat Cross Country Cats, and John Deere Liquidators. During my reign (insert pathetic laughter) in the USCC vintage class, I raced the Ford Taurus SHO of vintage buggies, a Yamaha XL-V two-up. Now, before you laugh yourself off your chair, consider this: 121-inch track, powerful 540cc fan cooled SR-V mill, decent suspension, AND, most importantly, it was given to me for free. Convinced yet? 
    After I won the vintage points in 2009, I finally blew up the poor old XL five and I was in search of a new race sled and stumbled onto the deal of a lifetime. I have a neighbor at the lake, Rolland, who fancies himself a jack-of-all-trades and he’s a pack rat to boot - a man after my own heart. Rolland has all kinds of cool motorized vehicles, one of which was a decent 1976 Arctic Cat Pantera 500 F/A. 
    Now, with vintage fever, I almost hated to ask if a.) it was for sale and b.) if so, how much. 
    Thankfully, Rolland also fancies himself a realist and the heart-stopping answer was: yes, I could buy that Pantera plus a parts sled and two extra tracks for $350! I think that’s what the corporate types refer to as a no-brainer or a win-win, or possibly both. So, I am the proud owner of said Pantera and for those of you in the know, a 1976 Pantera is basically a more trailable Cross Country Cat, sans the free air Suzuki 340. But as I sit and stare at this machine, it might be more than most people realized at the time. 
    From my memory, the 1976 Pantera was really the first full-on, purpose-built, long distance trail/performance sled. With a big, roomy seat and ergos not intended for people under five feet tall, like most sleds before it, one could actually rack up some serious miles on this machine. Arctic Cat helped this cause further by putting an extra fuel tank out back increasing capacity to more than eight gallons. The Pantera also was one of the first machines to use the now gold-standard 121-inch track, albeit 16 inches wide. 
    It didn’t hurt either that engine options included a lively 500cc Suzuki free air, basically a variant of the same motor found in the El Tigre 5000 performance machine. Later, Cat offered a slightly more conservative and economical, but less finicky 500cc fan. Power was delivered via dual Mikuni carbs and Arctic Cat’s, then famous, hex drive clutch. For the first time, a sled designed as a trail machine could run with the motor heads and you didn’t feel like being put in traction at the end of the day, no pun intended. 
    To me, what is most important about the 1976 Pantera is that this machine marks the point where sleds started to look modern. In fact, if long-travel suspension could be retrofitted to this machine and a few minor styling items cleaned up, I’m certain this unit could be parked in a row of newer machines and not stick out too badly. 
    The Pantera ushered-out short, stubby, boxy hoods and replaced them with smooth lines, a rounded nose, and a sleek windshield that actually worked. Upholstery was custom fit and styled, with color matched piping and fancy embossed patterns. The dashboard actually curved around so all of the instruments faced the rider. Pretty nice for 1976, so nice Arctic Cat eventually nicknamed this machine the Catillac in a memorable ad campaign. 
    I totally expect to walk into an antique snowmobile show or museum 10 years down the road and see fully restored Panteras sitting right next to machines we think of as antiques today. The Pantera marked a pivotal point in not only Arctic Cat’s history, but, I believe, the history of snowmobiling. 
    I did some poking around on the web prior to writing this and I poked around in my memory too and I can’t recall a sled in 1976 that looked as modern or cast such a foreshadowing on the future of the sport. Wow, I’m almost making myself feel bad for wanting to race this thing!