innovar sno coupe
Amsnow
The late 1960s, early 1970s brought us big engines, new styling and plenty of interesting machines. The Sno Coupe was one of the most eye catching machines on the snow at the time.
The advertising literature read, “The world’s first snowmobile to feature side-by-side seating, sliding canopy top and sports car styling”.
It was introduced by Innovar Inc., a custom fiberglass business from Dunnell, Minn., as the Sno Coupe from 1970-1973. The coupe fit well with Innovar’s company motto that they could, “do repairs on anything fiberglass.”
Really a Polaris
The Sno Coupe was, for all intents and purposes, a Polaris machine. Polaris supplied the Voyager rolling chassis, engines and all the drive components. This is actually a blessing for collectors today because if you need spare parts, they aren’t as terribly difficult to find as parts are for some other collector sleds.
The very first Coupes came with Jeep transmissions with low, high and reverse, and an electric start German JLO 372cc single cylinder for power. It was part coupe, part hotrod as the muffler came with a bypass which you could operate from inside the cab to give it that straight pipe sound. Later models had a rear exhaust system to keep noise down and the fumes behind the machine. Later versions of the coupe saw more horsepower in twin cylinder engines.
The Innovar Sno Coupe came with a 30.5-inch cleated track for good flotation. Blue colored models were said to be prototypes, but it was more or less a limited build with very few units made in that color. Most came in red or gold color schemes.
The blue one above is owned by Jim Sailer from Gilbert, Minn. You can slide the canopy back or take it off completely to ride around with just the windshield on nice days. The body panels are riveted and bolted to the chassis. The steering bar had to be turned upside down to make getting in and out less of a squeeze, with your legs slid under the console.
An under-hood propane heater could be used to keep you warm on cold days. Push-out windows served as a safety mechanism if you had a rollover and couldn’t slide the canopy back. Belts were used for hood latches and up front the grill had ½-inch square holes to make for a unique look. Twin headlights were used for traveling at night.
On the 1970-71 models they had to raise the roof a few inches to make more head room, and the Sportster model came without a canopy.
My sources informed me fewer than 200 total were built over the three years the Sno Coupe was in production. It was a very nice looking snowmobile, but it would certainly be a handful if you ever got it stuck. Next time you see one at a vintage ride ask the owner for a story or two about their rides. I’m sure they’ll tell you how driving the Sno Coupe is a real adventure!