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Scorpion sleds were noted for their dependability and ease of operation, but they also were known as racers.
They came from the small town of Crosby in central Minnesota, the brainchild of three men, Glen Gutzman, Eugene Harrison and Richard Harrison. By 1965 it was a popular snowmobile brand and by 1970 was well established.
New Stinger model
For the 1970 season the Scorpions featured their standard teardrop black hood with a red stripe, but the company made a metallic red fleck fiberglass hood and called the model a Stinger. It was the brand’s high-performance super sled.
The Stinger was made with a beautiful black 6-inch thick vacuum-formed vinyl seat including a Scorpion logo dead center. The seat also had a raised back section with a zipper tool pouch in front for storage. Plus the model included a new flip-up hood that made servicing the Stinger all that much easier.
There was more, including a new double bar rear chrome bumper and “buddy bar” passenger grips that looked, and worked, great. New for 1970 was a Gates polyurethane 15-inch track with bogey wheels for the suspension. This track rolled much easier than other tracks, giving Scorpion an edge in the market.
Going racing
Like many manufacturers Scorpion decided to prove itself on the racetrack. In the fall of 1969 my brother Dennis and I were hired to race for Scorpion’s Regional Race Team, under the direction of Len Corzine, Scorpion’s race director.
Our first races, Nov. 29-30, 1969, were inside the Duluth (Minn.) indoor arena. Snow was hauled in for the track that was the size of an ice hockey rink.
As the parking lot was being cleaned of snow for the track we parked our sleds in front of the Scorpion trailer, ready for battle. Some of the hoods had big holes cut in their center to allow maximum air in to cool the mod motors. We had 16 different engine options, including Sachs, Hirth, and Kohler. Imagine such variety!
To modify the motors we took the air shrouding and recoil off, cut the fan off and used a rope to pull start the engine. We ported and polished the cylinders, cut the pistons, milled the heads, and put on big carburetors and megaphones or tuned exhaust chambers. I know everybody thinks megaphones just make noise, but they DO make more power than straight pipes. We had a Hirth 438cc that put out an astonishing 126.5 decibels!
One thing is for sure. With the megaphones in place those other racers knew we were there and if we were behind we could always run close to the fence and blast the fans.
My brother started with a Kohler 440cc with tuned pipes and cast iron cylinders, but he burned it down three times before the crew gave him a Hirth with megaphones. To this day I don’t understand why he couldn’t use the tuned pipes.
As happens in any season, not all promises are fulfilled. We were promised aluminum tunnels, but that never happened. We did receive new red metallic fleck free-air hoods by midseason. They looked and worked great.
Small and tight
At that first race we were geared up to try the new sleds. The track was small and tight and conditions were right for accidents. Over half our team were involved in a crash, leading one of Corzine’s friends to say that “They look like a bunch of kamikaze pilots to me.” So we had patches, decals and stickers designed for our sleds that read, “This Side Up.”
By 4 p.m. on race day you could hardly see the sleds from the stands with the exhaust and 1969 was the last year for racing in Duluth’s arena. The sleds were simply way too fast for that size track.
It was an honor to be one of “Corzine’s Kamikazes” and to race a 1970 Scorpion Stinger. In fact, I still like to pilot my Stingers on vintage rides!