The design world is a fast-moving scene; what’s fashionable today might not be fashionable tomorrow. In sharp contrast, the winter powersports world might as well be measured in geologic time; snowmobiles haven’t exactly changed much in the past decade.
So what’s a fashionable winter rider to do? Enter the Snoped—half snowmobile, half moped.
The radical looking concept is the work of Michigan designer Joey Ruiter, who challenged himself to use today’s popular winter apparel brands as inspiration for a new form of winter transport. The Snoped was the grand result—sort of Star Wars meets Burton snowboards—and oh yes, it really does work. Take a look at the video.
According to Ruiter, the Snoped was built by fabricator Jeff Long using lightweight aluminum paneling to form its body. At the front, the Snoped features a bright LED headlight, which runs the height of the craft, while at the rear the slender snow scooter seats its rider in a low-slung café racer posture. Despite its considerable 6-foot length, the Snoped’s actual body only measures six inches wide.
Beneath its futuristic exterior is rather familiar running gear, however. Ruiter says the Snoped was built around a 1980s Chrysler Sno-runner snowmobile, now fitted with a 90cc single-cylinder engine. The pull starter has been cleanly integrated beneath the rider’s seat.
So where can you buy one of these trendy snowmobiles? Sadly, you can’t. The Snoped is still just a design concept, for now at least.
Photo Credit: Dean Van Dis, Brian Kelly
Video Credit: Baas Creative