General Information

Serial #

0498

Part Number

1

Total Parts

3

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Unknown

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

286.6 cm

Width

267.0 cm

Height

139.2 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Motorized Ground Transportation

Category

Recreational vehicles

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Featherweight

Country

Canada

State/Province

Québec

City

Montréal

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Quebec

Period

Unknown

Canada

Motorized snow vehicles have a long history in Canada and many other northern countries beginning in the early 20th century. These vehicles, which date from 1968-1993, represent a variety of themes in the history of the snowmobile in Canada. In 1971 the United States Snowmobile Association (USSA) decided to try to settle once and for all the competing claims relating to the speed record for a snowmobile. Various companies entered the competition with their specially designed high-speed machines. The only prize awarded would be bragging rights to engineering superiority. Many of the machines built for the race did not look much like conventional snowmobiles; one was a dragster with a track replacing the rear wheels.

Function

Recreational snowmobiling and snowmobile racing

Technical

Featherweight Corporation initiated the project of building a speed trial snowmobile and recruited George Barris, the custom vehicle designer who created the bat mobile, to design the body. They built the body around two standard Alouette chassis and four Kholer 3 cylinder engines. In the end, Big Al did not take part in the race which was won by Bombardier SkiDoo clocked at 129.2mph. "The 1971 Big Al was not a production line vehicle, but one of the extravagant and short-lived machines built by manufacturers to promote their company through rapid-acceleration competitions. Unlike other extravagant vehicles, the Big Al was made mostly of Featherweight production parts used in its regular snowmobiles. The Big Al snowmobile was designed to reach speeds of up to 300km/h. It never saw the racetrack, however: it was released as the energy crisis hit, knocking out snowmobile demand. (ref. 4)

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Big Al Alouette Tillson Toledo, Ohio Made in the U.S.A. (engine requirements/specifications) Style by Barris

Missing

Dzus fasteners, gas caps (2) and threaded male receiver for gas cap on pr. left side.

Finish

Du-Pont acrylic laquer in overlays of 30 coats of transparent snow burst colouring dye in white to yellow to amber to gold to orange to red.

Decoration

Decals (Big Al, Canadian & American Flag)