“Out of the deepest, darkest depths of snowmobile country comes the blinding force of a NEW ERA in SNOW WARS Fighters for 1983… the MANTA Twin Track Trail Machine.”
With that bluster, Michigan-based Three R Industries announced its latest twin-tracked, cockpit style Manta snowmobile in the late summer of 1982. Frankly, at this point we’re not entirely sure of the nuance. The Star Wars series was just two movies old at this point. It had been two years since The Empire Strikes Back (released in 1980), and it was eight months before The Return of the Jedi (released May 25, 1983), but we digress. The likeable Bob Bracey and his crew were busy trying to change the market with their latest creation.
Manta Snowmobile
“From the force that created the original twin track snowmobile, the MANTA is the newly designed trail version of a hi-performance machine with the same concept and marque of a few seasons ago,” the press release announced. It is stamped to have arrived at the offices of Snow Goer Trade magazine (the magazine aimed at people in the snowmobile business) on August 9, 1982. We unearthed the original letter, brochure and photos this week when going through old files.
“The MANTA SNOW WARS Fighter features a rear-mounted, liquid cooled 333cc Fuji power plant with independent front suspension and dual slide rail suspensions in the rear. Other features include heated cockpit seating, butterfly design steering wheel, throttle and hydraulic brakes that are foot controlled, a quartz Halogen driving light that is mounted overhead on an off-road bar, plus much more.”
History, of course, showed there was no future for cockpit style snowmobiles. But the folks at Three R Industries at the time had big dreams. For his untiring efforts, Bracey is being inducted into the Snowmobile Hall Of Fame in 2013.
“The 1983 MANTA SNOW WARS Fighter is for those seeking the ultimate weapon for fending off the fierce forces of Winter.”
We scanned in the front and back of the enclosed flier for your enjoyment.
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