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Bombardier is considered the father of snowmobiling who began commercial production and marketing of the Ski-Doo snowmobile in 1959.
Bombardier built his first propeller driven snow buggy in 1922. Not entirely successful, his father made him take the propeller off so it would not decapitate any of his siblings.
Originally called the "ski-dog," an ad agency lost the tail of the "g" on the artwork, however Bombardier discovered the mistake too late to fix it. In 1960 Canada granted patents for Bombardier's endless track design followed by America in 1962.
In 1926 he began converting old cars into different snowmobile prototypes and even sold a few models. In 1937 he obtained his first patent for his invention of a sprocket-wheel/track traction system.
Then in 1941, he built the B12 snowmobile, a larger, more powerful successor to the already popular B7. Many of the B12's were produced for the Canadian Military for their use in World War II. Between 1945 and 1952, 2,596 B12 snowmobiles were built and used for everything from buses to ambulances.
His next effort led to the successful B-7 model in 1937, which was more of a car on tracks and skis. This was the first model that Bombardier patented. Bombardier then made a number of tracked snow vehicles, including a school bus version, and other larger industrial vehicles.
The 1935 sprocket and track traction system is Bombardier's first major invention. He is aware of its importance and familiar with trade laws, so requests a patent from Ottawa on December 19, 1936.
Sprocket wheel system: cogged wheels encased in rubber which drive two rubber treads linked by steel cross bars.
The C181 snowmobile, an expanded version of the B121 model
The first customers for the B71 snowmobile are rural veterinarians and doctors, innkeepers, and funeral directors.
The first seven production snowmobiles emerge from the new factory in the winter of 1936-37. They carry the name B71 B for Bombardier and 7 for the number of passengers
Six months later, on June 29, 1937, he receives a positive response from the Patent Office
In 1947-48, Joseph-Armand Bombardier's company achieves total sales of $2.3 million, 10 times more than in 1942-43. With profits of $324 000, L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée is a resounding success.
The future seems certain, but 1948-1949 brings new challenges to L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée. On top of a winter of very light snow, the Quebec government adopts a policy demanding all rural routes be cleared a major blow to the snowmobile market. In one year, sales fall by close to $1 million.
A disaster? Joseph-Armand Bombardier takes it as a challenge. He plans his company's survival by ending its dependence on snowmobiles and creating new machines for new markets.
Joseph-Armand's diversification effort begins with a period of intense and varied research for an alternative product to the snowmobile. A number of prototypes emerge from the inventor's new experimental centre in the small town of Kingsbury near Valcourt, and are designed to tackle all sorts of terrain, from snow to swamp to peat bogs.
The BT1 (Bombardier Truck) industrial vehicle is a modified B121 snowmobile ready to serve the local forestry industry. New modifications, mainly based on experiments, give rise to the C41 model, the first all-track vehicle, and the B51 model, equipped with an interchangeable system of wheels and skis.
These vehicles advance the inventor's research and lead to the later development of other commercially successful vehicles. The R series1, for example, consists of interchangeable wheels and skis in front allowing it to travel on asphalt or snow. Its sales are strong, and ensure L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée success through the 1950s.
The most significant results from the rebuilding of the company's strong position come with the launch of a new traction mechanism, the TTA1 (Tractor Tracking Attachment), which Joseph-Armand Bombardier perfects from his brother Gérard's design.
The TTA1 improves tractor traction in muddy and swampy terrain, and thousands are sold to tractor manufacturers in North America, Europe, and South America. Patents are awarded to L'Auto-Neige Bombardier for the TTA1 in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
The TTA1 improves tractor traction
In 1952, unsatisfactory rubber quality and market prices lead Joseph-Armand to produce rubber from raw material himself. Together with his father, eldest son Germain Bombardier founds Rockland Accessories Ltd. Established in Kingsbury, the plant opens in 1953 with the mandate to produce all the rubber parts required by L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée. Rockland Accessories Ltd. became the first subsidiary of L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée in 1956.
In 1957 and 1958 light weight engines became available and the invention of a rubber track by his son Germain brought Joseph-Armand Bombardier's dream to life. Thus in 1959 began the mass production of the little yellow snowmobile we know today.
Joseph-Armand at the command of one of his plywood prototypes
The Ski-Doo became an instant hit but not for the reasons imagined by J. Armand Bombardier. The Ski-Doo was originally called the Ski-Dog because Bombardier meant it to be a practical vehicle to replace the dogsled for hunters and trappers. But the public soon discovered the speedy vehicles that can zoom over snow were a lot of fun. Suddenly a new winter sport was born, centred in Quebec. In the first year, Bombardier sold 225 Ski-Doos; four years later, 8,210 are sold
Joseph-Armand Bombardier was born on April16, 1907 in Valcourt, a small village in Quebec's Eastern Townships. He was an inventor who started at an early age and had a passion for mechanics. Joseph-Armand Bombardier's dream was that "One day I will build a little machine that glides over the snow." This dream mixed with his desire to invent spawned the creation of the machine we now call the snowmobile.
