Vintage Sleds at the Muskoka Boat & Heritage Centre

Come and see how the sleds have changed over the years!

The Heritage Centre is open from Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10am to 4pm.  The Vintage Sled exhibit will be on display until the end of March.

From the private collection of Bill Fullerton:

1965 Olympic Ski Doo    10.5 H.P.

1965 Hus-Ski   10 H.P.

From the private collection of Chris Luchkiw

1963 Autoboggan L60  6 H.P.

1969 Sno Bug  22 H.P.

1968 Olympic Ski Doo Super 370  18 H.P.

As well we have a 1965 snowmobile suit on display


The History of the Snowmobile

Bump, jump, thump  (It’s winter’s biggest boom)

It began in a village in Quebec’s Eastern Townships when a persistent tinkerer and inventor, Joseph-Armand Bombardier decided to escalate a lifelong war against snow.  With a 25 horsepower outboard motor, he opened a fresh attach – and touched off the fastest growing sport in North America. 

Bombardier had always been inventive – as a boy, he used to mechanize his toys with parts of old clocks.  So with plenty of spare time at his garage during the winters, he went to work on a snow machine.  He kept working away – experimenting, altering, improving – and in 1936 he began producing the first practical snowmobiles.  He sold them to taxi operators, delivery services, doctors and priests, so they could reach snowbound customers, patients and parishioners. 

Bombardier was still not satisfied.  He was persistent, however, and it was this persistence, fed by an extraordinary love and talent for mechanics, that made him continue his search for something he could produce to crash into a mass market.

The first production Ski-Doo’s was set at 150 and they were sold out by Christmas and the midget snowmobile business was off.  Bombardier lined up a few dealers – usually people who sold boats and outboard motors during the summer – but many of the dealers were skeptical.  At times police had to be called to handle the crowds that wanted to purchase a Ski-Doo.  In 1963-64 when Joseph-Armand Bombardier died, his plant, often working 24 hours a day, turned out 13,000 Ski-Doo’s.  The following winter the figure was 22,000; the season after that hit 45,000.

For more information please call 705/687-2115 or visit our website: www.realmuskoka.com




Did you know?

  • The R.M.S. Segwun continues to be recognized by Canada Post as a "Royal Mail Ship" and that mail can be hand-franked or cancelled from the ship as they did more than 100 years ago.
  • In 1974, the Segwun was recommissioned by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
  • In 1996, the Wanda III Steam Yacht was recommissioned by Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
  • The Segwun's coal comes all the way from Kentucky.
  • Muskoka Boat & Heritage Centre opened in 2006 and celebrates Muskoka's steamship era, grand resorts and hotels and the region's rich boat-building history.
  • Wenonah II is Canada's newest passenger vessel combining turn-of-the-century charm with modern conveniences such as air-conditioning and an on board elevator.
  • The Muskoka Boat & Heritage Centre is home to North America's largest in-water display of antique and classic boats.
  • The ship's private label wine is one of the few given permission by the LCBO to be sold in stores throughout Ontario.
  • In 2001 and 2002, the Segwun won the award of "Best Large Attraction" by Attractions Canada.
  • In 1988, the Segwun won the prestigious "Phoenix Award" presented by the Society of American Travel Writers.  Recipients are chosen for their outstanding efforts in preservation and conservation.
  • In years past, a steamship purser used to take tickets as passengers boarded.  Today, our Purser is responsible for all guest services on board including your dining experience.
  • The Segwun used to carry passengers, freight and mail to a variety of ports on the Muskoka lakes before the days of the automobile.
  • Each year, the Segwun and Wenonah II host upwards of 30 memorable wedding ceremonies and receptions.
  • In recent years the shift to air transport for mail has left only three ships with the right to the prefix; RMS Segwun, which serves as a passenger vessel in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada, RMS St Helena, which serves the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic,[9] and RMS Queen Mary 2. QM2 was conferred "RMS" by Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004 on the Southampton to New York route as a gesture to Cunard's history – The RMS Segwun is the oldest Royal Mail Ship in the world.