1962 Arctic Cat air sled clone at Waconia 07 with Arctic Cat founder Edgar Hetteen. Darrell said Edgar signed the hood. Darrell is even getting the original skiis for it!

This Cat is the 11th built in the 70 model year. Serial number 000011. This would seem to have been one of the “backorders” Arctic was trying to catch up on from the 69 run.

"There were a few running prototypes in 70 that were thrashed and trashed.  Most had Hirth motors and there was one JLo.  There were two sleds for the photo shoot. One that is in the flyer and was a running sled, 440 Hirth.  The other one was just a mock-up for looks and for press photos (what's left of this sled is still up in Thief River in really rough shape). The sled that was at the 2005 show was not a clone. Some of the differences between the prototype and the production 71 EXT are:  tunnels were different, rear bumper, sturups and gas tank mounting, seat has no cutouts for bumper, hood had no relief for the windshield to set in (it just bolted to the smooth surface of the hood, hood surfaces are similar but different, size and shape of motor cutout in hood is for the Hirth motor and exhaust, grill around headlight (there were 3 variations of this). One was like on the king kat prototypes (plastic pannel with a fin like pattern), and then a grill similar to the big mouth grill, but much narrower and shorter, first ones used the small headlight later ones had the 71 EXT style light."
Henry Briscoe.

****1970 Puma EXT prototype****

****1970 EXT prototype, Henry Brisco****

The 1971's were a batch of test sleds. there were around 50 made. They were quite different from the 1972 production Kitty Cats. The 1971's had a different front bulkhead and a silver flake fiberglass pan like the King Kats had. The ID plate was the same type used on the larger cats. The engine was a Clinton 2-stroke. No gear reduction, just the centrifugal clutch. The hood and pan are fiberglass. There is no kill switch built into the handle grip. Front hood vent is the same one used on the 1971 Kohler/Wankel Panther/Puma hood. The skis use hood trim on the tips and have a V shaped keel. The steering and bulkhead are totally different than a 1972/1973-. It also uses a piano hinge for the hood. It has a Fiberglass chain guard. The Hood is held down with pins through the locating brackets. The decal were unlike the 1972. They were very similar to the King Kat decals.

Evel Knievel's 1971 King Kat. Evel Knievels had two custom built King Kat  800's. Turns out, one is destroyed, the other owned by Evel's former chauffeur. Evel owed him some money, so he got the sled instead. Evel's tried to get it back but the current owner isn't selling.

This IS a King Kat chassis. The tag reads: Serial 1X29 - Model N-P. It was probably a 650 KK prototype that was built for the R&D shop. At some point it was stripped and someone took the bare chassis and made a trail rider out of it. Or, maybe it was a test sled, put together by the factory engineers to see how the "big" chassis performed as a trail machine. It looks like it has a Puma dash, complete with speedo, heat gauges, and a compass! It has a 1972 Panther/EXT handle bar pad. It has a 1972 Cheetah seat with Panther saddle bags. The gas tank might be a King Kat, or it is a 1972 Cheetah/Puma tank. The owner is pretty sure the track and suspension are from a Panther. The engine is a single carb, 634 Hirth with electric start, a can muffler and an 1190 Salsbury clutch. The tunnel, belly pan, body supports, front end assembly, hood, and skis are all King Kat.

This was a twin track prototype from 1974 shown with Charlie Lofton. it was never raced and Arctic shelved the idea until the early 80's. They built it only to have one when they protested the Allouette twin track of Gilles Villeneuve. What they didn't realize was that it was the IFS suspension that made it handle well, not the twin tracks.

Arctic Cat founder Edgar Hetteen checking out his sled design.

Darrell Dey owns this 1977 jag that was sponsered by Revlon to promote their "Charlie" and "Chaz" perfumes. This one is appropriately dubbed a"Charlie Cat". Here is a Picture of Darrell's jag at the VSCA show in Thief River Falls and at a sled gathering in Detroit Lakes.

The hood has been widened for testing with the 3000 Spirit engine. It was cut up the front and below the windshield and glassed in place. The windshield is the original test sample. The handle bars have been extended higher. The gas tank is in good condition and appears to be off of a Lynx. The seat is a shortened 1973 Polaris Starfire with taillights. The rear bumper is an Arctic Cat mounted upside down. The sno-flap is a 1973 EXT. The track is very nice out of a 5000 El-Tigre. The suspension is out of a 5000 El Tigre. There is no chain case and it has a Gillmar Drive.

This is a 1982 Arctic Cat Twin Tracker 440cc prototype. Tested but never put into production, this was Cat's answer to the early 80's Ski-Doo Twin tracker threat. At the time, Cat was experiencing financial difficulties that almost killed all nine lives. When the fire sale came, this machine and her sister were in the parking lot for sale. Restored by SnoPro Unlimited and it's current owner, Jerry McGee, this is cetainly an endangered species and one of the rarest of rare sleds.  Jerry McGee bought this from Steve Olson in about 1997. Steve built the mold up to fix up the original hood, as you see it here. Arctic Cat had 2 chassis, this was the only one that got completed.