Mario, Scott and John and their time travelling snowmobiles (13 photos)

Three Sault Ste. Marie neighbours have found an enjoyable hobby travelling around and showing off their vintage snowmobiles.

Mario Gaudenzi, Scott LeClair, and John Quinton went to Sault, Mi on Saturday to take part in the I-500’s 14th Annual Vintage Snowmobile Show.

The show featured around 50 vintage snowmobiles that dated back as far as 1953 and still were able to run. In fact, the event featured a ‘retro ride’ where many of them went around the I-500 track.

Quinton, who has been attending these kinds of events for eight years, showed off his 1974 Alouette Super Brute 295, the same type of machine his grandfather sold out of Thessalon when he was a kid.

“I remember riding on the back of it with my uncle and going across the ice, around Thessalon, and having fun on it. Ever since I’ve seen these things I’ve always wanted one and it took me 33 years to find one but now I have 5 of them,” said Quinton.

Quinton is a mechanically inclined person by nature.

When he’s not at vintage-snowmobile shows he works for Gail Joy Investments as a automobile technician and is into mud racing and hot rods.

He also owns a 1947 Dodge 5-window coup.

“Snowmobiles now are way different than the vintage ones. They are so much more comfortable and have reverse. These old ones have limited suspension, they’re hard to steer, and hard on your body; they’re a challenge,” said Quinton.

Quinton still drives his Alouette for fun even though he “shouldn’t.”

‘I get rough with it. As soon as I get on it my brain just goes numb and I just start racing around and trying to jump it. I don’t want to wreck this thing; it’s too hard to find parts for it,” he said.

But what’s most important for Quinton is the memory vintage snowmobiles bring up.

“Every time I see this thing I see my grandfather,” he said.

Two years ago Quinton got his friends Gaudenzi and LeClair into it.

“John just said ‘It’s a lot of fun.’ My family bought my machine brand new in 1973 and figured, okay, I might as well start showing it,“ said Gaudenzi.

Gaudenzi’s vehicle has been in his family since he was three and eventually his father, Julio, gave it to him.

Gaudenzi showed his 1973 Sno-jet StarJet 338+2 at the event along with LeClair’s 1974 Sno-Jet SST.

Although Gaudenzi usually preserves his by keeping it covered in the garage, he still purchases the $140 trail stickers for it every year and rides it around occasionally “just to show it off.”

“It keeps you from actually forgetting the past. It brings you back to times when things meant something, friends were friends, and when people hung out together in garages and did a lot of fun stuff,” he said.

LeClair bought his machine used just outside of town.

“I found it in an old barn with about an inch worth of dust on her just outside the city. Paid 400 bucks,” he said.

“When the new generation sees a sled like mine they look at it and they don’t even know what it is. I like to do these events because it lets the younger generation look at the older style sleds and see how far they advanced,” said LeClair.

The event was put on by the Top of The Lake Snowmobile Museum based in Naubinway Michigan.