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The Sno Ped Snowmobile Concept Could Not Get Any Weirder

Sno Ped is the brainchild of Michigan-based designer Joey Ruiter and is as controversial as it gets. Function aside, the Sno Ped looks more like an exercise in design or a blunt statement as to what can still be done in the winter transportation segment. And no, it's not for the excessively-pretentious guys.
Sno Ped 9 photos
Photo: Dean Van Dis, Brian Kelly
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Some say that Sno Ped looks like an oversized hard drive, and they might be right. Others might see a giant mailbox on skis, and also, be sort of right. To us, this looks like one truly weird contraption, yet one we'd ride anytime, at least to try it out and see how it feels.

Traveling across snow-covered terrain in winter astride the Sno Ped might seem like a bit of a tricky business because this machine doesn't come with dual front skis. In a way, the Sno Ped is more of a bicycle than a snowmobile, and it looks like excellent balancing skills are a must for one who feels like taking a ride in its saddle.

Tall and only 6" (15.5 cm) wide, the Sno Ped comes with one narrow front ski and an equally narrow rear track borrowed from a Chrisler Sno-Runner. At 26" (66cm), the bars are significantly wider and will make steering this contraption quite easy, but the tall structure doesn't look like being too reassuring if you're not used to a little drifting.

Even though we first thought the Sno Ped was an electric machine, we were surprised to learn that power comes from a 90cc petrol engine. The entire thing is crafted from aluminum and composite materials and was put together by Jeff Long.

The seat doesn't appear to be the most comfortable one, especially after a couple of hours in the winter cold, but since this would not go into production, we guess it's not a big issue.

We've got mixed feelings as far as the Sno Ped goes, but we like it as a concept. How about you?

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