Powersports Business September 2025 | Page 16

16 • September 2025 • Powersports Business

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Polaris celebrates 40 years of ATV innovations with special edition Sportsman 570

BY CHRIS OFFICER ASSOCIATE EDITOR
In the 1950s, Polaris made its name developing and manufacturing snowmobiles. The company was at the forefront of innovation, with the TX-L340 sled using the first Polaris liquid-cooled engine and the first independent suspension in 1976. But the ingenuity didn’ t end with snowmobiles. In 1985, Polaris took its innovation off-road, creating the first American-engineered ATV, igniting a 40−year trend of advancing the powersports ORV segment.
Polaris’ first ATV was introduced in 1985, but the original Scrambler wasn’ t the typical ATV you see on today’ s trails. The three-wheeled ATV led to the fourwheel Trail Boss, which eventually paved the way for the 4x6 Big Boss in 1989, which featured an automatic transmission and a hinged cargo bed.
Polaris’ popularity grew following the release of the Trail Boss, and the company went from less than 50 year-round employees to nearly 200 people employed year-round.
Polaris’ early-model ATVs were primarily utility-focused, aimed at farmers, hunters, and landowners. The company established itself outside of the snowmobile segment with these early ATV models, but it wasn’ t until 1996, when the Sportsman 500 was introduced, that the company started to switch gears from snow to off-road. After the Sportsman debuted, Polaris was producing more ATVs than snowmobiles.
The modern Sportsman was the first American-engineered ATV. It featured a
four-stroke engine, hydraulic braking, an automatic transmission, and independent rear suspension— a significant upgrade from the traditional straight axle. The Sportsman 500 was a game-changer in the Polaris lineup, quickly becoming one of the bestselling ATVs of the’ 90s, and laid the foundation for today’ s bestselling 570 family.
Caleb Willi, ATV product manager and a 15−year veteran at Polaris, says it was the Sportsman that helped grow the company’ s off-road brand and redefine the entire industry.
“ A lot of the innovations happened in the mid-’ 90s, and it was through the growth of that machine that really kick-started a whole new business,” Willi says.
By 2001, just five years after the Sportsman was launched, Polaris celebrated one million ATVs produced with automatic transmissions, earning the Legacy Award by ATV magazine.
The innovation of the Sportsman 500, Willi adds, helped pave the way for Polaris side-by-side production in 1999, when the company introduced the Ranger and, in 2007, released the first sport side-by-side vehicle, the Ranger RZR.
The innovation sparked by the Sportsman wasn’ t just exclusive to powersports enthusiasts. Throughout the 1980s and’ 90s, the United States military’ s rising demand for off-road vehicles led to Polaris being the first powersports OEM to produce militarized
Left: Polaris celebrates the 40th Anniversary of ATVs with the Special Edition Sportsman. Above: The special edition Sportsman 570 features 40th anniversary badging and premium Treeline Green metallic paint.
vehicles for the U. S. special forces and the U. S. Army. Eventually, this led to the founding of Polaris Defense in 2005.
To pay tribute to the innovation that the mid-’ 90s Sportsman started, Willi says Polaris is modeling its ATV 40th anniversary after the trendsetting edition, adding that the milestone is a testament to the company’ s ingenuity.
“ We were excited about this milestone. It adds credibility to what we are doing at Polaris every day, and it’ s a testament to the products we make,” he says.“ We wanted to celebrate off-road. We’ ve seen a lot of growth in the segment, and Polaris has been instrumental in that.”
The 40th anniversary special edition Sportsman 570 Premium is a lim-