STORY & PHOTO BY DAVID WELLS

The year 1974 brought about the

Sno Pro professional racing circuit that featured some advanced and some really outrageous race sleds . And nothing was more outrageous than the Alouette twin-track created and piloted by the legendary Gilles Villeneuve .

Built with experience that Villeneuve gained racing Formula Atlantic open wheel race cars , the Alouette twin-track seated the driver in an enclosed central cockpit ahead of the engine . With a very low center of gravity , it was really more like a race car than a conventional snowmobile .

“ It handles better than anything else we ’ ve ever seen on the track ,” commented John Hull , a top official of the United States Snowmobile Association ( USSA ), the dominant race-sanctioning body of the day .

Villeneuve got his first win with it at Peterborough , Ontario , on January 6 , 1974 , and that caused factory teams from Arctic Cat to Mercury to Ski-Doo to start experimenting with all kinds of radical race sled designs . But those factory sleds were not going to filter down very quickly , if at all , to the weekend warriors who accounted for the vast majority of snowmobile racers at the time .

The Manta Racer

However , there already was a sit-in , twin-track , rear-engine snowmobile out on the trails .

Bob Bracey ’ s Raider had been in production since 1970 , with more than 10,000 of them sold . But in spring 1973 , Bracey resigned as president and chief engineer of the Leisure Vehicles Inc . company that built and marketed the Raider .

By 1974 , he was back in business with ARBE ( A Robert Bracey Enterprise ) Products and developing the Manta

I took this image of Mark Harding ’ s Manta ( which had Suzuki power – the only one I ’ ve ever seen like that ) at the 2012 Don Cummings Memorial Show .

“ twin trac ” modified racing sled . This radical machine was like a down-sized Alouette and was eligible for modified class racing in some associations , and for the USSA ’ s forthcoming 440X ( for experimental ) class .

The Manta utilized a monocoque aluminum chassis built by Texas Products Manufacturing , a company that used aerospace technology to build parts for several brands of race sleds from light weight and exotic metals including titanium .

Power was from Sachs 340 or 440 free air engines with Tillotson HR-14A diaphragm pumper carbs . However , those 60 and 74 horsepower engines ( respectively ) had overheating problems and were soon replaced by the Sachs 440 RX seven-port short-stroker with the far better Mikuni VM carbs that developed almost 80 horsepower . The engine and Comet clutches were unitized on a large single mount to maintain alignment . Some units were fitted with rear wings .

The original price was $ 2,995 , but it was cut to $ 2,625 with the RX engine . Expensive for the day , there were no subsidies of any kind behind it either . But , unlike the Sno Pro sleds and other experimental racers from the major brands , it was available to anyone who had the cash .

Success Comes Slowly

After a prototype 440 was successfully raced on the Michigan-based MIRA circuit in early 1974 , the Manta made history in November 1974 when Bud Bennett won the first-ever USSA 440X class at Brandt ’ s Lodge in Alaska . Bennett then ran it in the MIRA events for the 1975 season .

Dan Kirts campaigned a 1976 Manta at major national events beginning with Alexandria , Minnesota . The underpowered twin-trac was always slow off the line , but superior handling allowed it to catch the leaders if the race was long enough . Kirts absolutely stole the show from the factory Sno Pro teams at the 1976 Carling International Race of Champions at Weedsport , New York . He was the fastest qualifier for the big money feature with a newly installed Yamaha 440 liquid-cooled engine . But problems with a track adjuster caused a spin out in the Super Mod III final , costing him any chance to win anything beyond the crowd ’ s roaring approval .

By 1977 , Connecticut racer Jean-Guy Poulin was thrilling race fans crowds in New England with another Manta twintrac . His memorable run at the Lewiston , Maine , race saw him spin out , get back in the action , and then almost win . He had another impressive weekend at

8 / JANUARY 2025 / SNOWGOER . COM