Some folks like to show off their antique cars. John Lindberg gets more excited showing off and looking at vintage snowmobiles.
Either way, it’s the nostalgia that brings enjoyment to the hobby, said Lindberg, president of the Wauconda Snowmobile Club.
He remembers riding near his grandparent’s cottage in Wisconsin with his parents when he was 9 years old.
“We’d dress up in our snowmobile suits,” said Lindberg, now in his 50s.
“We were nice and warm, we’d go out and ride and see the scenery and the deer, and then stop and have some hot chocolate.
“Back then you didn’t go fast, it was pretty slow. Now a days the equipment is better.”
He and other vintage snowmobile owners will reminisce about the good old snowmobiling days Sunday when the club hosts its eighth annual vintage snowmobile ride and show in Wauconda.
It’s free to the public for viewing.
If there’s enough snow and it’s cold enough, the snowmobile owners will go out on Bangs Lake for a ride. A people’s choice trophy will be awarded to one vehicle owner.
Lindberg said he realizes the show is on Super Bowl Sunday.
“We’ve always had it that day. But we’re done at 2 p.m. and then you have time to go home and get ready for the game,” he said.
Before hand, you can look at the snowmobiles, watch them drive by you, go for a ride if you have one and purchase chili, hot dogs and hot chocolate, he said.
He owns several vintage snowmobiles including one made in 1971, the type he rode when he was a youngster.
“The basic style hasn’t changed. They have a big long seat. The motor’s in front with a hood over it and a track underneath. But the technology has improved over the years,” Lindberg said. “Today you can cover a lot more ground. Back then it was a big deal to do 20 miles in a day. Now it’s nothing to do 100 miles a day.”
Lindberg said he still enjoys the leisurely, slow ride, but if he’s got an open area, he will go faster, and he typically goes farther north to ride where there’s more snow and open country than in the Chicago suburbs.
His favorite vintage mobile, which he hopes to show at the event, is a 1984 model.
“It’s the same type as the first one I bought on my own in my early 20s. I had a used car. But I bought a brand new snowmobile.”
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It was $3,000, he said.
People typically buy snowmobiles off the showroom floor, but Lindberg recalled test driving a new one at a Ford dealership in Wauconda before purchasing his very first mobile.
“That was unheard of. We went down the street on Bonner Road in Wauconda. We rode around in a cornfield, which is now a bus parking lot.”
That’s the kind of reminiscing that happens at the show, he said.
“Everybody looks at each other’s stuff and compares notes and tells stories about the old days, and the general public comes out and looks at them out of curiosity.”
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance writer.
Eighth Annual Vintage Snowmobile Ride & Show
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: Cook Park, 600 N. Main St., Wauconda
Tickets: Free for spectators, $3 donation per snowmobile entry
Information: 847-682-9110; www.waucondasnowmobileclub.com http://www.waucondasnowmobileclub.com