Reunited: Manta Twin Trac #2055

Although we mainly stick to four-wheeled vehicles made in Santa Ana, California as our main focus at KMPR, occasionally something catches our eye that we cannot escape. When that something is a piece of our own past, it becomes impossible to ignore.

Such was the case when a friend of KMPR, Jerry Schmitt, contacted us several years ago mentioning he owned a Manta Twin Trac racing snowmobile that he believed was once owned-and-raced by our own Rick Dresang.

The sled, Manta chassis #2055 was indeed raced by Rick and his uncle, Bob Fellner, from 1980 until 1982 before Bob sold it later that year. It had since migrated to Colorado, Minnesota and Michigan before settling a mere 25 minutes away from KMPR.

After a various email exchanges and phone calls to determine the provenance and originality, we told Jerry that if the time ever came, we'd love to have it back 'in the family.'

That time came yesterday, and it was an absolute delight to see the sled kept up in such great shape, still retaining some of the modifications Rick and his uncle made during their time racing it.

Over the coming months, KMPR looks to recapture the look of the sled that it sported in 1981, though we highly doubt we'll ever see the Polaris 250cc RXL 'Super Mod' engine it had installed during that time frame.

All of us at KMPR would like to thank Jerry for this wonderful opportunity, and we look to soon recount the full story of the sled, going back to late 1975/early 1976 when it rolled off the assembly line in Rochester, Michigan.