Topic: SOLVED: WTH # 344 - 1970 Gehl Blazer GT15 All-Season Vehicle

[sixtee5cuda]

What car is this?  Include the year, make, and model.

There will be no LOCKs in this batch of puzzles, so guess carefully.

[sixtee5cuda]

I guess all the Rookies are asleep.

Moving up to the Experts.

[luisps]

I've that vehicle as the ALSPORT TRAKKER made in 1970 in Norwalk (Ohio) It's amphibious and is driven thru  a chain as the snowboards.

[sixtee5cuda]

Until this moment, I didn't know that the Alsport Tracker existed.

The puzzle vehicle is not an Alsport, and was not built in Ohio.  There must be a connection between the puzzle vehicle and the Alsport, but I have not been able to find it.

[luisps]

 Take a look at http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=9900.0  It seems to me that is the same vehicle.

[sixtee5cuda]

The vehicle on the left in this image is an Alsport Tracker.  The vehicle on the right has a different name.

[luisps]

Do it's a BLAZER?

[sixtee5cuda]

Blazer is the model.  Now to find the approximate year it was made, and what company made it.

[luisps]

The Sno-BLAZER was in production between 1972 and 1974 by the company Fun Seasons Ltd. based in Minneapolis (Minnesota). It's my own opinion that this vehicle was built using the tooling of the Alsport TRAKKER produced between 1970 and 1972. The bodies of both are identical.

[sixtee5cuda]

Not Sno-Blazer
Built in 1970 (possibly earlier)
Not by Fun Seasons (Ltd or Inc)
Not made in Minnesota (Burnsville or Minneapolis)

All information I have found about the Fun Seasons Sno-Blazer, indicates it was a conventional, single-seat snowmobile.

[sixtee5cuda]

I just found some information, which implies Alsport didn't develop the Tracker themselves, they may have purchased it from another firm.  (Still learning about the origins of the puzzle vehicle)

October 5th 1969 Elyria Ohio Chronicle-Telegram: (Asked of Alsport President Robert M. Warner)

******************************************
Where did this many-faceted industry get its start?
"Out of a wastebasket." Warner explains.

While he was with the Johnson Corp of Bellevue, Warner received a "dealers wanted" mail flyer which he glanced at, then tossed into the wastebasket.

The flyer concerned the snowmobile-type vehicle and its unusual aspects intrigued Warner.  He went back to the wastebasket, retrieved the flyer, and before long Alsport owned the Tracker.
******************************************

[luisps]

Maybe now I've the correct answer: Gehl Company in West Bend, Wis. made the BLAZER in 1970. My mistake in the previous answer was due to don't realize that the Sno in front of Blazer makes a big difference!

[sixtee5cuda]

A well-earned point goes to luisps for digging out the complete answer.  And pushing me towards learning far more about this vehicle.

[sixtee5cuda]

Here are the first images I found of the Gehl Blazer.  I believe the Gehl company brought it to an event in Wisconsin, during 2013.

[sixtee5cuda]

Later research found the following images.  At least 2 of these vehicles still exist.  The one from the show in Wisconsin, and another belonging to a gentleman who also owns an Alsport Tracker.  The second vehicle also provided a rear view image, the complete name of the vehicle, and a serial number tag.