A Brand For All Seasons & Terrains: A Brief History Of Polaris

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U.S. Navy chief radioman Jack Cummings sits on a Polaris Sno-Traveler used by station scientists at Old Palmer Station in the mid-1960s. (Photo courtesy of Jack Cummings, National Science Foundation.)

Headquartered in Medina, Minnesota, Polaris Inc. manufactures snowmobiles, motorcycles, ATVs, and utility vehicles. The company also produced personal watercraft for a brief period from the 1990s to the early 2000s. The Polaris Government & Defense division (originally Polaris Defense), which manufactures vehicles for the U.S. military and allies of the United States, was officially created in 2005, though the U.S. military had been using Polaris ATVs since the 1980s.

Polaris didn’t invent the snowmobile, but the company’s founders, Edgar Hetteen, Allan Hetteen, and David Johnson, did a lot to popularize the revolutionary vehicles. The trio started as partners in Hetteen Hoist and Derrick, an industrial equipment company in Roseau, Minnesota. Employees at the company constructed their first prototype snowmobile in 1954 while Edgar was on a business trip. Allan and the team soon convinced Edgar to take a chance on the machine. The company name was changed to Polaris Industries Inc., a reference to the North Star and the company’s location on the northern Minnesota border, with snowmobiles as one of its main products. Edgar Hetteen left the company in 1960 after making a controversial trek across Alaska to promote the snowmobile and founded a competing manufacturer that would eventually become Arctic Cat.

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Polaris acquired Indian Motorcycle in 2011, expanding its product portfolio once again to include retro-styled cruisers and touring bikes. (Photo courtesy of Polaris.)

Early Hits & Misses

Polaris’ very first snowmobile was cobbled together with parts from a variety of sources, powered by a 9-horsepower (6.7-kilowatt) Briggs & Stratton engine, and had pieces of Chevrolet bumpers as skis. The first commercial model, the Sno-Traveler, had a rear traction platform hosting the engine and track, and a boat-hull front section with skis. The snowmobile did well and was even used by the U.S. Air Force to get within 400 miles of the North Pole. The Comet, released in 1963, was a failure. Despite a successful test run of the front-engine snowmobile in the glacial field near Mt. Denali (then Mt. McKinley) in Alaska, it proved to be a disaster in the less icy snow of the lower states. The company was forced to recall hundreds of machines. Successive models, such as the Mustang, would fare better and greatly contribute to the rise of recreational snowmobiling.

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The Polaris 650 Pro RMK is the culmination of more than 65 years’ worth of snowmobile expertise. (Photo courtesy of Polaris.)

Motor Sports Expansion

After decades of producing farm equipment and snowmobiles, the company entered the ATV market in 1985 with the three-wheeled Scrambler and the four-wheeled Trail Boss. The company added its first personal watercraft in 1991. The end of the 90s would see the introduction of the RANGER side-by-side and Victory motorcycles. Several acquisitions followed in the new millennium, including Indian Motorcycle, GEM and Teton Outfitters, Swissauto Powersports, Goupil Industrie S.A., Resilient Technologies, Aixam Mega S.A.S., and Primordial.

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Like exploring the great outdoors but hate snow? Polaris’ lineup of RZR side-by-side sport and recreation UTVs might be just the thing. (Photo courtesy of Polaris.)

Vehicles For All Terrains

Today, the Polaris lineup features vehicles for all types of weather and terrain. With a portfolio covering snowmobiles, snow bikes, motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs, passenger vehicles, boats, and off-road vehicles for the military, there’s something for everyone.

You’ll find a large selection of new and used Polaris motor sports vehicles , including snowmobiles , ATVs , and UTVs , for sale every day at MotorSportsUniverse.com.