45 VS 269

This photo was taken in the 1990’s at one of the previous homes of the Snowmobile Hall of Fame, now permanently located in St. Germaine, Wisconsin.

Over the years, this photos has caused some confusion. Most know Jim Bernat’s number when he won the 1975 Eagle River World Championship was 269. With the number 45 on this machine, many people thought it was a second, existing 1975 650cc PDC. It’s not.

Towards the end of 1975, Jim ran one (maybe more) races where he could not use his standard USSA PDC driver number and had to put the 45 on the machine. At the end of the year, they left it on there.

Some years later, Bernat peeled the 45 off and restored the 269, which are the numbers still on it today.

Of the 1975 PDC machines, there was one 250, 3 340’s, 3 440’s, possibly 3 440X machines, and 3 650’s.

The only real one known to exist is Jim’s 650, pictured above, making the 1975 sleds the rarest of the rare.

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