At the end of the very successful 1977 racing season, the newly christened ‘Midnight Blue Express’ was charged with the task of building a production racing machine for the 1978 season. It would be very nearly identical to the machines the team used in 1977 to dominate the SnoPro circuit.
When the production machine was unveiled at an October 1977 trade show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the hood proudly proclaimed the new model the Polaris Prostar. It was a very logical name choice, combining the “Starfire” name of the past with the more professional racing model.
But shortly after that trade show, marketing decided the Prostar needed to be more in line with the other production models – even though they had little to nothing in common – and they changed the name to the Polaris RXL, as a way to line it up with the TXL.
Thus the hood pictured here is probably the only hood that ever got to be graced with the Prostar logo.
The above photo was provided by Boyd Burke.
