The lugubrious trials of a long and weird winter are coming to an end, but whether you're in Bozeman, Montana or Houston, Texas, chances are you could've used the Mattracks Powerboard stand-up snowmobile sometime this season.
Mattracks is far better known for their wicked-looking and highly functional rubber track conversion systems designed for wheeled-vehicles ranging in size from Humvees to ATV's. The Powerboard is an entirely different bird, though.It's a stand-up snowmobile of sorts which uses a proprietary design allowing the ground-side of the track to bend as the rider leans into a corner and thus provides steering.
The Powerboard is driven by a 6.5 HP Chinese-built Zhendong single-cylinder gas motor, with a centrifugal clutch hooked up to a chain drive. Pretty wimpy if you ask us, but the lawyers probably flipped at the rig's top speed of 18 MPH anyway. For the $2,495 it's not too terrible, considering the novelty, but a Kawasaki H1 Triple engine would certainly liven things up a bit in the performance department. [Mattracks]