PAGE 4 - RESURRECTING RUPP

We met with Joe Hrudka and a  purchase price of $600,000.00 was established with him, “however I think this could have been negotiated down from there”,  for the parts and existing tooling which he indicated was about ten cents on the dollar, however the tooling was already transferred to a firm in Janesville, Wisconsin but was still available.  During our visit with Mr Hrudka, I made it clear to him that I did not have this kind of money and the funds would have to come from investors.  He advised me during our visit that he thought Rupp could be brought back to existence and he further stated that he thought that if we would put all our emphasis on quality instead of volume and hand build the snowmobiles, they could become The Cadillac of snowmobiles.  While at his home,  Mr Hrudka also gave us a tour of his mansion and a museum of restored 1957 Chevrolet convertibles and hard tops.  He also spoke of his gasket factory where they manufacture all kinds of gaskets for various industries.

PAGE 3 - RESERRECTING RUPP

A customer from Rapid City, South Dakota and I traveled to Cleveland, Ohio to meet with Mr Joe Hrudka, “H & H Snowmobiles”, The owner of the remains of Rupp Industries.  Within our trip we stopped at Lincoln, Nebraska and visited The Kawasaki Snowmobile Manufacturing Plant to acquire ideas on the operation of producing snowmobiles and the use of tooling.

At Cleveland, Ohio we spent two days looking over the operations of H & H Snowmobiles including evaluating the parts and accessories inventory, sales records and analyzing methods of transportation to Rapid City, South Dakota which was estimated at about 20 semi loads.

According to the records of H&H Snowmobiles, the approximate quantity of snowmobiles sold by Rupp Industries during their lifetime is as follows, however some of these figures are not the same as revealed by Mick Rupp and other sources obtained throughout this writing.

1965……………………..500                     1972..........................40,000

1966……………………1,000                    1973..........................30,000

1967……………………3,500                    1974..........................25,000

1968…………………..12,000                   1975..........................20,000

1969…………………..20,000                   1976..........................30,000

1970…………………..28,000                   1977............................5,000

1971…………………..31,000                   1978............................1,500

PAGE 2 - RESURRECTING RUPP

In 1979,  In my passion for Rupp, I started to communicate with my Rupp customers about ways of how to possibly resurrect and bring back The Rupp Snowmobile.  Within these communications, there was a lot of interest within dealers and owners. I even had offers of money and help mostly from Rupp enthusiasts within the northern Central and Eastern portion of the United States.

In late 1979, I decided that I should attempt to bring Rupp back into existence. I was 42 years old and recently left a Dodge Dealership as Sales Manager.  It was decided that The New Company should be further north, so with the communication of various Rupp customers, it was decided that Rapid City, South Dakota should be the location of the new company because of the snow conditions and the many riding trails of The Black Hills of South Dakota. No corporation income tax in The State of South Dakota was also taken in consideration within this location, furthermore in The Rapid City outskirts there was a large vacant building and facilities, which was once a mobile home manufacturing plant which would have been adequate for a Rupp Manufacturing plant.

PART 1 - I THOUGHT I COULD RESURRECT RUPP

I THOUGHT I COULD RESURRECT RUPP

I, Larry Raile was a Rupp dealer at North Dakota in 1969 thru 1972 in which my Distributor was Burkhardt-Larsen Company from Minneapolis, Minnesota and later DDI, (Diversified Distributor Inc.)  I moved to Colorado in 1972 and again was a Rupp Dealer thru 1978.  While in North Dakota I was very involved in Rupp racing and performance, as I sold several 1969 Rupp GTX, 1970 and 1971 Rupp Magnums including a Rupp 800 Magnum. To acquire this Rupp 800 Magnum, I visited with Mick Rupp personally via a telephone conversation.        I enjoyed a trip to Jamaica, “on Rupp” for purchases made in 1971 and joined many Rupp dealers throughout United States there.  A very enjoyable trip indeed.

While in Colorado, I started and developed a Rupp mail order parts catalog company called “Superior Sport Sales”, and it was mailed out all over The United States.  Rupp O.E.M. parts and some aftermarket parts were sold and shipped to Rupp owners.  Rupp owners and their addresses were acquired thru the purchasing of registrations from various states.  Superior Sport Sales grew and prospered as the years progressed.

THE 1978 RUPP NITRO:  In 1978 Rupp built approximately 1500 snowmobiles.  The 1978 Rupps are pretty much the same as the 1976 and 1977 sleds with hood decal changes.                                        NITRO: In 1978 Rupp eliminated the surge tanks which the 1976 and 1977 models used on the Nitro, but the rest of the snowmobile was the same as the two previous years.

SPORT:  The specs on the Sport are the same as the 1977 model except some decal changes.

The 1978 Rupps were built by H & H snowmobiles in Cleveland, Ohio

and 1978 was the final year for The Rupp Snowmobile.  

THE 1977 RUPP'S: There were approximately 5,000

Rupps produced and manufactured in 1977. Below you

will find pictures and specs on the 1977 models.

The 1977 Rupps were built at Thief River Falls, Minnesota by Arctic Cat

as this was the year that Rupp filed for bankruptcy protection and closed The Manfield, Ohio plant.

Early 1976 press releases by Snow Sport Dealer News

Rupp Files Chapter 11

MANSFIELD, OHIO – Rupp Industries, Inc. has filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy act.  The company continues to operate, but has court protection against creditor lawsuits while it tries to work out a way to pay its debts

Arctic Building 1977 Rupps

Thief River Falls, Minn.

Arctic has signed an agreement with Rupp Industries tobuild Rupp's 1977 model snowmobiles.  According to Rupp president Ed Fochtman, Jr. approximately 3,000 Rupp's will be built in Thief River Falls,  with the bulk of them three fourths) to be 440 Nitro's. A small part of the production will be the Alouette line to be marketed in Canada, Fochtman said.

    “It's fortunate for us,”  Fochtman said, that Arctic chose to give us this vote of confidence.  If we did'nt have them we would have to give up.

    “We think we can be a viable company.  We've had real good response from our distributors and dealers to our hang-in-there attitude.  They're used to rumors and they don't run scared.  We've lost very few dealers thus far.

      He added that Rupp has about 2,000 machines in inventory. (almost all 1976 models), most of them at factory level.

In 1977 Rupp had only two models available, The Rupp Nitro and The Rupp Sport.

SPORT 295,  Was powered by a G298, 298cc Xenoah 2 cylinder fan cooled cooled engine with a Mikuni carb, CDI Ignition and 15 ½ inch track with bogie suspension.

NITRO,  Powered by either a 295cc or 440cc twin cylinder Xenoah liquid cooled engine, with manual start.  Dual Mikuni carbs

16 ½ inch track with Rupp Rails slide suspension.  Very much the same as a 1976 Nitro, except different hood decals and some engine performance modifications.

1976 RUPP SNOWMOBILES

THE 1976 RUPP'S: There were approximately 30,000

Rupps produced and manufactured in 1976. Below you

will find pictures and specs on the 1976 models.

 

In 1976 Rupp manufactured an all new line of snowmobiles. There were four Rupp snowmobile models available.  The Rupp Sport, Rally, Nitro and Magnum.

THE RUPP SPORT,  Powered by a Xenoah 340cc fan cooled engine with

CDI ignition system and a Mikuni carburetor.  It has a 15 ½ inch track  and a bogie suspension system.

THE RUPP RALLY,  Very much the same snowmobile as a 1975 Rupp Nitro except the body is different.  Has a Kohler 440, K440-2AS fan cooled engine as the only engine offered,  with manual start. (electric start optional)  Some drive clutch updates.

THE RUPP NITRO:  A totally new snowmobile.  Powered by a powerful Xenoah 340cc or 440cc liquid cooled engine with manual start.  CDI Ignition, reed  valves and dual Mikuni carbs.  16 1/2” involute drive track with Rupp Rails slide suspension,  Hex Clutch and wide stance skis.

Performance – One Helluva trail performance sled.

THE RUPP MAGNUM:  A big league racing sled.  Powered by Xenoah 250cc, 340cc, or a 440cc High Performance liquid cooled engines.  Dual high preformance Mikuni carbs, reed valves and CDI Ignition.

Has a proven racing clutch and a tough light weight swing-link slider suspension with a four band track.  Super wide stance skis.

Performance – Built to out hustle and out muscle anything on the track.

THE 1975 RUPP'S: There were approximately 20,000

Rupps produced and manufactured in 1975. Below you

will find pictures and specs on the 1975 models.

In 1975 there were two Rupp Nitro's available.  The 1975 Nitro

340 and 440 and The all new Rupp Nitro FA.  The 1975 Nitro was basically the same as the 1974 Nitro II.  It had an upgraded drive clutch and some different stripping on the side of the body.  The engines, track and suspensions were the same as the 1974 Nitro II's.

The 1975 Rupp Nitro FA was a totally new performance snowmobile.  There were two models available.  The Rupp Nitro 340FA  with a Kohler K340-2RS free air engine and The Nitro 440FA had a Kohler K440-2RS free air engine. The engines featured a crankcase air duct and twin Mikuni carburation.  Two tuned pipes that snaked into a single removable muffler.

The slide suspension had a 16 inch grauser bar track and a friction free torque converter.  Aluminum racing skis

It came standard with a tachometer.

Performance:  Add everything up and you've got one moving machine.

1974 RUPP SNOWMOBILES

THE 1974 RUPP'S: There were approximately 25,000

Rupps produced and manufactured in 1974. Below you

will find pictures and specs on the 1974 models.

The 1974 Rupp Models were The Sport, The American and The all new Nitro II.  The Sport and American were basically the same as The 1973's with some new stripping on the body.  The engines and suspensions were the same as the previous year.

SPORT, Two models, The Sport 25 and the Sport 30

AMERICAN, Two models, The American 30 and The American 40.  Bogie suspension standard. Sliders optional.

Manual start standard and electric start optional

NITRO II, The 1974 Nitro II featured an all new body. Two models available. The Nitro II – 340, K3402AS Kohler, fan cooled engine and The Nitro II – 440. K4402AS Kohler fan cooled engine. Dual Mikuni carbs and a performance tuned exhaust system with full blown expansion chambers, 17 ½ inch aggressive-thread molded track with a adjustable

slide suspension and high-output torque converter system.

Speedometer, tachometer, kill and dimmer switch standard.

1972 - RUPP ASSEMBLY PLANT

Some very interesting pictures of Rupp's manufacturing

plant during 1972.

It may be necessary to enlarge the print on your computer to read