Bombardier

A visionary genius, Joseph-Armand Bombardier was one of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs as well as a gifted inventor. His best- known invention — the snowmobile — is a multipurpose, motorized vehicle that was designed to travel efficiently over most kinds of snow conditions.

Bombardier was not so much a tycoon as he was a thinker. Always mindful of snow, he plotted how to escape its confinements, how to accept the inevitable presence of winter conditions, and how best to travel in the midst of them. With his various winter vehicles — two of the major ones being the snowmobile and the Ski-Doo® — the incredible Bombardier unintentionally introduced a new winter sport, snowmobiling. It was Canada’s first major contribution to the world of sport following the introduction of ice hockey in the late nineteenth century.

Today, in both Canada and the United States the Ski-Doo® is primarily used for recreation. In the Netherlands, however, the snowmobile is sometimes used in the construction of dikes; in Scotland in the laying of pipelines; in Peru in the handling of heavy logs; in Lapland it is used in the rounding up of reindeer. Bombardier, born on April 16, 1907, was the son of a prosperous farmer from the small community of Valcourt, east of Montreal near Sherbrooke, Quebec. The severe Valcourt winters created snowdrifts so high that sometimes buildings almost disappeared during the rugged winter months. Roads plugged deep with snow prevented the use of vehicles and thus isolated many rural communities.

As a teenager, mechanically minded Bombardier spent the long winters thinking about a vehicle that could travel over snow and thereby ease the solitude imposed by winter. In 1922, when he was only 15, his father gave him an old Model T Ford. Bombardier removed the motor and attached it to the framework of a typical four-passenger sleigh — the usual mode of transportation for French-Canadian families during Quebec’s severe winters. He installed a huge wooden aeroplane propeller on the drive shaft behind the transmission. Then, using four sleigh runners to glide across the snow, he drove this “strange mechanical animal” through the main street of his hometown village.

A self-taught man, by 1935 J.-Armand Bombardier had designed and built a rubber-cushioned, sprocket wheel-track system that made possible full-scale production of multi passenger snow vehicles. By 1937 he had introduced his principle of steering by skis in front of a tracked drive. On June 29, 1937, he was granted his first patent. He quickly put up a sign on his garage —“L’Auto-Neige Bombardier” — and went into business. Success was inevitable and immediate.

During the war years, Bombardier succeeded in building a variety of snow vehicles including the Kaki, the B-1, and the Armoured Track, some of which were labelled “Penguins” by the armed forces. The famous B-12 snowmobile sold worldwide immediately after the war. For example, 1,000 B-12 vehicles were produced in each of the years 1947, ‘48, and ‘49. The B-12 was a very useful snow vehicle in that it could transport twelve enclosed passengers at one time in addition to various kinds of materials during severe winter conditions. By 1953, Bombardier had introduced the famous MUSKEG, an all-purpose vehicle with eight wheels and two tracks on each side. It was used primarily for oil exploration in Canada’s northwest. During the winter of 1959, Bombardier perfected a light, reliable, one- or two-passenger snow vehicle called the Ski-Doo®. Winter has never been the same since. Production that year was 225 machines; by 1994 over two million units of the Ski-Doo® had been manufactured.

1. A mechanic by training, J.-Armand Bombardier proved to be a very perceptive and creative businessman. His invention of the snowmobile became the foundation for a business empire that today includes the building of aircraft, subway cars, railway cars, and all-purpose vehicles 2. One of the most important events in the life of J.Armand Bombardier occurred when, as a teenager, his father gave him an old ford. He converted it into his first snow machine as photographed here in 1923. [Musee J. Armand Bombardier]

Bombardier was an unusual man — a visionary with a big dream — who turned down repeated offers to sell his company to large American corporations. After ten years of trial and error on a succession of experimental models, Bombardier was not about to let his company slip through his fingers. Even though his big snowmobiles and muskeg tractors were shipped and used around the world from Japan to Antarctica, Bombardier was content to stay close to his roots — Valcourt, Quebec. In 1942, however, J.-Armand Bombardier went public and the company name became Bombardier Limited. But even as the company grew and expanded, Mr. Bombardier never lost the desire to drive his creations himself.

Bombardier had a simple philosophy of merchandising that today seems strange in the era of parts manufacturers and subcontractors. He wanted to make everything himself! He firmly believed that if a product was good it would sell without the offering of special incentives. He never gave credit or shipped on consignment. He believed that if the product was useful, well-made and met the needs of individual or corporate buyers, they would willingly pay for it. And they did!

Bombardier Inc. is now one of the world’s largest manufacturers of transportation vehicles. Such well-known consumer products as Ski-Doo® and the just-as-popular watercraft Sea-Doo® have made the name Bombardier recognized worldwide. The company created by Armand Bombardier has become one of the world’s leading aircraft manufacturers operating Canadair (Canada), deHavilland Inc. (Canada), Learjet Inc. (the United States) as well as Short Brothers PLC (the United Kingdom).

The company is also a world leader in the manufacturing of subway and railway cars. In Europe it is engaged in making special-purpose rail vehicles for the English Channel tunnel in addition to high-speed trains for continental use. In Canada, the United States, and Mexico, Bombardier Inc. manufactures subway, light rail, monorail, commuter, intercity trains as well as freight-train cars.

A creative genius, inventor, and entrepreneur, J.-Armand Bombardier literally set out to revolutionize snow transportation. No one can question his success! His premature death in 1964 came when he was at the very height of his career. But the dreams he had in the 1920s continue to be fulfilled. He would no doubt be proud to learn that the dynamic business establishment he founded today employs some 36,500 people worldwide and has annual sales exceeding four billion dollars.