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Sno-Runner! the story behind the smallest Mopar...
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Jul 18, 2025
A quick three-minute look at the Chrysler Sno Runner (later renamed Snow Rabbit), made from 1979 to 1982, using a Chrysler one-cylinder engine...
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0:00
Hi, this is Dave from Motel and I'm here
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to talk about a small vehicle. Chrysler
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smallest. Even though they did make the
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Sim Camila meal, this is smaller than
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that and it is called the Snowrunner.
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And they probably made it just because
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they already owned Westbend, the
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outboard motor company. So, they already
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had a single cylinder two cycle engine
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called the PowerB820 rated at a whole 8
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horsepower generated from 8.2 cubic in
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or around a tenth of a liter. Adding on
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a muffler dropped it to about 7
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horsepower in the Snowrunner, which was
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basically a sort of snow motorcycle. The
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Snowrunner was uh made and sold by
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Chrysler Marine, which was used to
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relatively small runs, and the frame was
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made of aluminum tubes welded together,
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which meant that the 1 and a3 gallon
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gasoline tank was actually part of the
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frame, avoiding the need for a separate
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tank. They had a single speed with a
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clutch and a chain drive and a 63in long
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powered track which was metal covered in
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rubber. The skis, two of them were made
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of fiberglass. They had a little
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alternator. They had headlights with low
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and high beams and they had one tail
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light and in case of trouble, the driver
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could immediately kill the engine with a
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kill switch on the handlebar. Brake
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acted on the clutch housing and was
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activated from a bicycle style squeezer.
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It was run like a motorcycle with a
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twist style throttle. When you wanted to
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move it to a mountain, you could uh
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unset quick release pins and fold it up
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so it would fit into a small trunk. And
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it weighed 71 lb. So you and a friend or
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if you're strong, you could just toss it
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into the trunk. Did not have an electric
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starter, just a bull cord. If you can
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pick up a 71 lb bike, you don't really
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need a electric starter. And it had a
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top speed of 25 m an hour with a 3-hour
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range. Kind of pricey. It sold for $699
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according to Hagerty, which works out to
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about $3,300. Now, an exhibit at the
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Chrysler Nationals claimed it was $645.
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So, they might have discounted it at
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some point or they might have raised the
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price over time. Ronnie Shriber, who
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wrote the Hagerty article, laid most of
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the blame for the low sales of about
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28,000 of them. So, it's not that low
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sales, but he he said that the lack of
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power was an issue because it was not as
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good in snow as it could have been with
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more power. And he pointed to the
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enthusiast community, which still exists
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and can boost the power quite a bit,
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enough to get you up to 40 mph.
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Snowrunner.com is still selling new old
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stock parts and upgrades. As it happens,
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we would normally think that this was a
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successful product since they made
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28,000 of them from 1979 into 1982,
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except that at the end, they sold quite
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a few of them as surplus items to a
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liquidator, and they were relabeled the
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Snow Rabbit for under $300.
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So, we suspect that Chrysler lost a good
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deal money on them, especially given the
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advertisements that they ran for it.
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Anyway, this is Dave from Motel uh
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talking about a small vehicle with a
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small video and I invite you to see
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history as it happens, so to speak, or
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news as some would say at motel.com/now.
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Ow.
#Classic Vehicles
#Custom & Performance Vehicles
#Winter Sports