Massey Ferguson Des Moines plant builds the Ski Whiz (1969-1973)

Massey-Ferguson entered the snowmobile business for the 1969 season with a big, well-built machine manufactured at the company’s Des Moines, Iowa, plant. Styled and hued after the company’s very successful line of farm tractors, and propelled by an industry-first internal drive track, Ski Whiz sleds were sold predominantly through a well-developed network of rural dealers and backed by Massey’s established parts and service operations. The company thought its snow machine would be a solid hit.

But by the time Massey had a couple of seasons under its belt the company understood that it had to add some style and sizzle to its heavy, homely, under-performing snow tractor or it was not going to succeed. So for the 1973 season the Ski Whiz was redesigned.  It started with a decidedly better overall appearance. Clean, new styling rounded off the corners and sharp edges while maintaining the basic Ski Whiz shape. The trademark red hood remained, but the chassis changed color from silver to black. Many details were upgraded including the windshield, seat, front bumper, ski spindles, storage compartment, gas tank, drive belt, passenger hand holds and snow flap. Safety improvements included an engine kill switch, side reflectors, larger taillights and a bigger handlebar pad. 

Sales jumped about 60 percent for the redesigned Ski Whiz, but success was fleeting. The expanded 1974 Massey lineup was essentially some warmed over 1973 models with a red-trim-on-black color scheme and some additional equipment choices. The energy crisis from the 1973 Arab oil embargo and the growing industry-wide glut of unsold inventory hurt sales of all brands, and Massey was certainly no exception.  But the heart of the problem was that the redesigned Ski Whiz retained too much obsolete technology — particularly the heavy, steel chassis and bogie wheel suspension. It’s sub-standard ride and handling received tepid magazine reviews when it got press at all. And lacking any kind of a performance image — because the company was one of the few recognizable names that wasn’t into racing — Massey could not compete for the trail racer buyers who were becoming a key segment of the fast evolving snowmobile market.  Massey discontinued production of the Ski Whiz in 1974.