When was the last time a 1971 800 King Kat was inside of Arctic Cat? Probably the fall of 1970.
Arctic Cat collectors Tom, Nancy & Brianna Ische delivered their original ’71 King last Friday, for display in the lobby until the 50th Anniversary.
Like all Arctic Cats in the Ische Collection, this one a stunner!
One of only 124 produced with the monstrous 800cc four-cylinder Kawasaki engine, this particular King Kat is in nearly perfect orginal condition.
It will be on display from now until the 50th Anniversary July 29-30.
And just wait until you see the other machines that the Isches (and other collectors) are bringing to 50th!
That is sweet! It’s going to be incredible to see all those Cats back in Thief River!
John, who is the bald guy leading the way?
The bald guy looks like Joey, we go to the same barber…..
Bob, it’s either the second coming of Inspector Henderson, or it’s Joey Hallstrom. Or both.
Tom has a lot of beautiful Cats! Hope he has the Boss Cat glass sided truck done for the 50th.
Tom, Nancy and Brianna graciously allowed us to take pictures of their collection of snowmobiles and memorabilia for the 50th book. Great people, super hard-working and very generous to me.
And their sleds literally took my breath away.
The Ische family has some of the most perfect old Arctic Cats I have ever seen, I too am eager to see more of what they have. And yes, it is funny to think that a few years have passed since that very King Cat came out of the plant as a new snowmobile. Tell Ische that even though it is now over 40 years old, I will still give him m.s.r.p. for it if he wants to sell. Strange that they never offered a 600 King Cat, that seems to be such a popular engine size, at least the last 60 days or so?
“Strange that they never offered a 600 King Cat, that seems to be such a popular engine size, at least the last 60 days or so?”
LMAO…now that’s funny right there.
I am pretty sure it was their machines (sans the King Kat) that I saw at Country Cat last year for their open house. Their machines are simply stunning and that Sno Pro they had there was unreal with the crome pipes.
I see Tom has the logo from SnoPro Unlimited on his shirt… is that where he gets all his chassis to build all his clones?
I understand there are multiple opinions about pros/cons of snowmobile restoration vs. original. And I also understand the passions that such opinions elicit.
I’ve made this site as a place to share opinions about the world of Arctic Cat, but it isn’t a place to direct any form of personal attack.
I respect that John Hanson used his name on the above post. And I can fairly surmise what his opinion is of restorations/originals/repop. I get it.
But I don’t accept the tone or the personal nature of his post. I’m leaving it up here for now, because the topic is real and simmering for many people in the hobby.
However, I am saying to all that I won’t allow any more like it.
If you want to have a rational, non-flaming discussion about the subject, fire up a post on the forum and keep it civil, as if you were having the conversation face-to-face and sharing a drink.
Thanks, in advance, for respecting my rules.
John,
I can’t wait to see all the cool Arctic sleds on display at the 50th. No doubt Tom Ische and Rowland will bring some darn cool stuff out for us to see.
With a little (OK, a LOT!) of help from Tom Rowland, I will even have a pretty rare Cat out for all to see at Tom’s display. It will probably be the first time in several decades that sled was seen with the motor and suspension installed.
Looking forward to seeing everone there! And, John, I agree this negative posts should be nuked. Lets keep this on a positive and upbeat vibe. This is not the time or the place to nit pick fellow collectors.
-Joe Rainville
BEAUTIFUL KINGKAT! IF IT WAS MINE I WOULD REMOVE THE LICENSE REG#!TAKES AWAY SOME OF THE BEAUTY! DON,T MIND ME I’M JUST JEALOUS!!
Just bought an original restored racer king kat 800 4 . any idea what they weigh?
chris
I have a 1972 Ext 440 triple that my son was gathering parts to restore when he died. The machine has been in the family since I was an Arctic Cat dealer in the late 60’s and early 70’s and has set idle for many years. If someone would like to purchase it they may contact my daughter in law at 307-514-2215
Sweet looking sled. I come from a family that started to ride arctic cat in 1972. I love them, and still riding cats today. The mountain cats are big in northern British Columbia,
i love that 800 king cat and would buy one if i could find one. grew up rideing cats, started with a 68 panther, 70 panther, 72 panther three diffrent pumas acouple cheetas el tigres wild cat zrt loved them all
Wow does this all bring back some memories. I cut my teeth on my dad’s 72 Puma and a 71 Panther 340 back in the early 80’s. Man it was fast. What a gorgeous King Cat. Thanks for bringing back some good times.
Revisiting this old post for fun. Saw a comment that I can add to: They did make a 650cc King Kat triple that same year. 112 of them were built. They used the 650cc JLO FA triple and they were pretty quick for the time they were made. They also made about 170 793c Hirth triple versions. Those could be made to run really strong and on shorter tracks they were easier to handle than the four cylinder model. We sold a 793 in fall 1970. 45 years later I can still hear that sled firing up for the first time. You had to be there!
I know where there is one in maine and has trophies to back it up
Hi Mr Ford
The king cat in Maine is it for sale !! Plz let me know thanxs Aj
705-788-5862
I could swear they produced a very few 1000 king cat? I used my dad’s 760 panther as my ride and still own her I’m 61.
The modern Kings were 900 twins. However going back to the Lego block design of the Kawasaki EXT series engines, the KK 798 four is two 399 ext twins on a common case with twin cdi ignition added. So that means it’s probably not to hard to drop on 1971 440 EXT single plug T1 series cylinders to make an 880 King Kat. Another monster engine build in Canada was to weld up two 650 Hirth Red Baron race engines into a 1300cc plus monster. Canada had an unlimited cc class for a while. Mod 6 I guess it was called.
Taking this to the extreme. I wonder if someone welded up four 340 Hirth singles on a case to make a 1460cc four. That swap was done to Honker triples to make a 900 plus triple.