http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/local&id=7163545
Man rescues 'cat' from graveyard
Randy Conat
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(12/10/09) -- A Mid-Michigan man has spent the past four years restoring a very rare military vehicle.
ABC12's Randy Conat reports the 46-year-old Snowcat was once used by the Air Force to transport people throughout the Arctic.
This is what the 1963 Thiokol 601 Snowcat looked like in 1995. It was in sad shape. "It was sinking into the ground and going into great decay," owner Kevin Csirke said.
Csirke, a retired Delphi worker, found it in a field in the Upper Peninsula. It had been used at K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base near Marquette. Prior to that, it served in northern Canada and Alaska on the DEW Line, a string of radar stations used during the Cold War.
"When I saw this one more or less abandoned, I said 'I had to have it,'" Csirke said.
Csirke paid $2,200 for it and brought it to his home in Burton where it sat in his barn for 11 years before he worked on it.
After four years of hard work, phone calls and eBay searches, Csirke has completed the restoration project. "The biggest challenge in restoring anything this old is parts."
Despite its size, it's surprisingly nimble. The Snowcat seats ten and is powered by a 223-cubic-inch Ford six-cylinder engine.
This is one of the original all-terrain vehicles. It could travel through snow, bogs and rocky terrain. Top speed: about 35 miles an hour.
"The plan is this is going to end up at our house in the Upper Peninsula. That's where it's going to stay. We have a lot of snow up there every year. It's right on Lake Superior," Csirke said.
