1926 to 1938: First success

Joseph-Armand returns to Valcourt in 1926 to open his own garage. His father lends him money, and his family helps build the garage. He's only 19, but his remarkable ability to solve any mechanical problem, whether dealing with cars, bench saws, or agricultural pumps, earns him an outstanding reputation throughout the region. His success allows him to pay back his father's loan by 1929.

A concern through his youth is the isolation of Quebec villages in winter, which prevented motorized travel. Joseph-Armand takes advantage of his seasonal business to put his genius to work seeking a solution to snowbound winters.


Untiring research

The challenge is to design a motorized vehicle light enough to travel on snow, and equipped with a motor, traction, and suspension adapted to the changing consistency of snow. For 10 years Joseph-Armand toils determinedly on the project, often late at night and even on Sundays. His trials and research multiply, eating into his savings and attracting mockery from observers when partial advancements end in failure. But his intuitive and reasoned methodology leaves no room for doubt and sarcasm. Year after year, he develops a variety of prototypes by adapting automobiles.

Car motors are too heavy for the light vehicles he wants to design, so in 1933 he builds a lighter 45-kg motor leading to a couple of new prototypes. But the new motor tends to overheat, and the inventor has to return to the car engine ­ and the design of heavy vehicles.

Joseph-Armand's son Yvon dies of peritonitis at the age of two in the winter of 1934, when the family is unable to get him to the hospital in time for treatment. Sharpened by the pain of his loss, Joseph-Armand increases his efforts to overcome rural isolation in winter. The next year he perfects a toothed wheel covered in rubber, and a rubber and cotton track that wraps around the back wheels. This revolutionary sprocket and track system is at long last the solution for snow travel.

1935 Vehicle

Patent and production

The 1935 sprocket and track traction system is Joseph-Armand Bombardier's first major invention. He is aware of its importance and familiar with trade laws, so requests a patent from Ottawa on December 19, 1936. Six months later, on June 29, 1937, he receives a positive response from the Patent Office. Triumph! Joseph-Armand's efforts are finally recognized, and his dreams are within grasp.

A difficult choice now awaits him: should he exploit the patent himself or sell it at a handsome profit to an automobile manufacturer? The visionary entrepreneur opts to develop his patent in Valcourt, and in so doing becomes an industrialist. The Garage Bombardier, expanded and transformed into a production plant, will now operate year round, bringing jobs and prosperity to the small town.

The first seven production snowmobiles emerge from the new factory in the winter of 1936-37. They carry the name B7¹ ­ B for Bombardier and 7 for the number of passengers ­ and are well received by customers. But the inventor is always seeking to improve his products. He notices that an excessive amount of snow and ice accumulates in the vehicle's wheel spokes. Joseph-Armand solves the problem by assembling a press that makes solid wheels, showing once again his capacity for innovation and self-sufficiency, as well as his preoccupation with quality. The first B7¹ snowmobiles equipped with solid wheels appear in 1940.

While touring the province, Joseph-Armand parks his B7¹ snowmobile near the offices of local newspapers ­ ensuring he gets free publicity.

Joseph-Armand and a B7¹, 1936