September 3, 2007 – Redline inventory finds new home
The remaining inventory from the ill-fated Redline snowmobile has been sold and is now under the ownership of Bob Hueppchen of Plymouth, Wis. Hueppchen acquired the various prototypes, parts and molds in April from Redline Holdings, which purchased the Redline assets. That company, which was coy on whether it would build a snowmobile, instead built a dune buggy-type machine using the Redline Revolt name.
Hueppchen and his son have spent the better part of the summer taking inventory of the items they purchased. Hueppchen laughed at the idea of actually bringing back the Redline machine to production; he’s more interested in supplying replacement parts to current owners and completing some half-built prototypes for a personal collection.
He said looking at the remaining inventory helps to answer some questions about why Redline only released 50 machines into the marketplace and ultimately failed in 2004. “I think the motor problem,” he said. “It wasn’t completely dialed in. I think they knew that, and they had some financial problems. If they had another year and some extra money, maybe they could have worked the bugs out of the machine.” He also noticed an imbalance in parts supply, which could have affected the timing on the sled build.
The parts are for sale and are available by visiting www.redlinesnowmobileridersclub.com. psb