Here’s something you don’t see every day, a 1974 Cushman Trackster, listed here on eBay in Mi Wuk Village, CA. The buy-it-now price is listed as $3,995 and the current bid is at about half that with the reserve not met. This would be a great vehicle for summer or winter, or any time in-between.

I remember when these came out, I thought that they would be even more fun than our snowmobiles were. I can’t believe that my dad never got one of these, they would have been perfect for getting down the trail to a remote lake for fishing. I think I want one now even more than I did forty-two years ago. This one is supposedly all original and the tracks have some cracks but are said to work just fine. Replacement tracks are available but they aren’t cheap. There are forums for these things in case you’ll ever need parts, which you probably will on any 42-year old vehicle, let alone one that’s made to run through dirt, snow, and swamps. This is the standard model. Cushman also made a marsh model which was “essentially a fiberglass flotation ring glued to the standard model body tub”, according to the Cushman Trackster website. Yes, there is one.

There aren’t any photos of the seating / standing area but this is what the controls look like. It’s a hydrostatic drive system with two pumps connected to the motor by a driveshaft, with each pump having a direct connection to the pump motors. It’s all controlled by pushing forward or pulling back on the t-handle and then you twist it to turn right or left. It all sounds like witchcraft to me! It’s basically a fiberglass-bodied tank or bulldozer with rubber tracks. Here’s one in action on YouTube. Doesn’t that look like fun?

They came with either a 25 or 29hp air-cooled, 2-cycle motor with electric start. The first Subaru imported to the US, the 360, had 25hp. So, yeah, this thing could probably drive over one of those without even noticing it. This one has a replacement plastic gas tank but the seller has the original steel tank if you were looking to bring this to Pebble Beach–to tear up the golf course with it I mean, not to show it. Ha! Show it at Pebble Beach, whew! This one has the 29hp OMC unit and the seller says that it runs and drives great. I don’t know about you, but I think this would be a fun vehicle to own! What do you think?