Lynn Hicks
Lynn was born in Detroit, MI on July 6, 1926. Even at a young age he was mechanically gifted. Tinkering to learn how things worked and to make them better. Building on his skills came in handy during the great depression and hard times leading up to World War II. Quite often his family, friends, and neighbors couldn't afford new so Lynn troubleshooted and repaired all sorts of items. During the later years leading up to World War II he adapted the frame of a 1927 Ford and installed a modified flathead V-8 he built.
Not long after graduating High School came World War II. Lynn joined the Marine Corps. After the war he attended Michigan State University as a Mechanical Engineer. After college he worked for Massey-Ferguson (Detroit) and shined as a Field Test Engineer. He traveled all over the world testing and fixing tractor issues. Along the way he married Marjorie and bought a 300 acre farm in Northville and a cabin east of Mancelona in Michigan's lower peninsula snow belt. In what little spare time he had Lynn still loved tinkering with all sorts of mechanical items.
In the 1960s and 1970s the personal All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) and Snowmobile boom greatly gathered Lynn's interest. This is something new--how can I make it better? When it comes to Michigan Snowmobile history Lynn left his mark on not only the state, but the world. He was on the Massey-Ferguson Detroit based Ski-Whiz Development and Design Team with Thomas Denny and Jack Rose. Of note, the Ski-Whiz field testing was based out of Lynn's cabin. Lynn also worked with the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame member Robert Bracey and John Drawe as Chief Field Test Engineer for Leisure Vehicles Incorporated (Raider snowmobiles). During this time Lynn was also an Argo ATV dealer and owned Hicks Engines and Engineering in Northville--one of the largest Hirth engine and parts distributors in the world.
Lynn was very successful building ATV and snowmobile race engines. Helping powersports racers in many disciplines. At the peak of it all in the mid-1970s somehow the timing was right for a new challenge--break the world's snowmobile speed record.
While major companies like Arctic Cat, Bombardier, and Polaris along with independents were building machines that didn't even look like normal snowmobiles. Lynn went back to his roots--how can I make it better? He took a commercial off-the-shelf snowmobile (Sno-Jet) and made it his own. He took twin-cylinder engine parts and crafted them into a Triple Cylinder (975cc engine). Lynn hand made the exhaust system and worked with Walbro Corporation in Caro to make custom carburetors to his specifications. He even did wind tunnel testing aerodynamics. Lynn named the sled Thunder Chicken. Donald Pitzen was tapped to drive because of his extensive snowmobile racing experience.
February 27, 1977 would be a day to remember on Union Lake, Michigan breaking the record going just a tad under 136 MPH over a one mile course. Later that summer after the Guinness office review of methods and standards it was official. Lynn and his team set the world record!
Next year they tried to improve it. However, it wasn't in the cards. Proud of what he and his team had accomplished, Lynn went on to other interests. Soon after Snowmobile Speed Run sleds became very exotic due to rule changes. Also, the standard was lowered to run only a 1/4 of a mile instead of a mile. Of note, Lynn's record stood amazingly for five years.
Lynn retired in 1984 and moved to the Mancelona area. Sadly, he passed away in 2009.