early competitors have not fared well in the face of competition. Other notable players in the North American snowcat market included Thiokol, Bombardier, KRISTI snowcat, Foremost, and Swedish manufacturer Aktiv Snow Trac. All the historical competitors to Tucker Sno-Cat made two-track snowcats. Thiokol of Utah sold its ski-lift and snowcat operations in 1978, with John Z DeLorean purchasing the snowcat division, and changed its name to DMC. DMC later was bought out by its management team and renamed Logan Machine Company more commonly known as LMC. LMC ceased production in 2000. Thiokol's Imp, Super-Imp and Spryte were most its popular products were continued by DMC and LMC and were commercial successes but could not support the entire company. Many of these models are still in use today in the commercial market and are popular as privately owned snowcats. KRISTI snowcat had a limited production of 2 track snowcats between 1956 and 1968 in Colorado, it was purchased by a group of Boeing engineers and moved to Washington where it ceased production in the early 1970s with a total production reported to be less than 180 units. Aktiv Snow Trac ceased production in 1982 when its engine supplier (Volkswagen) ceased production of its air-cooled engines in Europe. A majority of the more than 2,200 Snow Tracs made were imported to Canada and the United States, mostly by Canadian utilities and U.S. governmental agencies; the Snow Trac is still in common use in private ownership and to a lesser degree in commerce. Bombardier still continues in business but has radically altered its business model and product selection. Bombardier sold over 3,000 of its popular snow bus models which are still in use today and in popular demand by dedicated collectors. Bombardier sold its snow groomer business to Camoplast in 2004 who in turn sold to it to Leitner Group/Prinoth in 2005. Track design evolution Tucker Sno-Cats were originally built with a steel track that rotates around a steel pontoon. Located at the top center of the pontoon is a drive sprocket with teeth that drive the chain-like tracks around the steel pontoon. Due to maintenance issues with rust on the steel pontoons, fiberglass pontoons eventually replaced some steel parts but the overall mechanism was basically unchanged. Steel tracks revolving around pontoons were replaced with a system that employed two rubber belts with metal cleats, or grousers, attached to the outside perimeter to