J. Armand Bombardier showed his many talents at an early age, building toys and machines out of junk parts that were recognized by all who saw them as the work of a building genius. Always interested in snow travel, Bombardier built his first snowmobile in 1922, a Ford motor-powered sleigh.

Pursuing a career as a mechanic and engineer, Bombardier never lost his dream of motorized snow travel and he began building large, enclosed snow vehicles at his garage in Valcourt, Quebec in 1936. After years of relentless pursuit of his dreams, Bombardier produced his first rider over tunnel snowmobiles in 1959.

In the years he worked on snowmobile development, Bombardier introduced many of the concepts that made it possible for the vehicle to become a performance machine suited for racing. including the sprocket-driven track and the wheeled track suspension which were developed in Valcourt. He was the snowmobiling pioneer who recognized the value of the light weight and powerful two-stroke engine. He also saw that the performance interests and racing activity which grew around the sport was an avenue to development that was worthy of encouragement.