Today in motorcycle history, February 4, 1970

  

  

  Motorcycle ice-racer, IMCA champion, Sigurd Olson “Sig” Haugdahl dies in Jacksonville, Florida, at 79.

  Born in Verdal, Nord-Trondelag, Norway, Sig migrated to the United States in 1910 making his home with a machinist uncle in Albert Lea, Minnesota.  He began his racing career in Norway on an Austrian Bock and Hollander 5hp V-twin he converted to race on the ice.  After arriving in the States, a then unknown Sig immersed himself in building a champion ice-bike.  In 1912 he introduced himself by reaching 70 mph on a custom-built 1909 Indian V-twin. 

  Switching to automobiles, Haugdahl began dirt track racing in 1918.  He would become the IMCA (International Motor Contest Association) champion six years in a row, between 1927 and 1932.

  He built the infamous "Wisconsin Special" to specifically unseat then champion Tommy Milton. The car was named after its 836 cubic inch Wisconsin Airplane 6-cylinder motor, which was directly connected to the rear wheels.  The car was 192 inches long, yet only 20 inches wide, and had a liver-quivering 250 hp. On April 7, 1922 he reportedly hit an unverified 180 mph on the Daytona Beach road course.

  Sigurd  Haugdahl was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1994.