1971 King Kat 793 Hirth

[Earl]

how many were made ?  One on Facebook Market Place in Conn. for $22,500 owner claims only 172 were produced, is that correct?

[Vintagesleds.com]

[rob30]

I know they are rare... Local guy has one completely restored and wont even start it... Simply a show piece...

[toekneedee]

178 according to boss cat legacy

[ski-doood]

It seems a very high percentage of them still exist, fortunately.  If I remember right, the 650 King Kat was the rarest one.  The 800 is surely the most sought after.  Something about four cylinders huh.

[danno297]

What I wonder about is why you hardly ever see a 1970 Panther with a 793 Hirth.  According to the Boss Cat site, they made 1343 of them.  That's like three times the number of King Kats made and a lot to be so scarce.

[duallydave]

93 Panther 793s were made, not 1300.

[ski-doood]

Some of those 793 Panthers had mufflers. I don't ever remember seeing one on the trails back in the days but that would have been cool!

[Brettm57]

My dad sold just one King Kat in 1971 with the 793 Hirth triple engine.  The owner let me ride it several times back then.  Let me tell you, that was really big deal to this 13 year old!

Photo for attention - definitely not mine!

[SirSpamalot]

Yes those were the days, I helped get that sled unstuck when Dave buried it in a drift. Lol. Almost ran me over while I tugged on the skis. Heavy mother not suitable for trail riding… Race only. But they sound amazing when dialed in. Yes 170 something is about right. Boss Cats figures are the ones I sent him 20 something years ago. My source said they were legit. Panther 793 I can’t remember but the mod ones were less than a 100 I think. I can’t just pull the numbers out anymore and my books are buried in the garage. They were too darn rare and too much hp for the non racers. Of the 800 s the Hirth was more reliable than the finicky Kawy and weighed less, so on shorter tracks it was better. So the old racers told me. Glad some pop up for sale.

[danno297]

93 Panther 793s were made, not 1300.

  That would make sense why they are scarce.

[SirSpamalot]

Yes gotta be a typo. I’d go with 1300 760 twins or 634s as a guess.  When I had the figures in front of me it wasn’t over 500 Kings made in all three sizes. That I remember. Everyone forgets the 650 Jlo. It’s not even mentioned in the 1975 parts manual update of the 71 book. But they made over a hundred 650s. Using the JLO engine was a stop gap because the 650 Kawasaki wasn’t ready yet. They played with a small bore 650 version of the 800 4 and that didn’t get past the test stage. Too heavy not enough power. The 650 Kawasaki triple in the 72 EXT actually put out almost as much power as the stock 800 4. Better porting and pipes etc a year more development. I can’t help but think after all these years that if they had only had that 650 Kawasaki triple in the 650 king cat that king cat might’ve been more memorable. It was in the pipeline but not ready for 1971. Cat learned so much about tuned exhaust and so did everyone else, from 1970 to 1973. It’s remarkable. Again don’t quote me here go dig out the boss cat figures. I don’t have total recall just a lot of dusty books and notes and memories of interviews of folks long gone. Peace.

[duallydave]

I remember seeing a brand new 793 KK on the lawn at
Fred Simpson's open house. Fall 1970.

[76merc650]

I can guarantee there are hundreds of clones built than were ever produced.