Frank Joseph Zamboni, Jr., born January 16, 1901, in Eureka, Utah, U.S.A, is an Italian immigrants’ son. He is the inventor of the Zamboni ice-resurfacing vehicle, which bears his surname.

The History of the Zamboni began in 1949 when American engineer and inventor Frank Zamboni developed the first ice-resurfacing vehicle in Paramount, California.

Before the invention of the first ice resurfacing vehicle, workers had a laborious and time-consuming ice resurfacing method. Three to five workers would be needed to scrape, wash, and squeegee the ice. After prepping the ice, a thin layer of water would be added to make the ice fresh and pristine.

Before 1949, it would take an ice-resurfacing crew 90 minutes per man to complete a task; with the advent of the Zamboni ice resurfacing vehicle, the per man task time was reduced to 15 minutes per task.

From 1942-1947 Frank Zamboni tried to create a vehicle for ice resurfacing to make the job more efficient and less time-consuming; unfortunately, he had limited success.

By 1949 Mr. Zamboni had revamped his plans for an ice resurfacing vehicle, coming up with “The Model A Zamboni ice-resurfacer.” This new incarnation comprised an army surplus chassis and had a four-wheel drive and front and back wheel steering. Other additions included a wash water tank and a cover for the snow-holding tank. Although this new machine was the first successful prototype, it was not without its issues; because the machine would constantly wedge against the boards, it became necessary to remove the front and back steering in favor of front-wheel steering.

The original Model A did not have much in the way of esthetic appeal, as noted by a journalist from the Brantford Expositor when he exclaimed: “The original [Model A] looks like the offspring of a field tractor and a warehouse crate.” The original Model A Zamboni ice-resurfacer is still on permanent display and operating at the Iceland rink in Paramount, California. The Model A Zamboni ice-resurfacer was patented in 1953.

With the success of Model A came the upgrade to the Model B design. With the new design came significant upgrades. Most notably was the decision to build the necessary parts directly onto the jeep, moving away from the Model A method of using a jeep engine and transmission. Future upgrades to the Zamboni would evolve when Model C incorporated a raised driver’s seat for better visibility and increasing the snow-holding tank’s capacity.

From the late 1950s to 1964, the Zamboni saw tiny new technical innovations from the Model A to the Model F design. With the introduction of the HD series in 1964, Zamboni revolutionized its design. Whereas previous designs used a conveyer belt to move ice shavings into the snow-holding tank, a vertical auger was now used to do the task. In addition to this, the HD series introduced a new hydraulic snow-dumping system. This eliminated the need for drivers to shovel ice shavings out of the holding tank manually. This design remains in effect to this day.

Frank Zamboni revolutionized the laborious task of ice-resurfacing with his invention of a motorized vehicle. One of the reasons why Frank was so driven to create such an invention was that so many people told him that he was crazy even to try; after nine years, he proved them wrong (making history of the Zamboni). After his initial success, Frank hadn’t planned on making more machines, but, after seeing the machine, Sonja Henie, the Olympic figure skating champion and actor, ordered two. Then the Chicago Blackhawks placed an order as well.

Frank’s final invention was in 1983 when he invented an automatic edger to remove ice buildup from the rinks’ edges.

Frank Zamboni died of cardiac arrest at Long Beach Memorial Hospital in July 1988 at age 87. The Zamboni company has sold more than 10,000 units of its machines, with the 10,000 machines delivered to the Montreal Canadians in April 2012 for use at the Bell Centre.