Tony
03-22-2003, 10:23 PM
...courtesy of Forrest Coile. I again found this post in the archives and referenced it here for those who want to know the difference between "Sweet Sixteen" and "Ski Sporter".
5/13/98 2:22:03 PM Forrest Coile. Norman, to answer you question on what is the difference between the Sweet Sixteen and the Ski Sporter 16. Basiclly, the Sweet Sixteen is the "Classic" knock-off of the original 16 Ski Sporter. The 16 Ski Sporter was built from when Donzi opened it doors for business until the late '70s. The 16 Ski Sporter was dropped because the 18 2+3 flat out sold it, and the 18 was a better riding, better handling, and faster boat. In the late '80s the new owners decided to re-introduce the 16 Ski Sporter as the Sweet Sixteen. The Sweet Sixteen appears to come from the same hull mold, though the deck and cockpit have been changed from the original driver-on-the-left to driver-on-the-right. The glass work appears to be as good as the original Ski Sporter, but Donzi opted to use cheap off-the-shelf stamped s/s and plastic vents other cheap hardware as they now do on all of their boats. The original 16 and other true classics used custom cast vents, hatch knob(s), and the like, which are difficult to find now. Gene can attest to that! Oh yes, one more thing, you don't find V-8 power in the Sweet Sixteen, though they do seem to have a good power-to-weight ratio with a V-6 vortex engine. Back then, all of the Ski Sporters had factory Ford based V-8s (Holman-Moody, Interceptor, Chris-Craft, and later MerCruiser).
5/13/98 2:22:03 PM Forrest Coile. Norman, to answer you question on what is the difference between the Sweet Sixteen and the Ski Sporter 16. Basiclly, the Sweet Sixteen is the "Classic" knock-off of the original 16 Ski Sporter. The 16 Ski Sporter was built from when Donzi opened it doors for business until the late '70s. The 16 Ski Sporter was dropped because the 18 2+3 flat out sold it, and the 18 was a better riding, better handling, and faster boat. In the late '80s the new owners decided to re-introduce the 16 Ski Sporter as the Sweet Sixteen. The Sweet Sixteen appears to come from the same hull mold, though the deck and cockpit have been changed from the original driver-on-the-left to driver-on-the-right. The glass work appears to be as good as the original Ski Sporter, but Donzi opted to use cheap off-the-shelf stamped s/s and plastic vents other cheap hardware as they now do on all of their boats. The original 16 and other true classics used custom cast vents, hatch knob(s), and the like, which are difficult to find now. Gene can attest to that! Oh yes, one more thing, you don't find V-8 power in the Sweet Sixteen, though they do seem to have a good power-to-weight ratio with a V-6 vortex engine. Back then, all of the Ski Sporters had factory Ford based V-8s (Holman-Moody, Interceptor, Chris-Craft, and later MerCruiser).