WOW!! My ears are still ringing

[RickSE]

The 2001 Donzi/Pro-Line Dealer Convention was last week. What a great event, Donzi and Pro-Line did a super job. Thought you guys might like a short report.

Mercruiser News:

The 502 is being replaced by a new 425 H.P., 496 BBC. 502 engines and parts will only be produced long enough to cover existing warranties, 5-6 years before being fully discontinued. The base 454 engine is being replaced by a new 320 H.P., 377 c.i. SBC, basically a mass-produced Scorpion. Mercruiser uses a stroker crank from Lunati and hypereutectic pistons in this engine. It’ll cost about $2,000 over the 350 MAG and is 140 lbs. lighter than 454.

Donzi Highlights:

38 ZX Daytona, Poker Run Edition, twin 575 EFI blower motors. Bob Teague from Powerboat Magazine & Teague Marine was the driver for this boat. While all other boats were required to stay in the bay, Bob would take people out in to the Gulf on request. We requested as often as we could and went out three days in a row. The best ride was on Monday; we went out for 20-25 minutes in seas of 5-6 ft running close to 65-MPH. The next day I had blisters on my hands from this ride, stood up in the back, well worth it though. Wednesday the seas calmed down and we broke past 70-MPH in the Gulf. This boat would run 83 in the Bay but is capable of 89-MPH blasts. What a great ride, loved the sound of those superchargers!! Thanks for the great ride Bob.

28 ZX Scorpion Edition, twin 377 Scorpions. Ted one of the test drivers for Donzi showed us the ropes on this boat. What a great drivers boat. The 28 with Scorpions really likes to chine walk. Ted was very helpful though and showed us how to defeat the chine walking and also what to do when a stepped hull boat starts to loose traction in a turn. This boat will be available with the new 6.2L(377) engines.

The 22 ZX will also be available with the new 6.2L engine. Sounds like the big block is gone for good in this boat.

45 ZX, triple 500 EFI motors. This is huge boat and was capable of running neck and neck with the 38 Daytona. You gota love a boat that has a ladder into the engine compartment.

Harbormaster, I have over 80 digital pictures from this event, would you be interested in posting some of them?


[This message has been edited by RickS (edited 07-24-2000).]

[seano]

Rick,

great report! how fast was the 28 with the Scorpions?

[Frank Civitano]

Seano. The 28 Scorpion runs around 72-75 depending on conditions,
I took one for a ride! Sweet boat.

------------------
Frank Civitano

[GEOO]

Rick S., What Fun!!! Did they have any Scorpion Classic 18's?? GEOO

[Hotboat]

Very anxious to hear the results of that test also. (Scorpion in an 18)

------------------
Hotboat

[Varyak]

This past Saturday, I ordered a 2001 18 Classic with the new 6.2L 377cu 320hp motor.
With red hull, depth finder, hour meter, through-hull exhausts, trim tabs, and a MagicTrail aluminum, single axle trailer, she stickered out just a fraction under $50k
A lot of coin for an 18 footer. But I've been wanting the Scorpion package which was more than $10k more on the Y2K edition. The Scorpion motor is rated at 350hp by Mercury Marine, for the I/O models. The extra 30 horses didn't seem to be worth $10k. And really, how much faster would 30hp be? My hair stands up now in my Sweet 16!
Doubtful if I will have it in time for Eufala, since the order only went in today.
Mark

[RickSE]

Donzi had performance data posted for most of the boats. The postings were from a computer model and I believe it claimed 78.1-MPH for the 28 Scorpion. Unfortunately the speedo didn't work on the boat so I was never able to see an actual speed, but we had to be close to 75. Once again this boat was a great ride and fun to drive. The 33 & 38 are so much bigger that they seem to run straight no matter what you do, Teague even took his hands off the wheel at 80-MPH in the 38 to demonstrate this fact.

Unfortunately there were no other Scorpions at the show, and there were only two 22 Classics; a 454 MAG. 22 and the Yanmar diesel 22. No 16's or 18's. We were told by an anonymous source that Donzi is again raising prices on the 16 and 18 Classics in an effort to slow customer demand. I've always thought Classics were hard to sell but I counted 9 at the factory, more than I thought I'd see.

Varyak, You may get your boat sooner than you think. The factory is pumping out boats like mad in order to knock down the backorders. They told us normal production is 4 boats/day, they are now doing 5/day and a lot of OT.

I'd really like to post some of the pictures, but don't have the resources to do so. I'll send Scott an e-mail and see if he's interested.

[Varyak]

When I was still deciding if I should order my boat as a Scorpion, I called the factory and talked to (Steve Simmons?) the performance guy. He told me not a single Scorpion package had ever been actually ordered for a Classic. Appearantly just too much money for an 18 footer ($53k base price, then add options, taxes, trailer...$60k+).
At first, the possibility of owning a one-off intrigued me. Then the prospect of spending $15k more than a nearly identical boat with only 30hp less and no diamond plate in the engine compartment, brought my sanity back inside the orbit of Pluto. I'm probably nuts to spend almost $50k on my new Classic 18, but even THAT has its limits.
Besides...it's a DONZI! I love my Sweet 16 but I have a real need for speed!
Mark

[Varyak]

Correction: $15k LESS THAN the Scorpion, and 320hp for the 6.2L vs the 350hp Scorpion 6.2L
(I just gotta get more rest)