Any info on a Donzi splash named "Legend"?

[obrien]

A friend of mine has been looking into getting a Donzi since my purchase and he has encountered a Donzi knock off called "Legend"...Has anyone ever heard of these boats or have any info...It looks like an exact replica?

[ALLAN BROWN]

Legend was a small company in Ft. Lauderdale, founded with the idea of building boats that were great, but no longer built by the original builders. They chose the 16' Donzi, the 27' Magnum, and a couple of others. When Dick Genth saw their success with the 16', he sued them with a B.S. lawsuit meant to entangle them, legally, and slow them down. They finally came together, and Genth purchased the tooling and hired the GM, Marshall Kett, to open a facility in Fort Lauderdale building 16's and 18's which had been dropped from the Donzi line. I guess you can thank them for the rebirth of the classic line. Interestingly enough, the 16' that they "popped" belonged to Jeff Jones, later the owner and founder of AlphaZ.

[obrien]

Thanks alot for that overview...very interesting to hear the history behind the Legend...its looks like a great boat and i wonder how they made there way up here to Ontario Canada...if anyone else has any Legend stories i would love to hear about them...

[Lenny]

Obrien, you could also be looking at a "Shepherd-built DONZI 16 as well. What size is it? Ontario was Shepherds' (DONZI 16 copy era) stomping grounds in the late sixties time frame.

[obrien]

the boat is a classic 16....it could be a "Shepherd" but I think is is a Legend...If im correct the boat is an 89' or so...yellow in colour...Legend logo on the side and Legned carved into the dash board...im guessing that it was brought up by an American and sold here....I have seen two of these boats in the Muskoka area...both 16 and both yellow..very interesting and rare

[Lenny]

Then, LEGEND it is. Shepherd would not go to that great of detail to promote another manufacturer to be sure. 1989 doesn't sound right tho. OMC (DONZI) ownership in that time frame and they were playing with their "re-design" of the 16, the Unlimited Four Winns... ???

[Formula Jr]

Allan, what years were the 18 2+3 dropped from production?

[obrien]

Im 99% sure that the 16 Legend was either an 88 or 89'

[ALLAN BROWN]

'88 sounds right. I desgned the 23' AlphaZ for Jeff in '88/'89. Jr., I am not certain that they ever completely dropped the 18' from production.

[Fish boy]

Brownie,
I checked today, I don't think the 18 was not dropped from production and I am pretty sure the lauderdale plant was part of the purchase from the chisolms. The new owner built the 18, 22, minx, and hornet there. I also have it on pretty good authority that donzi never filed a suit over this, at least from the chisolm days until the OMC days, but you know how memories fade over time. Could it have been during the OMC years?

respectfully,
Fish

[ALLAN BROWN]

Senior moment.... John Chisholm opened the Lauderdale factory when we (Cougar) bought the one on 188th. Genth bought that from John, who by the way, just bought a medallion from me. Right at that time, the legend thing came along. I am certain about the suit, because it involved "inherent copyright" what the hell ever that is.

[Fish boy]

AB, you have mail. :)

Fish