What the h**l is a Cobo?

[Donziweasel]

Check out this ad. What is it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1971-Donzi-Cobo-With-Trailer_W0QQitemZ180017232599QQihZ008QQcategoryZ31 270QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Donzi Racer]

Check out this ad. What is it?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1971-Donzi-Cobo-With-Trailer_W0QQitemZ180017232599QQihZ008QQcategoryZ31 270QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It is one of those whatchamadiggies. Super rare though. Saw one of these behind a marina building on the tennesee river around 10-12 years ago. When I asked about it, was told it was George Jones, the country music singers old boat. Neat boat! Tom

[Donziweasel]

Looks like an 18 hull, but deck and cockpit are pretty strange. No Donzi emblems in the cockpit or on the steering wheel. Stern is kinda "barrel back", but looks like it grew a tumor in the middle. Pretty ugly, but might just be the color.

[Donziweasel]

Madpoodle, are you sure? I think it is a Donzi, just like that amazing 63' 17 ft. on Ebay last week. Actually, I think it is the same guy selling it. Yeah, yeah, thats the ticket. Actually, I think he owns a bunch of unique Donzi's, like a nice 1955 Classic 18, a 1942 22 classic and his pride and joy, a 1897 steam powered Classic 16, yeah, thats the ticket.

[Greg K]

Not a Donzi, nothing to see here, move along please...

Funny..just a corsican in disguise.

[knots2u]

http://www.donzi.net/photos/osaffell595.jpg

[Lenny]

Corsican or Cobalt copy, one or the other. Would need a hull number or something.

Nice pic Bob, looks just like this one that I keep playing in for some strange reason...

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16145&d=1132674268

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16148&d=1132674268

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16152&d=1132674386

and when you "hop them up a bit" like add a Scorpion engine package and "stuff" , they look like this... :D http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16905&d=1135617504

[DonCig]

mattyboy, you beat me to the punchline!

You are fast.

Don

[BigGrizzly]

That is what this guy ment Donzi Cobo...alt copy. It is a Cobalt because I a Corsican and the serial number is not That of A Donzi.

[Formula Jr]

Look at his serial number.
Then.
http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=45344
The Corsican cobalt copy was called the GT-500.
His number starts "500" The other cobalt donzi 18 copies were also namned
"500"s. So the serial number is consistent with it being a cobalt.
You will note that the photos don't show a close up of the shift knob.
That would have had a donzi emblem on it. Or the vents or the lifting rings
Still, it would be worth a very close look to see how it was painted.
Or if anything else can definitively rule it out as a Donzi.
We can't really be sure from the photos.
We are the only people on earth that would know it could be a Cobalt.
There are so few of the Corsicans, and I know this is heresy, but If I bought this,
I'd probably just get a donzi shift knob and wheel plate and maintain the pretense.
But I'd tell someone what it really was if I was to sell it. And it wouldn't command the value of a "real" corsican.

I hope I'm not breaking the rules about diss'en other people's ads. I think a potential buyer should just be made aware of this.

The whole Cobalt Donzi thing is very funny when you think about it.
The fact that they just started making complete copies using the same
vendors and everything. Its like an early form of identity theft.

A long time ago my dad bought a then famous sailboat called a "Kiezer." It sailed beautifully but I kept noticing things that were not right. It had no backing plates, the glass work was shotty. Just lots of little things were wrong. My Dad called up the builder and started to describe all these little things. The builder paused and sighed a little and said "Yeah, there was a former employee that just started making these on his own right under our nose. We've gotten 10 or 15 calls like yours. And we hate to tell people this, but we can't stand behind a boat we didn't make." MY dad got the seller to refund about half of what he paid. It did sail really well after all.

[Lenny]

From Mphatc, while he works out Access/Registry/Computer issues...


> It is a Cobalt Donzi Clone of the Corsican
>
> The serial number is not a Donzi number but follows Cobalt protocal
> The steering wheel is Cobalt
> The twin large dual gauges and a cluster that is not centered but out of balance to starboard
> The color and stripe scheme is correct for Cobalt
> DONZI lettering is wrong for this boat . . .
> The shifter is not a Morse piece

[Donziweasel]

Regardless of what it is, the seller is still trying to sell it as a Donzi. It says Donzi, and he even says that Donzi fans will know and appreciate this boat. If it is Cobalt, it should be sold as a Cobalt.

[Donziweasel]

I agree Mattyboy. It will be a serious headache for a restoration. Even if it is restored, you still have a boat that is a Donzi knockoff instead of the real thing.

[goatee]

i was gonna say,,,,,these boats may not be donzi's but,,, what kind of quality/performance are we talikng?
they cant be worthless.
immatation is the best form of flattery

[Formula Jr]

This is what I wrote to seller.

"Dear buycliff,
Do you have any other provenience that the craft
you are selling on ebay is actually a Donzi?

There are things that are inconsistant with it being a Donzi Corsican - the very rare model it would be if it was an actual Donzi. Donzi never made anything called a Cobo. However there are items in the description and photos that point to it being a Cobalt GT-500. Cobalt made near exact copies of the Donzi boats for a couple years with out permission from Donzi Marine."

We will see, I guess.

This does create an interesting dinner conversation though.

Brownie said, finding out about these cobalt copies nearly led to a fist fight at a boat show. However then Brownie added, "They worked it out."

What if Cobalt DID later take out a design license, but Cobalt just kept calling them Cobalts instead of "Donzi by Cobalt." ? Does that change the value? Can you clearly say it isn't a Donzi? And what does this make the Shepard Donzi's? Or any of the other Licensed Donzi models built by other boat builders.

[Donziweasel]

My only problem with the licensing thing is that the seller is trying to sell it as a Donzi. One of the reasons a Donzi seems to hold it's value so well is that it is a "Donzi". Just like Mattyboy said, it is the whole Donzi aura thingy. The reason I bough my 16 is because I wanted a Donzi, not a U-17, Vyper, or any of the other immitations. I know the Cobalts were good reproductions and are very rare, but no one has even verified this is a Cobalt. Until someone verifies what it is, it is just a boat that inappropriatly says Donzi on it. Has anyone noticed that no one has bid yet?

[Craig]

Hey guys. I'd say it's a Cobalt for more reasons than it's a Donzi. One of the only things I've noticed that is real consistent on the old Cobalt's is that they had an aluminum (or stainless?) rubrail with a rubber center piece while Donzi's seem to be solid aluminum or stainless I guess. Other than the fact that it has the solid rubrail, it looks to be definitely a Cobalt.

1) The side stripe is that of a Cobalt. Even though the boat appears to have been custom painted now (to it's detriment - in my view), the stripe was kept up high and looks about the same width as mine or any of the other Cobalts I've seen.

2) The hull number thing I think Formual Jr. (or someone here) pointed out is right on. My Cobalt (an XV-200) hull number is 2001027 which makes sense matching this boat's number system perfectly. The model was a GT-500 so the first 3 numbers are 5-0-0 and then their are 4 more, just like mine, so the hull number logic matches. As I've looked at the Donzi's number system (mostly pics on this site), the number system is altogether different. And finally:

3), The color (The orange part anyway) is the same as at least one other GT-500 I've seen as well as the catalog GT-500. Of course, regarding colors, I think Cobalt pretty well copied those too. My Cobalt is British or "Grumble" Green on white, like some of Donzi's.

Okay, there's my 2 cents.

Oh, try to go easy on any Cobalt comments (other than compliments). That's my baby!

Shoot, when I'm riding around in it, I can't tell it ain't a Donzi anyway! :-)

[Donziweasel]

Sorry Craig, did mean to upset you about the Cobalt thing. From what I gather, Cobalt was the only reproduction that was as well built as a Donzi. With them being so rare, you are very lucky to have one and I am sure that it is very valuable.

On the Cobalt brochure that I saw for the 200 and 500, it said Cobalt on the side of the boat. If it is a Cobalt, why not sell it as one? If it is indeed a Cobalt, then it should be rare and get a good price. If it is not a Cobalt and a cheap Donzi knock off, then it should get a crappy price.

[Craig]

Donziweasel - I'm not upset. Just clowning around. I used to get my feathers ruffled about it, but then I started thinking this is pretty stupid. This site is too much fun to get mad at folks.

I've also thought all along that the boats (the Cobalts) would (should) bring a pretty good price, but I'm wondering lately. The one I put on the used boats section (an XV-200) got a lot of looks but it's still there after more than a month and it's in real nice condition. Owner had me start price at about what this guy wants and came down $1,500 after a while (to $8,500) because they really want to sell it.

Also, there was a pretty cool blue one on e-bay a while back (another XV-200) that had a starting bid of $5,000 and to my knowledge, it didn't sell either. Hmmm... Of course I don't know what shape that one was in. It looked farily well kept for being a 36 year old boat, except someone had drilled into the deck and mounted a trolling motor of all things!!!!! Yikes!

Beauty must truly be in the eye of the beholder. I look at bass boats and think "Man, look at that hull; that thing would be really sharp with a nice closed non-functional fiberglass bow and all the fishing junk removed (nothing against fishing). Oh, and the bow would need a 7" wide colored stripe on it too.

If the boats aren't bringing what I'd call a decent price for what it is, it's sort of good and sort of bad. I kinda figured one day (after I've had my fun) I'd get some dough from the boat. On the other hand, if it won't sell for a decent price, I won't be tempted to sell "for the money."

The one on ebay is the one that really surprised me. I think they ought to bring at least $6,500 - $8,000 if they're in decent codition. Maybe more if they're in outstanding condition.

I know, boats, in general aren't selling (or being built) in as many numbers as in the not so distant past. Maybe it's gas prices; that's slowed me down considerably!

Incidentally - there were 40 of the XV-200's and supposedly less of the GT-500's made, but this in the past 2 months this makes the 3rd one (counting both models) that I've come across. 2 XV-200's and one GT-500. Kinda funny. Seems like they pop up in groups!

Anyway, here's a link to some pics of my Cobalt that I just put up yesterday; taken last Thursday at Deep Creek Lake, MD.
http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=46178

[Donziweasel]

Looks great and says Cobalt on it. Maybe they are not getting the price they should simply because people do not know about them. For example, until joining the boards, I never knew Cobalt made the 200's or 500's. I did know about the u-17 and 19, and the vyper, but never the Cobalt or for that matter the Chris Craft version.

[olredalert]

--------Its also possible that this Cobalt is not getting what it should because the owner is either knowingly or unknowingly (hopefully the latter) attempting a deception of sorts. The thinking on us "buyers" part would be; "Hey, if he will attempt to do that what else is false about this whole auction"??? I know it would put a cramp in my E-bay button-pushing finger. I hope this is not looked upon by the moderators as too negative, but thats about the truth of it. Besides which, if I wanted a Corsican (or its Cobalt cousin) I would still have interest in this boat enough to dig in a bit farther to find out about age related construction stuff and then if the right answers came up and a survey came back posative enough Id still make an offer on it. Ill also be posative enough to wish both the old and the new owners good luck!!!!..........Bill S

--------Geez,,,,,I just went back over the add and remembered that this boat is from my home town of Medina, OH. However, I dont recognize the boat or anything about the owner. My brother is well known in Medina area and could know the owner, so if anybody wants I could have him take a good look at it and maybe an interested party can close in on this a bit more.

[Craig]

I've seen at least one other verifiable Cobalt to Donzi "switch" out there (way "out there" -- this one had made it clear to Sweden!).
I found it on the web doing a "Cobalt" and/or "Donzi" search.
It has been sold "over there" twice now I think, but I've lost track of it now again.
The first guy who sold it was the one who basically painted the originally green deck to white and put Donzi stickers on it. Then advertised it as a Donzi.
It looks like he did a great job, but again, a person should know what they're spending their money on. Lying about what you're selling is, well, lying!
Hey, is this the right mileage here on this odometer??? :)
I inquired and he sent me before and after pics, so you can see it both ways. I asked about whether he knew it was really a Cobalt or not and he suddenly quit writing back.
The pics below are befores (green deck) and afters (white deck). Note the trailer is the same in one before and one after.
It seemed funny, like he may not have known that it wasn't really a Donzi built boat because he sent me pictures with both names showing (before and after). Either he didn't know what "Cobalt" was and maybe thought he was just putting the original decals back on a boat someone had changed or he just figured nobody else knew and so sharing all the pictures with a potential buyer wouldn't be a big deal.
He may have got scared and quit writing after I enlightened him figuring he could still sell it to someone else. Who knows?
Anyway, there are definitely a few Cobalts out there with "Donzi" on the side.
Even with the "Cobalt" decals on mine, I have often had people walk up and say "That's an old Donzi, right?"
I have my standard answers:
1) (the one my wife and kids hate) -- the full blown story according to me. I've got it condensed to about twenty minutes now. :)
2) Yep, it's an old Donzi alright; that's why it says "Cobalt" on both sides there near the stern! :boggled:
3) etc. etc.

[Donziweasel]

Kinda like the green, you don't see many classics that color. No bids yet on the COBO