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View Full Version : What's the relationship between Fountain and Mercury?



chappy
09-29-2007, 08:04 AM
I was reading an ad in a magazine for Fountain Boats. Long story short, competitors who lost to beak boats were crying that their engines weren't within specs. Fountain reps said let Mercury decide. The engines were pulled and sent to Merc and came back within specs. Competitors cried foul. Fountain states in similar words, "I told you so", and claimed victory. The funny thing is, the large bold print at the bottom of the ad says, "Fountain/Mercury". Just curious if anyone can shed some light on the nature of their relationship. Does Merc have something on Reggie or vice versa?:confused:

Rich

P.S. Not bashing Fountains, I've driven two and liked them, just got a weird vibe from the ad.

gcarter
09-29-2007, 09:50 AM
I think I remember a post by MP stating that Merc had made a large investment (stock) in Fountain........

chappy
09-29-2007, 10:39 AM
Please excuse my laziness. I should have known to search before I typed.:redface::rolleyes:
http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=44875&highlight=mercury+fountain
Rich

gcarter
09-29-2007, 12:01 PM
Ya see??? It's old age I tell ya!!!!
MP didn't post at all!!!!!:eek!:

LKSD
09-30-2007, 08:41 AM
They do have an interest in backing Fountain.. Admittedly I do not know the complete "true full" story there but I know Merc has a strong interest there. Also Fountain is also publically traded..

There is a lot of ties to merc with other companies anymore as well thru Genmar as well..

:) Jamie

zelatore
09-30-2007, 05:20 PM
There is a lot of ties to merc with other companies anymore as well thru Genmar as well..
:) Jamie

Hold on there - I think you mean Brunswick. Genmar hate's merc!

We handle the flagship Genmar products - Carver and Marquis. Not only do we not offer Merc products, we don't even offer Cummins any more due to the Cummins/Merc sterndrive connection. (they used to be our standard diesel power) When Irwin Jacobs took over a few years back all the black motors went away and they got in bed tight with Volvo. Now Volvos (gas and diesel) are the standard power for the entire line, with Crusader options for gas, and Cat, MAN, and MTU diesel options in the bigger boats. A few boats, such as the new Marquis 40 SC, are only available with the Volvo IPS drive.

I also understand they are working on multi-IPS installs which may replace some of the other big diesel options.

Now on most of the Brunswick brands, you'll always find Merc since they have the same parent. Brunswick owns something like 20+ boat brands, starting with Bayliner and topping out with Hatteras (which they bought from Genmar several years ago, leading to the introduction of Marquis). They include:
Sea Ray
Bayliner
Baja
Meridian
Maxum
Cabo
Albermarle
etc..

Genmar doesn't have quite as many brands, but some of them are:
Marquis
Carver
Wellcraft
Glastron
Ranger
Stratos
Four Winns
etc...

I'm not sure if they offer Merc in the performance or bass boat lines - it would seem like a much-needed option, but I'd bet they aren't the standard power.

smokediver
09-30-2007, 05:30 PM
I don't think Merc. invested money in fountain i think fountain was way behind on payments ... or so the rumor mill goes ... so i guess they kinda invested in fountain in a roundabout kinda way ... fast boats no doubt .. but you might find a few screws loose and missing after a run ....

RedDog
09-30-2007, 07:59 PM
I thought it was just a shared advertising thing. Look at the other boat ads and they prominently show Mercury/Mercruiser as well

tiger lily
09-30-2007, 09:41 PM
fountain is in cahoots with merc, but those outerlimits guys are fast too! if not faster with the racing,fountain also advertises with GM all the time for trucks and i think myco trailers, so alot of it is as stated above shared advertises, and merc knows that reggie as a rep for the fastest boats wether its true or not, a few years back, maybe more, wellcraft was doing scarabs with volvo power and volvo drives, but i havent seen many of them, heard they were fast though, cool setup

LKSD
10-01-2007, 08:09 AM
Hold on there - I think you mean Brunswick. Genmar hate's merc!
We handle the flagship Genmar products - Carver and Marquis. Not only do we not offer Merc products, we don't even offer Cummins any more due to the Cummins/Merc sterndrive connection. (they used to be our standard diesel power) When Irwin Jacobs took over a few years back all the black motors went away and they got in bed tight with Volvo. Now Volvos (gas and diesel) are the standard power for the entire line, with Crusader options for gas, and Cat, MAN, and MTU diesel options in the bigger boats. A few boats, such as the new Marquis 40 SC, are only available with the Volvo IPS drive.
I also understand they are working on multi-IPS installs which may replace some of the other big diesel options.
Now on most of the Brunswick brands, you'll always find Merc since they have the same parent. Brunswick owns something like 20+ boat brands, starting with Bayliner and topping out with Hatteras (which they bought from Genmar several years ago, leading to the introduction of Marquis). They include:
Sea Ray
Bayliner
Baja
Meridian
Maxum
Cabo
Albermarle
etc..
Genmar doesn't have quite as many brands, but some of them are:
Marquis
Carver
Wellcraft
Glastron
Ranger
Stratos
Four Winns
etc...
I'm not sure if they offer Merc in the performance or bass boat lines - it would seem like a much-needed option, but I'd bet they aren't the standard power.


Your rught.. My bad.. I dont know what all I was thinking.. I knew it was one of them.. I dont really get into the boat sales stuff anymore.. I am more than busy with Resto, custom & service..

:) Jamie

.

joel3078
10-01-2007, 11:16 AM
Irwin Jacobs/Genmar is from MN. They used to have more brands but sold off the aluminum boats and went exclusively with fiberglass as they developed their advanced hull designs and manufacturing processes.
http://www.genmar.com/tech/hulls.cfm

As far as Ranger goes, most of the Pro and Pro-AM tournament fishing Ranger bass boats here have Yamaha V-Max HPDI engines on them. A few are Merc powered, and a couple have the new Evinrude E-tec. I don't believe Volvo has a local outboard offering. Go to lake Minnetonka during the week and you will see tons of Ranger bass boat out there. Ranger also makes nice high end walley tournemant boats now.

They all wanna race the Donzis. However if they get caught, they are automatically disqualified from the fishing tourney and/or get a speeding ticket from the water patrol. We all have fun in a cat/mouse game with the water patrol during the week early mornings before all the rest of the boat traffic gets out there. There are a few multi engine Fountains and other brands on the lake that run midweek. Weekend traffic and patrol is just too crazy.

zelatore
10-01-2007, 08:05 PM
Irwin Jacobs/Genmar is from MN. They used to have more brands but sold off the aluminum boats and went exclusively with fiberglass as they developed their advanced hull designs and manufacturing processes.

They have at least one non-glass boat line: Triumph. google the 'bubba test' - it's good for a laugh.

'course, for me Triumphs have two wheels and 3 cylinders and don't have much to do with water...:wink: