72 Donzi Merlin 17'

[Schnubba]

Does any one know if Donzi made a 17-18 foot boat I/0 302 ford, with 8 passenger seating in the early 70s? The only name plate on the side of the hull is merlin. The reason I ask it was advertised as a DONZI Merlin. Any insight would help. thanks L.

Serial number 3161253

[McGary911]

I don't think Donzi ever made a 17' boat. Certainly not one with 8 seats. Any pics? No matter what it is, it sounds interesting.

[Schnubba]

These are some pictures I took with a phone camera. I hope this helps!

PS It could actully be 18 feet...I will measure it this weekend. Any help would be appreciated. Regards Lawrence

[Sweet little 16]

not a factory laid out seating arrangement might be vance or a champ maybe,

the lines around the deck and the deck stripe area are not a donzi thing nor is the indent line on the transom

the strakes look off as well
but that could just be the camera angle i would say it is not a donzi

plus a right hand volvo setup??? they did make some early rh boats but i think they were not volvo ford setups

[Morgan's Cloud]

I think someone's tried to make something that looks like an 18 for sure. Someone with a good eye ought to be able to recognise the hull ....

[Formula Jr]

I'd say that this boat was at sometime an actual Donzi 18 2+3, or one of the many copies. It may look goofy to some people, but I think if this just started out as an abandoned hull, then "Merlin" - probably the last name of the guy that did this as some home build project, did a pretty nice job of bringing an otherwise dead hull back to life. The doghouse looks a little primitive, and the chairs and vents are simply off the shelf stuff. The extra plate on the transom is also something that would have been easy to add to cover up the old holes.
The little channel fluting done to the deck is a nice touch.

As an altered 18, I would give this home builder some credit on what he did.

The factory never made anything like this as an official model.

[Madcow]

Definatly not a Donzi hull. The transom is ALL wrong, too much rake, not enough curve, too much flare at the top. Interesting looking piece though.