Mahogany Runabouts You Own Or Would Like To Own !

[silverghost]

We all love Donzi boats~
But What Great Old 1920s-30s-40s-50s-60s Mahogany Classic Runabout/s & speedboats do you own; or would you like to own ?
To make this thread more interesting all Pictures Appreciated !

[Ghost]

There are SO many. Riva and Boesch...but I'll start with an old one that has great lines...a 1925 Hackercraft 26. How about those stern seats?

http://www.mahoganybay.net/assets/products/100025LG1.jpg
http://www.mahoganybay.net/assets/products/100025LG3.jpg

[Conquistador_del_mar]

I have owned and restored a 1939 Chris Craft 17' Deluxe (double cockpit) runabout, a 1953 Chris Craft 18' Riviera, and a 1963 Century Coronado with a 413 Chrysler engine. They all had the original engines and trannies when I bought them, and I kept them all original.
On my wish list is a Riva Aquarama - I will probably buy one in the future - :smile: Here is a link to a nicely restored one. Bill

http://www.classicboat.com/classic-29Riva-Super-Aquarama.htm

[silverghost]

About 20 years ago I turned down a Riva Super Tritone for 10K ! (similar to the Super Aquarama without the big sunpad).
It was powered by two Graymarine Fireball V8-C 238 HP 327 AMC engines! (C=Flywheel Foreward)
The pair of engines had monel exhaust elbows and tailpipes.
1960 hull I believe.
28 foot !
Cold Molded marine plywood bottom/Conventional Mahogany Planked sides
The engines were piles of rust.
I thought it might be tough to replace the flywheel foreward Graymarine V8s with Conventional flywheel aft chevys as the early Riva Super Tritones had no extra space in the bilge for bellhousings aft because of hull shape.
The later Rivas had a totally different bottom shape for conventional aft bellhousings & warner 71/72C transmissions !
Engine Hatches were warped out of shape from being left open for 20+ years.
Big 2"X 6" chunk of wood missing from the middle of the beautyful compound curved transom.
Big hole drilled in the deak for a charger AC shorepower weatherized plug.
I suspect to keep batteries up to charge from extreme water leakage!
Crappy heavily pitted Pot-Metal Morse docking headlights installed in bow sides.
Hull was somewhat hogged by not being supported properly in long term storage.
Hull was dry as a bone !
It had split chine issues from this.
It had the windshield spotlight, lifting sling, hiddden convertable top, everything!
Needed lots of work.

But~ It was a Riva Super Tri-Tone and I passed on it for 10K!
The owners needed the money!
Some dealer bought it from an ad in Classic Boating and sent it back to Carlo Riva (Riva Boat Services ) who still at that time re-buit & restored old Rivas ( a good friend of the late Prince !) Carlo's restoration business (Riva Boat Services ) is in a cavern directly below the Royal Palace; in Monaco .
It was once used to store wine!
At the time I was busy building high-end houses and did not want another restoration project~ Especially a wooden boat!
If I only had a time machine !
Today restored it would be worth $250K or more !
The one that got away !

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

I have owned a 47 Chris 16 Special runabout utility ,57 Chris 21 Continental with the big fins and a Hemi. 56 Chris 18 Holiday . 54 Chris 18 Sportsman , 53 Chris 20 racing runabout and my very first boat a Chris 17 Special Runabout which was a real cutie because the model came with white striped decks even on the motor box along with red and white seats . I have just draged a 1960 16 Century Resorter home to restore this winter and im in the process of putting a new transom , coverboards,along with a new aft deck on her & in fact i have just cut out all of the coverboards , aft deck , along with putting one transom board on her .

[Craig S]

'67 Arabian

[Craig S]

and '60 Coronado Express awaiting $$$.

[Marlin275]

My grandfather had a Chris-Craft like this in 1956
my first boating memories.

[mike o]

I had a 56 16' resorter with grey marine flathead 6...... I know where theres a 61-62 22' Coronado, (open)... with the white paint theme on the sides. Its down the street.

[Ghost]

BTW, while we're on the subject, I found it pretty interesting that they're making these now, a new boat with a new design. Looks like most of the style/quality of the old with a more modern V hull and a stern drive.

http://www.cherubiniyachts.com/24-selected-photos.html

Pricey though.

[silverghost]

One of my Uncles owned two Century Coronados over a 12 year period.
The first had a vinyl covered hardtop that rolled back 4 foot on tracks.
These Century boats have a single planked & batten seam bottom ,not a double planked bottom like Chris~Caft.
That is their big weak point.
This Coronado started to leak badly so my uncle and his buddy put a bad single layer of fiberglass and polyester resin on her. Bad Move !The fiberglass soon got loose and water began to get underneath and the planking soon rotted rapidly at the center garboard seam.
He sold this boat and bought a new Coronado.. I believe this was $11K in the late 60s! This was one of the very last wooden Century boats.. It had a vinal covered T-Top gulwing style hardtop! The interior was a metalic green vinyl with padded motorbox.
This boat had a hemi V8 and was fat for it's day.
Century advertised it as "The world's fastest production speedboat!"
A bit of a stretch!
I fondly remember my uncle always telling us kids to to go foreward to bring the bow down so she would plane properly!
This was before trim tabs ! We were his trim system.
The helm area looked like a 60s auto with car steering wheel & auto style gauges. It had a lever that looked like an car's transmission shift selector for both throttle and shift!
Thinking again today about this boat I can still smell the spar varnish that you could smell from 8 feet away!
I used to do most of the 8 coats of spar varnish evey year! I still have the fancy bager hair varnish brush!
The name was on the Coronado's stern in real engine-turned gold leaf!
This boat had a big white tapered stripe graphic on it's mahogany sides!
My uncle later bought my cousn a new fiberglass Century in yellow with a 440 Chrysler and an unusual warner velvet V-Drive
The engine was turned arond backward with the warner bolted up front.
A very compact design..
This drive used special warner 72 with a big wide morse chain in a housing which I replaced once in the 70s!
The prop-shaft went under the engine oil-pan! You had to stand on your head to adjust the stuffing box packing gland nut!
The boat had a hatch aft for the engine. A very cramped boat!
I believe it was a Century Hustler?
Anyone ever see one ?
I have never seen another like it !

[kraftee]

In my opinion, the incredible Harmsworth Trophy boats of the 20's and 30's were the epitome of mahogany boat design with sheer outrageous power crammed into long, gorgeous hulls - in the same way as the Duesenbergs, Bentleys and Mercedes racers of the same era featured huge, supercharged motors wrapped in beautiful coachwork. The Harmsworth boats were almost all onceived, built and raced by fearless gentlemen builder/racers - and with all respect due to Don Aronow, Brownie, and the rest of the great 60's, 70's offshore boatbuilder/racers - there just hasn't been anything like them since.

There have been several of these fire-breathing monsters restored and recreated over the past twenty years and although this one is only an RC model that I built, I'd own a real one if I could afford it!

[Ghost]

In my opinion, the incredible Harmsworth Trophy boats of the 20's and 30's were the epitome of mahogany boat design with sheer outrageous power crammed into long, gorgeous hulls - in the same way as the Duesenbergs, Bentleys and Mercedes racers of the same era featured huge, supercharged motors wrapped in beautiful coachwork. The Harmsworth boats were almost all onceived, built and raced by fearless gentlemen builder/racers - and with all respect due to Don Aronow, Brownie, and the rest of the great 60's, 70's offshore boatbuilder/racers - there just hasn't been anything like them since.

There have been several of these fire-breathing monsters restored and recreated over the past twenty years and although this one is only an RC model that I built, I'd own a real one if I could afford it!

No doubt. Miss America X, 1933, 124.9 mph.

http://info.detnews.com/dn/history/garwood/images/missamx.gif

[kraftee]

...and millionaire industrialist Gar Wood's Miss Americas were undoubtable the best of the best - as evidenced by the number of Harmsworth Trophies won! Here are a couple shots of the recreated Miss America VII as she appears now. Wouldn't you LOVE to go for a ride in that beast?

[Donzi LG]

El Lagarto, the Leaping Lizard of Lake George!

[cutwater]

No doubt. Miss America X, 1933, 124.9 mph.

6400 hp will get you there! :propeller:

[LuauLounge]

55' powered by twin V-12 Allison Aircraft engines

More info http://www.thunderbirdlodge.org/theboat.html

Video here http://www.thunderbirdlodge.org/images/yacht3.jpghttp://www.thunderbirdlodge.org/theboat.html?video_id=18833

[Conquistador_del_mar]

I have owned a 47 Chris 16 Special runabout utility ,57 Chris 21 Continental with the big fins and a Hemi. 56 Chris 18 Holiday . 54 Chris 18 Sportsman , 53 Chris 20 racing runabout and my very first boat a Chris 17 Special Runabout which was a real cutie because the model came with white striped decks even on the motor box along with red and white seats . I have just draged a 1960 16 Century Resorter home to restore this winter and im in the process of putting a new transom , coverboards,along with a new aft deck on her & in fact i have just cut out all of the coverboards , aft deck , along with putting one transom board on her .

Art,
I always wanted a 19' or 20' Chris Craft racing runabout. Do you have any pictures of your 1953? Bill

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

Art,
I always wanted a 19' or 20' Chris Craft racing runabout. Do you have any pictures of your 1953? BillBill yes i do and right after a total redo refastening of hull , re bung , stain , varnsh ,and all new upholstery including crash pad but the question is how do i post the pics if not digtial because when it comes to the PC im not the sharpest tool in the shed .

[1929rats]

Hands down....for me its a 1955 Chris craft cobra. These came equipped with a dual quad caddy mill.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Bill yes i do and right after a total redo refastening of hull , re bung , stain , varnsh ,and all new upholstery including crash pad but the question is how do i post the pics if not digtial because when it comes to the PC im not the sharpest tool in the shed .

Probably the best way is to scan the picture if you have a scanner and save the result as a JPG file or you could take a digital picture of the picture without using flash on the closeup mode. Bill

[silverghost]

The Cobras were great !
A large percentage still survive today despite being built in very small numbers!
They were designed to promote Chris~Craft and each dealer was to get one for their showroom!
They were designed to bring people into the showroom~Wave the Chris~Craft flag so to speak~Then hopefully the customer would buy a less costly C~C open uility~ But never intended to be built in large numers
They came in two sizes. 18~21
Approx. 50 of each size were built.
Most had a high performance triple updraft carb Chris~Craft flathed six. Some had aluminum heads & marine manifold.
BUT~
A small number came with the very rare Cal Connell Cadillac Crusader V8.
It cost almost $3000 extra as an option I believe!.
Cal Connell was a Detroit Cadillac dealer who thought that the flathead six cylinder marine engine was way out of date.
He thought he could build a better modern overhead valve V8 marine high perfrmance engine.
As a Cadillac dealer he bought the basic V8 engines & added his own specially built marine & high performance parts. He spent a ton of his own money on having special manifolds, elbows, cast oil pans & oil coolers cast & built at great cost.
This is why the complete high peformance Cadillac V8 engines he built cost so much!
Cal Connell started what eventually became Crusader Marine !
He called his engine the Cal Connell Cadillac Crusader V8.
Cal's company was first called Detroit Racing Equipment !
Chris~Craft offered a limited number of these engines as did Century, Sheppard & Greavette (Great Canadian built speedboats)
The early 50s-60s racers, especially Hydroplane racers, also used them.
Cal would sell you some parts also!
Old Cal was the Don Yenko of performance boat engines in his day!
As a kid in 1966 or so I remember seeing two C~C Cobras, an 18 & 21, in storage at Longport Marine the local South Jersey Chris~Craft dealer
Both were for sale for under $1500 in 1966!
What I would give today for a time machine!
The Cobra you have pictured has had it's stern navigation light pole on the fin cut-down; as many were to fit in the owner's garage I suspect.
The pole should be three times as high!
The 18 with the C~C flathead turned up in Wildwood NJ about 12 years ago. I missed it by days~ The retired former fire chief of Ocean City NJ bought and restored her!
The 21 with the cadillac V8 was butchered in the early 70s by some fool !. The fiberglass fin & aft deck was removed & the deck cut-open to make it into a strange utility! What a shame! I knew it's first owners the Ocean City NJ Cherry family!
Both could have been bought in 1966 for under $1500.
Ventnor boat company built similar finned boats !
These Ventnors are rare today!
The finned Cobra's & Ventnors were totally impractical as family boats but fantastic looking & fun!
They are on my "Top Ten" of all time list~
I want one too!

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

http://i34.tinypic.com/n5g9wg.jpg

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

http://i37.tinypic.com/wvshhj.jpg

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

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[OFFSHORE GINGER]

http://i33.tinypic.com/20gz481.jpg

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

http://i37.tinypic.com/2hnc8pw.jpg

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

http://i33.tinypic.com/2wbyr20.jpg

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

http://i38.tinypic.com/2nsm6ah.jpg

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

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[OFFSHORE GINGER]

http://i35.tinypic.com/sy9l44.jpg

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

http://i34.tinypic.com/zohmqt.jpg

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

http://i36.tinypic.com/2uiduki.jpg

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

http://i35.tinypic.com/oqvwxy.jpg

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

http://i33.tinypic.com/2vx3skh.jpg

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

Hey guys i dragged this thing home over 4 weeks ago it now has one board on the transom , which soon will have new aft decks that are almost ready to be fastened down , new coverboards port and st - bd , that also are just about ready to be fastened down & all new battens on aft deck along with some new frames on the transom and sides of the transom . I have to say that it has been over 20 years that i have worked on a wooden boat and after doing fiberglass repair for so many years over 30 day after day , i felt i needed a change or something to fart around on during the winter and now i think i just might put on a 3 M - 5200 non soak bottom but first things first because when i started this project i was not even thinking about a new bottom . I apologize if i have jamed to many pics on you at one time .

[troubledwaters]

These are a couple of my favorites.

[1929rats]

silver ghost,

Thanks for that very informative write up. I wasnt aware of most of what you wrote. I saw one at a boat show in Mystic, CT many years ago, and the boat has always been burnt in my mind.

[Craig S]

Hey guys i dragged this thing home over 4 weeks ago ....

Century Coronado, no?


oops, old age. Thanks.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

I have just draged a 1960 16 Century Resorter home to restore this winter and im in the process of putting a new transom , coverboards,along with a new aft deck on her & in fact i have just cut out all of the coverboards , aft deck , along with putting one transom board on her .


Century Coronado, no?

Century Resorter

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

Century Coronado, no?1960 16 Century Resorter . I have to say it is a fun little boat to work on and just the right size .

[Bobby D]

Ocean City NJ back in the 50’s and 60’s 3 refurbished PT Boats were ran by Chris
Montague (Chris' Restaurant-located at 9th and Bay, one property left of
the 9th St Bridge). One was called the Flying Saucer strictly
used for a wet ride to 21st Street and back. The others were used
as fast head boats, Wild Goose and Flying Cloud. Each boat had 3
Packard gas engines.

[gcarter]

I've posted this question before and got a correct answer, so let's see how you guys do.....
What was the fin on the cobra made of and what was so significant about it?

[gcarter]

I'm surprized that there are so many companies building wooden boats today.
And why are they not building composite boats w/laminate in the initial layup?
In about '90 @ the Miami show there were several companies building epoxy layup boats in this manner. The results were outstanding.
The companies didn't survive, not because thay didn't have an audience, but because they were startups during the dreaded "luxury" tax that killed so many boat companies.

[mike o]

Ocean City NJ back in the 50’s and 60’s 3 refurbished PT Boats were ran by Chris
Montague (Chris' Restaurant-located at 9th and Bay, one property left of
the 9th St Bridge). One was called the Flying Saucer strictly
used for a wet ride to 21st Street and back. The others were used
as fast head boats, Wild Goose and Flying Cloud. Each boat had 3
Packard gas engines. The PT boats a great picture...........:alligator

[HOWARD O]

These new Clarion Boats look pretty spiffy:


http://www.clarionboats.com/

[Ghost]

I've posted this question before and got a correct answer, so let's see how you guys do.....
What was the fin on the cobra made of and what was so significant about it?

Fiberglass? Start of the end of one era and the beginnng of the next in one boat? Purely a guess.

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

Fiberglass? Start of the end of one era and the beginnng of the next in one boat? Purely a guess.Yes the tail fin is made out of fiberglass and it marked the end of all mahogany speedboats made by chris craft after 55 . I have to say that back in 55 you could purchase the 21 & 18 ft Cobra for close to $6.000 and there were fewer then 60 built of the 21 and even fewer of the 18's and because of the limited interest they were dropped from the line and sold only for the 55 year .

[silverghost]

Re: Cobra Not only was the fin made of fiberglass~ The entire rear deak & engine hatch area were fiberglass~ everything painted gold was fiberglass.
Much of the wood part of the hull was very similar to the CC Capri . I believe MFG (Molded Fiberglass Corporation) built these parts for Chris~Craft.
They also built the entire body for the very first solid axel Corvettes. The panels were laid-up in Mahogany dies~ Then put into a big press & the male + female dies closed until they cured! A very slow process indeed!
MFG also built their own line of boats.

[gcarter]

Yes, the fin and that small part of the rear deck was the very first production piece of glass CC produced.
Gotta start somewhere.

[FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack]

El Lagarto, the Leaping Lizard of Lake George!

This particular replica of El Legarto was recently built by Fish Bros. They built our '38 Chris Craft 16' Special Raceboat replica. Their work is top notch.
The El Legarto replica is powered by a dual quad BBC, and is FOR SALE.

Interested parties can contact Fish Bros. at fishbros@msn.com

Eric

[lars]

The one and only Alpha Z by Van Dam Wood Craft is as always on top of my wish list. However, the seductive boats from the prestigious Norwegian boatyard Dolvik are worth considering. Don't miss the 200 and change images in their web-site gallery section.
Alpha Z; http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/boatFullDetails.jsp?boat_id=1645279&ybw=&units=Feet&access=Public&listing_id=1921&url=

Dolvik Boats; http://www.dolvik.no/company.htm

Lars

[Mr X]

4 Years of restoration and counting.

[CHACHI]

PARDON ME.................if I am going to dream, I am going to dream BIG.

Ken

[CJmike]

http://www.mahoganybay.net/boat/POSH.aspx?filter=464

See this one on Lake Minnetonka. I know not a runabout but a dang cool boat. Looks even better in person.

[jl1962]

Mahogany Bay has nice stuff - I can't even afford to LOOK at their ads!

Riva Aquaramas are too big - I'll take an Ariston or a Super Florida please......:crossfing::crossfing:

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1959/Riva-Super-Ariston-1822726/Adriatico/Italy

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1959/Riva-Superflorida-1993490/Italy

:)

[joseph m. hahnl]

http://www.youtube.com/v/RWSQdYH_I_w



http://www.edison-marine.com/


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The Edison Cruiser features true EV performance. Featuring twin high performance 9 inch DC motors, twin 500 amp controllers and twin propellers (thats right, twin props on a 17 foot inboard boat), Edison moves fast and powerfully out of the water.

Edison uses proven EV building blocks, meaning electric vehicle components that are commonly used for electric vehicle implementations. The current implementation uses twin Warp9 9 inch DC motors running at 144v nominal. The motors are connected directly to the shafts without reduction. The battery pack features AGM batteries which offers a good balance between energy capacity, availability and cost effectiveness. Edison uses 500A or 1000A controllers with JRMerritt throttles. The high performance battery charger is can accommodate either 110v or 220v AC input. The 15Kwhr battery pack can be fully charged in 4-5 hrs.

The Edison Cruiser can run at 5-6mph for 8 hrs on the standard 15Kwhr battery pack making quiet all day cruising a reality, and a joy.

[86fxst]

Here is a picture of our old beloved mahogony boat, 1964 Chris Craft Continental serial # 1. We sold it in the early eighties for 3 large. Since then the boat has undergone a complete restoration. It lives on the same lake. Last summer the owner offerred it up for 26.5 g's.

[Craig S]

Here is a picture of our old beloved mahogony boat, 1964 Chris Craft Continental serial # 1. We sold it in the early eighties for 3 large. Since then the boat has undergone a complete restoration. It lives on the same lake. Last summer the owner offerred it up for 26.5 g's.

If the resto's fresh and thorough, that sum could easily be half the restoration cost...don't ask me how I know....

PS I always had a weakness for the 17 and 21 Continentals and Super Sports.

[Bubba Dog]

Garwood 16' Speedster,
I was in my early 30's by the time I bought my first boat. Torn between a Donzi Classic 18 and the Speedster, I went to test the Donzi, the salesman appealing to my needs, gave us (my now wife and me), one he// of a ride. Y'all may have heard this one before, or a version of it; "If Mamma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy".

[silverghost]

What a choice~ A Garwood Speedster or a Donzi.
Now everyone here likes Donzi boats.
But it would have been very hard for me to pass-up that fantastic Garwood Speedster !
What a windshield ~What lines~Super long sleek deck~
I want one !
What year was it ?
Original or reproduction ?
Powerplant ?
I can only guess at what both boats would be worth today.
The Garwood would be worth big $$$.
Are you sure you made the right choice ?
If you only had to do it all over again~
What would your choice be today ?

There is a much bigger original version of a Garwood gentleman's racer that was bought by a friend of mine who had intended to restore it.
He has owned it for 12 years now and has done nothing to the boat but remove the engine. The boat is sitting in his barn in Maryland with most of it's original hardware. The engine sits in his shop/garage here in PA.
It has a green leather interior,and a big monel-metal gastank.
The boat is very dry~ the bottom planking so dry that you can put a pretty wide putty knife between the planks in spots.
The hull is also hogged in the engine area from improper hull support over the years. The weight of the big heavy engine bent the center down ; so now it sags. For years it sat in a waterfront estate boathouse.
The boat has not seen water since the early 1950s !
In short the boat must be torn completely apart , the frames re-fastened and replanked or original plaking re-installed.
The deck & deck frames are in sad shape.
However it is not so bad; as to be considered a "Pattern Boat"
My friend says it is a retirement project~
"Some Day" ~
He has lots of projects.
Most are "Brass Era"(pre 1915) autos, (One is a Winton,~Another a Mercer) with a few "classic Era" cars (pre 1940) (He also has a 1915 Rolls~Royce Silver Ghost.
I make a run at trying to buy the Garwood every six months~
Offered him a wheelbarrow full of cash~
My friend just smiles~
Money is not an issue with him.
He, like I, just like "The great old Stuff"
We were both born 75 years too late !

[Bubba Dog]

What a choice~ A Garwood Speedster or a Donzi.
Now everyone here likes Donzi boats.
But it would have been very hard for me to pass-up that fantastic Garwood Speedster !
What a windshield ~What lines~Super long sleek deck~
I want one !
What year was it ?
Original or reproduction ?
Powerplant ?
I can only guess at what both boats would be worth today.
The Garwood would be worth big $$$.
Are you sure you made the right choice ?
If you only had to do it all over again~
What would your choice be today ?

It was built custom order by Tom Turcotte in Watervliet, NY and delivered May of 1992. Tom was building several models at the time, including a triple cockpit, 32' I think, powered by twin 454 Crusaders. Mine had a 4.3L Six and would run in the mid to upper 50's (no speedo), it was a blast to drive. Barely seated 2, at least with me at the wheel, no regrets, I'm loving the Scorpion and have room for more than one passenger.

[Bamboo Loui]

This Hackercraft was my first choice when weighing the 22c vs wood boat scenario-- my wife and her 80 yr old father voted for the Donzi. Glad they did but Hacker does a great job of recreating the experience.