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View Full Version : Old Aronow boat, looks like a big 22...



Pismo
03-24-2010, 09:36 AM
I found this picture somewhere. It is a 27' Cig from I don't know when. I thought it resembled the Classic 22 line only in a 27' version. Cool looking boat.

Anyone know any details?

A 27 Classic would be great...with a 525...

mrfixxall
03-24-2010, 11:03 AM
I found this picture somewhere. It is a 27' Cig from I don't know when. I thought it resembled the Classic 22 line only in a 27' version. Cool looking boat.

Anyone know any details?

A 27 Classic would be great...with a 525...

looks more like a 20 cig..

Sweet Cheekz
03-24-2010, 11:30 AM
Has a hint of a 27 Magnum too
Parnell

Just Say N20
03-24-2010, 11:53 AM
The boat doesn't look 27' long to me.

So, just for kicks, I "measured" the height of the man on the dock.

I then "measured" the length of the boat, adding 7% (total guess) to the length because we are viewing the boat from an angle, rather than straight on.

If I assume he is 6' tall, the boat measures out to 27'. It looks like a 22 to me. Strange.

Pismo
03-24-2010, 02:39 PM
Supposedly a v-drive 27' Cig. The 1 sticker on the side. Looks less than 27' tho I agree.

It still has that nice sitdown, runabout yet offshore style of the 22 classic only bigger.

I asked for more info on the other thread. I hope to hear something.

superhatz
03-24-2010, 03:29 PM
I've been trying to figure out what this boat is for a few years now....whatever it is, it's rare.

Sweet Cheekz
03-24-2010, 03:51 PM
Anyone know where it is now?

Mckillop
03-24-2010, 04:18 PM
I want it!

classic_18
03-25-2010, 05:24 AM
24' Firefox?

Rodger
03-25-2010, 07:27 AM
24' Firefox?


No, it's not a Firefox; I am familiar with those. I believe it's the same model I used to see on my lake in the late seventies. The one I remember had a 482 with a 'V' drive.

Pismo
03-25-2010, 07:48 AM
No, it's not a Firefox; I am familiar with those. I believe it's the same model I used to see on my lake in the late seventies. The one I remember had a 482 with a 'V' drive.

Do you have any more info on the boat you saw in the 70s? 482 with a V drive sounds very Aronow. Might be a connection.

smidgen too
03-25-2010, 10:39 AM
I remember the early 24' with the teak deck & the later Cig 24', this hull looks similar.

Rodger
03-25-2010, 10:45 AM
Do you have any more info on the boat you saw in the 70s? 482 with a V drive sounds very Aronow. Might be a connection.

No, I'm sorry I don't. The guy was not a resident on the lake, he just trailered in occasionally. When he was there, we would float around in our boats and exchange a few words. He implied it was one of the first boats for Cigarette.

Rodger
03-25-2010, 10:56 AM
I remember the early 24' with the teak deck & the later Cig 24', this hull looks similar.


The later 24' photo looks very similar to my brothers 24 Cig. My brother also drives his in a similar way as shown in the photo. They give an unbelievable ride in rough water. I have never ridden in a better rough water boat in the low through mid 20's length. As nice as my 22 may be in waves, compared to the 24 cig, it's like a bass boat. The price you pay for that nice ride is...they require an awfull lot of power to get any speed out of them.

Pismo
03-25-2010, 11:14 AM
I think the Pantera 24 was born of the same mold. I have been in one many times in rough seas and the ride was great. 7' beam, Full V to the keel, worked well..

Rodger
03-25-2010, 12:54 PM
I have seen the Pantera 24's but have not ridden in one. They did look like they were riding very nice. However the Cig 24 is an 8' beam so the two are not from the same mold. The 24' Thunder was originally derived from a 24 Cig mold that was created from a plug. There were a few small mods done to the bottom that prevent it from being exactly like a 24 Cig.

tommymonza
03-26-2010, 02:40 PM
it looks very much like a 27 Magnum hull but the plywood hatches and deck almost looks like it is an open bow.Maybe an old Cary or Chris Craft ?

mphatc
03-26-2010, 04:48 PM
This is the second time in as many days that I've tripped across this picture.
The first description I saw for the boat indicated that it was built from a 27 Magnum, and the wood inlay on the deck is a portion of that . . it was a factory one off . . I'll need to think as to what sites I've been on and saw this.
Mario L.

1969 Corsican
1968 Magnum 27

MDonziM
03-26-2010, 07:43 PM
have not seen one before but it only looks 24-25ft to me

Planetwarmer
03-27-2010, 01:34 AM
Post that pic on OSO. I bet someone on there knows all about it, or even owns it.

tommymonza
03-27-2010, 09:44 AM
Brownie solved it on SOS. He said it is a cut down 28 cig built by Cary.

Planetwarmer
03-27-2010, 09:57 AM
When you say "cut down", do you mean the deck height (less free board)?

Pismo
03-27-2010, 10:16 AM
Post that pic on OSO. I bet someone on there knows all about it, or even owns it.

That is where i got it from.

Pismo
03-27-2010, 10:20 AM
Brownie solved it on SOS. He said it is a cut down 28 cig built by Cary.


http://seriousoffshore.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15894

Tom A.
03-27-2010, 09:26 PM
Beat me to it.
http://www.seriousoffshore.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15894&page=2

Tom A.
04-03-2010, 08:46 PM
This was posted today on Serious Offshore by member XriggerX:

So What is it?? The question never got answered as we have gone off on a few different tangents (each worthy of its own thread) I'll tell the story of this boat and how I've come to own it. I thinks it's a very interesting story although a little long ( the boat did turn 40 this year so this should be expected) bear with me. I'm gonna tell it star wars style and start in the middle which happens to be where I come in.

In the mid to late eighties I worked for a small boat manufacturer called Thunderboats inc., the name was later changed to Active Thunder in the early nineties when they aquired all the molds from the famous Active Marine company just outside Detroit. My boss was Bobby O (1986 sportsman D-class World Champ- recognize!) This -in my mind - was the end of an era. Before most of powerboat racing became about who had the bigger checkbook. I'm not saying that the racers were less passionate about their sport, but the sport started become way to political and the power struggles and splits and rule changes etc, seemed to change the face of the sport. It didn't seem like it was back in the old days when almost no matter what happened you kept racing. If your boat broke you either kept limping along or you stopped -fixed it and got back into the race. It seems like these days most racers (NOT ALL-by any means) just wanna be seen. The pits are a big parade of " look how money I have" and when something goes wrong with the boat they raise the hatches-scratch their heads and go parading past the spectators on their way back to the pits to tell everyone how tough it was out there. So- back on track-Bobby O had lots of partners in alot of different things- one of the things he was involved with was Midwest Performance Boats in Palatine IL. It was a Cigarette dealer as well as Sonic and Cougar and some others. One day Bob tells me " you've got to go pick up this boat that's sitting in the storage lot across from the dealership" as the property has been sold. I go out there and there's some boat buried in the weeds, which are like 10 feet tall. So I chop down the weeds and find easily one of the coolest boats I had ever seen. Twenty seven feet of PURE SEX- blue metalflake gelcoat, teak hatches and transom- there was even a teak insert between the rubrail and deck, blue metalflake interior, Rocket trailer with Motorwheel co. Spyder mags on it. It was amazing. I drag it back to the shop ( probably breaking a dozen laws on the way) and I'm like "WTF is this thing?" And they're like "Oh that's the first Cigarette ever built- it's serial number 001 and by the way- it's for sale" SOLD!! Now I was a young guy at the time, other than my $100+/ week Snapon addiction as well as some other bad habits like car stereos and useless stuff, I didn't have much money- but I had a plan! My father was(is) a successful surgeon and he liked toys, even more he liked toys that brought the two of us closer together as we didn't have the healthiest of relationships- he was always working and stressed out and I was a punk. So I conned him into putting up the money for the boat. Now being the ethical and cautious kinda guy he was, one of the first phone calls he makes it to the insurance guy. WSell the insurance guy likes toys too and he's like "WOW that sounds neat, I gotta come check this out".

So the insurance guy come to check out the boat, only he ends up at the wrong shop- he's at the boat shop around the corner that just happens to be owned by one of Bobby O's ex partners who happened to also be an ex partner in this boat. So Davey tells this to the insurance guy and tells him where the boat is. The insurance guy comes to our shop to look at the boat and is confused because he can't find the serial number. So he goes back to Davey's shop to ask him about it and Davey says" There is no serial number, your guy's got suckered!" UH OH. So then I'm thinking "Oh man we got F'd" and now my father is getting a little pissed at me. Time for a little homework and research & hopefully it's not to late.So, we start contacting everyone. The factory- no records of this boat - not surprising since the company had changed hands so many times. Craig Barrie - who said "so what-who cares". Bob Magoon- who said it was a prototype design that was never produced, hull size and motor was not usual for production. Michael Aronow remembered seeing the boat in one of the shop but didn't have any details. A Lt. from the US Coast Guard who was an aquaintance of my fathers, ran the registration numbers and stated they belonged to a boat manufactured by Don Aronow w/ the description 26' Cigarette, 390 horsepower inboard, gas operated. He also stated that previous to 1971 the state did not require hull numbers.

And then we track down the son of the original owner, a cousin of Aronow who is now deceased. The son who really seemed like he couldn't care less about the boat didn't really know much other than the story he told us of how they aquired it. The son tells us the family was in Florida for the holidays and he and his father were visiting with Don and were invted to come see Don's boat shop. So they go to the shop and see three of these boats, a blue one, a red one and a yellow one. Mr Rogak says he wants one and ends up with the blue one. I was also told somewhere along the way that one of the others went to a lumber baron in Seattle and the other went to either on of the guys in Hilton or Hyatt families ( I haven't found my notes on this).

Fast forward a few years. When Bobby O was a young kid he had a lunatic neighbor, the guy had all kinds of cars, money , businesses etc. One day he asks Bob if he wants to go check out this boat he's thinking of buying. So they go to this warehouse in Chicago and buried amongst armored personel carriers and tanks is this Cigarette boat. It turns out Mr. Rogak was some kind of arms dealer or so the legend goest & the neighbor ends up buying the boat. He uses the boat for many years until it fall into a state of dissrepair sometime in the mid eighties. I think the last registration sticker expired in 1985. Anyways when I purchased the boat it had been left uncovered for many years, the engine/trans was out, exploded and scattered amongst many garages. It was in need of a total restoration and after all the drama and headaches caused by the serial number snafu I kinda didn't want much to do with the boat for a long time. In the mid nineties? when Thunder was sold a couple of time I bounced around with a few different jobs and ended up opening up my own rigging/service shop. I don't know if I would call it successful but it was very busy- all the time. And while I've always wanted to restore this boat, the last thing I wanted to do with my free time was work on another boat, I was working 80 hours a week on average. I thought even if it was restored I really wouldn't use it much as there are only a few places to boat around here and I didn't want to spend my days off with the very customers that drove me crazy all week long. So the boat just sat, hidden away in secrecy until now. I actually pulled it out of storage last year and have slowly began workin on it, the biggest problem I have is figuring out what to do with regards to re-gelcoating the boat and keeping it the original blue metalflake. I look forward to doing all the other stuff, which I do very little of these days since I've closed my shop. Whatever this boat turns out to be I will always dig it, I always have- the history of it is just a bonus. I feel fortunate that our paths have crossed and honored to be part of it's history ( I hope that wasn't to mushy)

So let the speculation begin!! If you guys aren't tired of me by now I can post all the verifiable info I have on the boat ie. serial numbers and build dates on the trailer, engine package, fuel tank etc. Thanks for your interest.

thehow33
04-03-2010, 11:09 PM
so did you live in the chicago area at one time? great story I would love to see some pics. Please post:bighug::bighug::bighug:

Conquistador_del_mar
04-04-2010, 02:28 AM
Tom, what a great story by XRigger! Thanks for posting it. Bill

Greg Guimond
04-04-2010, 04:52 AM
Awesome !

lars
10-01-2010, 05:34 AM
Late Elton Mikell Cary's son, James E Cary, has here put together a nice page with photos of some of his father's and Aronow's creations. I think that these are some of the most beautiful offshore sport boats ever made. Harry Schoell is of course to be thanked originally, but the imagination and quality execution by Cary and Aronow is truly memorable.

Link; http://www.jecary.com/marine/cary.html

P.S. The red 1974 27' and the 1975 32' race-boat 'furburger too' were of course made after Mr. Cary sold the company, but are still spectacular. D.S.

Just Say N20
10-01-2010, 06:15 AM
Furburger Too. . . .

HIGH LIFE
10-01-2010, 02:46 PM
Furburger too... Think I'd change the name and hang 2 - 300X's on the transom !!! "HIGH LIFE"

lars
10-01-2010, 03:43 PM
Here's the Business end of the Cary 32 'Super Speedmaster' by courtesy of Steve Sirois. I think a foursome is pretty neat.

The 1968 Bahamas 500 had quite a few fantastic looking Cary boats participating. This is great video for You fellows that haven't watched it ;)

Link; http://www.vimeo.com/5671455

badbird
10-01-2010, 04:58 PM
Thanks Lars,very cool video :cool!:

HIGH LIFE
10-02-2010, 06:47 PM
Lars, Would you have any info on gas consumption for the 4 outboards, GPH ??? How much gas did they carry ? "HIGH LIFE"

HOWARD O
10-02-2010, 09:37 PM
Gives a whole new meaning to "Tower of Power"!!! Love the old Mercs!

Great thread, always loved those old Carys.

badbird
10-02-2010, 10:02 PM
Not a donzi,but another great boat video from the old days :cool:http://vimeo.com/5420460

badbird
10-02-2010, 10:05 PM
http://vimeo.com/5446708