View Poll Results: the most significant Donzi ever made

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  • the ski sporter

    123 27.58%
  • the benchseat hornet

    21 4.71%
  • the 14 baby

    4 0.90%
  • the 18 2+3

    148 33.18%
  • the 22 classic

    96 21.52%
  • the minx

    6 1.35%
  • the Criterion

    13 2.91%
  • the Black widow

    11 2.47%
  • the 38 ZR

    23 5.16%
  • the 35 zr flat deck

    1 0.22%
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Thread: what has been the most significant donzi ever made?

  1. #16
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    Sportsman

    although not sold in large numbers--the 28 sportsman gets my vote as it was it's racing record that established the donzi name/mystique

  2. #17
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    Its an absolute no brainer that the 18 2+3 is the most significant production Donzi. You can make a case for the 28 Sportsman in the form of 007 as a significant influence on race boats, in the donzi family..

    In a general sense though, and replying to Morgan's post,
    Donzi wasn't that big of an influence to boating. 007 was just a bigger Formula 233. ALL off-shore go-fasts are just bigger 233's.

    You will note that I'm not mentioning my boat here.

  3. #18
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    July 1984, I saw a red and white boat FLYING across the water. It took me 45 minutes to chase this guy down in a fourteen foot Starcraft rowboat with a 25 Merc on the back. By the way, he was anchored. It was an 18 2+3 classic. For me, it's what got me hooked. I have to agree with Owen here.
    Great thread,
    Rich

    '87 18 / 350 Mag / Alpha
    http://www.wallenpaupack.com/about.htm

  4. #19
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    I had to go with the 18 also, Its the one that caught my attension when I was a kid, and the one sitting in my garage.

  5. #20
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    Good thread matty..... btw.... the 18 got my vote.
    I don't care if you lick windows,
    take the special bus or occasionally pee on yourself....
    You hang in there sunshine, you're friggin' special!

  6. #21
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    The 16 was just an 18 2+3 in the pre-production stage of development.
    The 16 had to be improved to fit a real V-8 and get the girlfriend next to you.

    Big Bad Donzi wrote this about the 18

    Quote Originally Posted by BIG BAD DONZI
    Marlin, the way I remember it was while the 16' changed everything, guys wanted a simple bucket next to them for their girlfriends/wives and the straight bench behind for friends and/or family. And for that matter , the women were more comfortable in their own seat facing forward. While I do not know if Jim and/or Walt actually designed the 18' or Don stretched the 16' himself- the public really did want a standard cockpit. Price and performance were not part of the thinking behind the 18'. A different and roomier cockpit area were being asked for and the 18' came to be. I loved the name 2 +3.
    While I loved driving the 16', I felt safer and more secure in the 18'. The ride was not as wild.
    I don't know how I left the 18' out of the book, but you are right. Apologies.
    Dad built me a beautiful 2 +3 in 65-66, a light olive green with black interior and black stripes powered with a Merc (a 189 I think). I left the shop with it about 12:00 that first day and by 4:00 I came limping back down the canal with a hole right above the water line on the right side toward the bow (a little lower and we would have sank) A friend of mine and I had been involved in a crash that totaled someones little aluminum outboard in Hollywood that came to involve the Hollywood police and the Coast Guard. When the men at Donzi saw me pulling up, you could have heard the laughter for miles. I said " can we glass it up and paint it before Dad gets back or store it somewhere where dad won't see it". I remember "Shorty" saying "Michael, your Dad is going to have your hide" and bursting into a big smile.
    So ended my dream boat and my punishment was no more boats until I became 18.
    http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=33664

  7. #22
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    I really debated between the 16 and the 18.

    Ski Sporter / 16 / Sweet 16:
    It was the one in the window at Abercrombie and Fitch...I don't think you can understimate the power that marketing ploy had on the Donzi "image" going foward.

    The Wrap around seating - this first question I ever get asked when I mention I have an old Donzi is "does it have the wrap around seat?".

    The 18 2+3 / Classic:
    It is the only Donzi that has been in continuous production since '65/66. And therefore has been the most produced (I think).

    Overall, we are consumed with the Donzi world - but to all but the very few, Donzi Classics are cute/cool/unique little boats - they don't differentiate between them. We talk about the 16, 18, X-18, Corsican, Minx, Hornet (all 3), 22, Criterion, F-22, and GT, but to 99% of the world - they are all just those cool little Italian speedboats....

    So, I voted for the 16...it was first...

    EG

  8. #23
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    4 voted for the Criterion,but, 6 members have one(I guess 2 haven't logged on yet) In my heart of hearts, it really is the 16' for me. Had mine for nearly 30 yrs,while I have only had the Criterion for 11 yrs.......Ed

  9. #24
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    damm Ed, how old are you?? 'bout 96 or so...
    Charter Member - WAFNC, SBBR, KWOSG
    1955 Perfect Mate
    1986 Hornet III, 502-415 TRS

    www.donzi.org


  10. #25
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    Eric, I have to be careful here in Donzi Land. The 16 was not the first.
    This was:

    Okay, now I Have mentioned my boat..........
    You forced me.......

  11. #26
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    The 18' 2+3 is the very essence of what a "sportboat" is. Hasn't it surpassed the 14' Boston Whaler as the model with the longest continuous production run?
    The 18 is analagous to the Chevrolet Corvette inasmuch as both define an entire genre in their respective fields.

    Eric

  12. #27
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    Please do pardon an out of towner jumping in on your thread here , but its a topic I discuss over here in AUST all the time . Seems everyone knows everything about Donzi and Formula here. Pity they are mostly all misinformed souls.
    I have 3 favourite Donzi"s
    16 , St Tropez and 28 .
    If I am correct these 3 boats changed the boating world and were regarded as arguably the 3 BEST BOATS OF THEIR TIME.

    Quick reply to Formula jnr , I also acknowledge that the Formula 233 was the forebearer to all these above and kick started it all off !! They are still a very revered and sought after boat here in Aust.

    B T W does anyone know off any 28 s for sale . I have never seen one over here but I am super keen to get a hold of one.
    Thanks all , ace

  13. #28
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    Buizilla; Only 60 1\2 just feel like 96.
    I had very rich and famous friends growing up. Got my 16' when I was 20
    Sold it when I was 49. Bought the Criterion when I was 50. So There!!..Ed

  14. #29
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    Smile

    I actually voted for the 22C, but only because there wasn't a catagory for "all the Classics".
    Now this would be in respects to todays production.
    Many here are splitting hairs about distinctive historical models. You can take the beginning in the early '60's and work backwards to other distinctive historical race boats all the way back to Turbinia in about 1890 or so.
    These boats just weren't created by Aranow. But the same spirit is there.
    When anyone of the uninitiated sees a Classic, regardless of length, they know it's special and harkens back to another era of grace, style and speed.
    It's not a new wood boat, or re-creation of some famous wood race boat.
    Donzi Classics are modern in materials and execution. There's no mistaking them for something that might have been designed in the '20's.
    These early boats that we love so much are clearly landmark designs. They took the essence of the long, slender, curvacious, fast style of a Hacker or Crouch, combined it with modern more durable materials and added a more modern bottom that could handle rougher water than Hacker or Crouch could have ever conceived of.
    I particularly like the reverse sheer and flush deck of a Classic. Along with the widest beam dimension amidship and then tapering back to the transom. These boats are just beautiful! Period.
    In comparison, the modern 30'-40' stepped bottom sport boat looks like a brick with a pointy end. You know what I mean, the beam reaches its widest at about station 4 and continues to the transom in a straight line. There's just no style. Boats need to be voluptuous.
    George Carter
    Central Florida
    gcarter763@aol.com
    http://kineticocentralfl.com/


    “If you have to argue your science by using fraud, your science is not valid"
    Professor Ian Plimer, Adilaide and Melbourne Universities

  15. #30
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    I don't think the 14 baby should be on this list.
    Is that model distinguished in any way, other than being a Donzi?
    Isn't it a lake boat?

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