i caught a glimps of the thunderbird a few years ago during a pbs program called Californias Gold ...i have been in love with that boat ever since!!
the unfortunate thing about restoring wooden boats is ,that more times than not the boat is so dry rotted that they can only be used as patterns.what you end up with is a new boat that looks old .
I was out to where this is stored yesterday and grabbed a couple more pictures. The lighting isn't that great so I couldn't get one of the stepped hull. There is a step about 2/3 of the way down the hull then it is flat all the way to the back. The hatch was discovered by accident as my dad was trying to take the screws out and realized it was actually a door with a latch. The picture of the steering mechanism isn't that clear, but all the parts were chrome. The boat is in really nice shape except for a few feet along the top of the left side where it is rotted.
picture of my 1976 Century when new one of the first years that century built all fiberglass boats, they were modeled after there wood boots deep v and inboard V8 this is a 16 foot boat with a 351 ford with 2 barrel carb for power it was considered the hot rod of boats in that year top speed 42-45mph. no problem barefootin. these are getting to be the hot boat to restore. complete interiors are still being reproduced. second photo is my boat today still being used for skiing. bottom of boat could use a buff to get white hard water marks off
Century Started building fiberglass production boats in 1966, when they introduced the Fibersport 17'. These early Century hulls were popped from molds in Pennsylvania, then shipped to Manistee for completion. In 1967 the name of the 17' hull was changed to the Resorter 17' FGL. Also in '67 a 19' hull was added to the line. The 19' hull was available in both the runabout and utility configuration. These were called the Arabian 19' FGL & Resorter 19' FGL. Also in 1967 a fiberglass lapstrake look hull, the Bucaneer 23' & the dive/deck boat the Trident 20. In 1968 a few more boats were added to the fiberglass line including the Cheetah 16' which replaced the long lived Resorter 16'. The first use of fiberglass in Century boats was in 1956. An airsoop for the motor covers on boats powered with the 300 Cadillacs. In 1959 The Coronado had white fiberglass features, these were only addons to the wood hull. And in 1961 The Sabre 18's upper hull sides and decks were fiberglass as well as the gull wing top. Other items over the years (1956-1968) were made of fiberglass including some gull wing top sections on Coronados ('61-64), Coronado hardtops, ('65-'68), dashboards & dash cowlings. Above: one of the first fiberglass boats built by Century, built in 1958 or '59 on the Resorter 16' hull, slightly modified. Century Built 5 of these boats. One was used at the plant for a summer or two for testing and the other 4 were used in Cypress Gardens FL fo water ski shows. At that time Century Decided to stay with wood. This boat can be seen on an old postcard of the Century plant it is the red boat at the right side of the pier. The change to fiberglass boats was complet in 1969. All models were now made of fiberglass. Century produced fiberglass boats in Manistee, Michigan through the 1986 model year. The company was sold and moved to Florida. Where it remains today.
As stated the Chist Craft Cobra, from 1955,56 & 57,...... and then there is my favorite floating stock,....... The WWII Elco P.T. Boat,.......... I still love the look of these things,... the Hot Rods of the sea in WWII 80' of power and pure pandemonium ! with With 3 supercharged Packard V-12's making 4,500 H.P.
I have been "out of touch" for three months (more later) and this is the first thread that I have looked at in a long time and it makes me smile a lot!
The Cobra is the bomb!! This one is not vintage, but it's a modell from the Swedish boat manufacturer called Strand Craft, and it certainly has alot of vintage automobile appeal. The boat is of course called the Stingray Check out their website, they sure have some really nice boats.... even though they are brand new: http://www.strand-craft.com/
Here's one I bought locally...the guy said he used to use it to waterski, and it moved along quite well. It has a Mercury Flathead V-8 Motor with an Offenhauser 3x2 Intake...Glenwood "Wet" Headers...and a Halibrand In/Out V-Drive Box...And it's FOR SALE! Enjoy! Greg Phone # (559) 784-7809 E-Mail: greg-shelton@sbcglobal.net
Here's some more photos of another Ford Flathead V-8 Powered Boat I got from the same guy. This one used a more refined "Capitol" Reverser Box and a "Hall Craft" V-Drive System...as well as "Wet Headers"...it's also FOR SALE! Thanks, Greg Phone # (559) 784-7809 E-Mail: greg-shelton@sbcglobal.net
Those boats are really cool but I wonder if any of them have actually been built. All the pictures are computer generated.
I'm wondering about the same actually, there is just pictures of one boat that has actually been built:
Does anyone have a good picture of the late-1950s/early-1960s fiberglass boats with the smooth hulls, wraparound windshields, and outboard motors that seemed to be ubiquitous in people’s backyards 15 or 20 years ago? I always thought they were cool looking, but I’ve never had a good picture. Google image search wasn’t very helpful, either, as I guess they aren’t rare enough to be cool yet. -Dave
Man, i love it! We are actually going to allow pre-70 speed / racing boats at our show this year. If anyone is interested, please let me know. Hank www.norcalknockout.com
They need to bring back "piston-power" to the Unlimited's immediately before the venue dies - below is proof!
Beautiful!!! Buying a boat myself, a 1964 1/2 Formula By Thunderbird...neat little thing with a 260cu Ford engine, Cobra intake and all.....
I've always wanted to do a vintage speed boat.. it would have the lines of the old mahogany boats but be completely fiberglass but be painted to look just like wood.. I think that would be cool
Yeah, i'm just waiting for the summer so we can launch the boat! I'm ready for some speed boating in the Delta up here for sure!!!
Cool, glad this old thread popped up. Grew up in the Puget Sound, and watched the "Thunder Boats" on Seattle's Lake Washington during the 50's & 60's...... My favorite boats as a kid, the Miss Bardahl & Hawaii Kai..... Both boats have been restored/recreated and make exhibition runs during the summer.
Great thread! I bought several sets of vintage plans from old Popular Mechanics from the 50's a few years ago I'll try to find and share.
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