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1. 1960 and 1961 Elgin 60 HP (Very rare.  Came on Sear's toy boat).  These were made by K&O and sold by Sears as part of the "Weekend Skipper Set" which included a metal Rambler Station wagon, metal boat trailer and the Viking plastic boat. They were sold through the Sears catalog.  Elgin was a real outboard motor that was manufactured for Sears by the Scott-Atwater company.  Cheaply made but still a pretty neat motor to have because it's so rare.
The Weekend Skipper set first appeared in 1959 with a Sea Dart outboard.  Then, in 1960 and 1961, they used the Elgin 60 Hp.  Finally, in 1962 they used the K&O Johnson 40 Hp below.

Elgin.JPG (17976 bytes)  Elgin.jpg (40041 bytes)  Elgin1.jpg (31532 bytes)  Elgin2.jpg (28371 bytes)  Elgin3.jpg (24543 bytes)  Elgin4.jpg (22603 bytes)

2.  Johnson 1960 40 HP (very common).  Probably the easiest motor of all toy outboards to find.  They're everywhere!  They were sold individually in a small box and also as part of many toy plastic boat combinations.  They are cheaply made, and are often found not working and with decal problems.

1960 plastic Johnson.jpg (22177 bytes)  Johnson 1960 40 HP.JPG (17378 bytes)  1960 plastic JohnsonA.jpg (18981 bytes)  1960 plastic JohnsonB.jpg (17007 bytes)  1960 plastic JohnsonC.jpg (18001 bytes)

3.  Johnson 1965 40 HP.
Another cheaply made plastic motor but a lot harder to find than the 1960 above.  Still, it's hardly a rare motor and no one is looking for it.

Johnson 1965 40 HP.JPG (16645 bytes)

4.  Evinrude 1961 Lark 40 HP
This is the best looking of all the plastic toy outboards that K&O made.  This looks just like the metal version.  They really did a great job on this motor.  Even the wing on the side is well made.  A good motor to get if you can't afford the metal one.  Pretty hard to find.

Evinrude 1961 40 HP.JPG (16871 bytes)  1961 Evin Lark plastic box.jpg (22372 bytes)

5.  Evinrude Lark VII 1965.
This one has sentimental value to me because I had the real one of these on a 1952 Lyman 16 footer.  Well done by K&O but often has bad decals.  A little hard to find.  I would like to find a mint one of these for my collection.  They were sold in a colorful bubble wrap.

Evinrude lark VII.JPG (18736 bytes)  1966 evinrude.jpg (42814 bytes)

6.  Evinrude 40 HP Lark.
The same motor as above except in white.  I believe this is 1967.

Evinrude 40 HP.JPG (16738 bytes)

7.  McCulloch 75 HP
This is a great plastic toy outboard.  It's probably the best plastic toy outboard ever made, even better than the 1961 Evinrude above.  It's got wonderful detail to it.  It was sold in a small cardboard box.  Not a K&O product.  I'd like to find a mint one of these.

 ob-3.jpg (133735 bytes)  ob-4.jpg (140348 bytes)  ob-1.jpg (143748 bytes)  ob-8.jpg (162505 bytes)  ob-10.jpg (161711 bytes)  ob-6.jpg (122945 bytes)   McCulloch 75 HP.JPG (15410 bytes)

8.  1965 Mercury Merc 500.  A very rare plastic motor that was seen in the 1965 Fleetline/Craft Master ads.  They were sold in bubble packs along with the Evinrude Lark VII and the Johnson 40.  This is not to be confused with the very common Mercury Merc 500 that you find from time to time.  This is a true K&O motor.  I only know of three  or four in collector's hands.  

DSCN0697.JPG (54624 bytes)  Merc 50.jpg (20617 bytes)  Merc 50a.jpg (18398 bytes)  Merc 50b.jpg (13062 bytes)

9. Fleetline Johnson Meteor 1965.  This is one of the nicest plastic motors ever made by K&O Fleetline.  It's a replica of the Johnson Meteor, which was a great looking and very popular motor.  The motor on the right was professionally restored by Chip's outboards. The original motor was all yellow from age so chip sanded, primed and used original OMC paint to get it back to new then added clear coat to protect it.  Great job Chip!

Fleetline Meteor.jpg (34158 bytes)  Fleetline Meteor1.jpg (28562 bytes)  Fleetline Meteor2.jpg (32132 bytes)  Fleetline Meteor3..jpg (32667 bytes)  Fleetline Meteor4.jpg (28570 bytes)  

10. 1960 Johnson 75 HP model kit.  A great plastic model kit.  I had this one as a kid and loved building it. I especially liked the handle on the back of the cowl just like the real motors.  These are becoming very rare, especially in unbuilt condition.  The same motor was offered already built by Fleetline in the standard box.

1960 Johnson model kit.jpg (73188 bytes)  1960 Johnson model kit1.jpg (65056 bytes)  1960 Johnson model kit2 (Medium).jpg (69168 bytes)  1960 Johnson model kit3 (Medium).jpg (61168 bytes)  1960 Johnson model kit4.jpg (73188 bytes)  Johnson plastic kit.jpg (30486 bytes)  Johnson plastic kit1.jpg (29564 bytes)  Johnson plastic kit2.jpg (28053 bytes)  Johnson plastic kit3.jpg (27227 bytes)  Johnson plastic kit4.jpg (29484 bytes)

11.  Johnson 40 HP motor around 1968:  I don't think this motor was ever made.  I think this is a repainted motor but it looked great so I'm putting it on here.  Does anyone else have one?

johnson.jpg (41783 bytes) 

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© 2006 Mikee and Bob McDonald