|
Even though this
site is about toy outboard motors and boats I thought that it would also
be cool to have pictures of some of my favorite boats and some
interesting looking boats. I hope you agree. For personal
reasons I chose the Lyman and Silverline boats to be first because they were my first boats as a kid.
I had to start off the real boats page with Lyman
boats. The reason is that when I was a baby my father bought a
1952 Lyman 15 footer with the optional windshield on it. It
had a brand new 1955 Evinrude 25 HP Big Twin on it. The day it
was bought in September 1955 my mother took two pictures of the boat
with my father behind the wheel and with me on my father's lap at 19
months old. Those are my favorite pictures of all time.
Growing up I would always ride in the back seats next to the
motor. After the motor was stolen my father bought a 40 HP
Scott-Atwater motor for it but this engine gave us nothing but
trouble, even though it was fast when it ran. At the end of
one season, he turned the boat upside down on saw horses in the back
yard and bought a 1955 wooden cabin cruiser swearing that he would
never buy another outboard again, and he didn't. When I was 13
years old he gave me the Lyman and I had it until 1972 when I bought
a 16 foot Silverline. I wish I still had the Lyman.
Click on an image to enlarge.
In November 1971, while working as
a volunteer at the Elks Club's Bazaar, I had an opportunity to buy a
brand new boat. A local man won the boat in the Elk's club
raffle but because of his age he didn't want it. It went up
for auction to any Elk's member. With the help of my father
and mother, we bid $2,100.00 for the S boat, motor and trailer and
won. Everyone else had bid $2,000.00 or less. It was a
smart thing to do. The boat was a brand new 1971 Silverline 16
foot Comoro with trailer and 1971 Johnson 60 HP. I was
ecstatic! I still own the boat but it's in disrepair and needs
to be restored. I would love to do it myself but I'm not able
to so I would love to find someone who can do it for me.
Click on an image to enlarge.
The Switzer Craft line of boats are
truly considered the sports cars of boats. They specialized in
unique and fast boats. They are certainly unique looking and
fun. After years of searching I finally found a 1957 Switzer
Craft Shooting Star! It needed a total restoration. Look
at the pictures below of the before and after pictures.
Click on an image to enlarge.
|
1.
My 1957 Switzer Craft Shooting Star. The BEFORE restoration pictures:
In November 2006, I finally found the 1957 Shooting Star that I always wanted
in Iowa. Unfortunately, it was a mess as you can see. Thankfully,
I became friends with David Doyle in Wisconsin who had just bought a
1957 Star for himself and was going to restore it. David agreed to
restore my boat too. My boat needed a restore but about 95% of the
original wood was kept and luckily all the fittings were still on it!
The fittings included the two original glow stick stern lights! The boat
was a real mess as you can see. The mice and rodents had eaten away the
interior and dead animals and feces were in the bilge. YUCK!
| 
 |
|
2.
My 1957 Shooting Star RESTORATION pictures: Well,
David
Doyle definitely had his work cut out for him with this boat. He had
to do a LOT of work to get the boat looking right. The boat was
completely stripped down to the bare wood, most of the interior was removed,
some pieces of wood especially on the fins had to be replaced, and then the
tedious painting process and putting it back together again began. I
give David a lot of credit for his patience. He's amazing! If
you would like your boat restored by David contact him at: marleydoyle@msn.com
| 
 |
|
3.
My 1957 Shooting Star AFTER pictures: Well, here is the boat
fully restored. David did an amazing job! These are the pictures
of it's maiden voyage in Wisconsin at David's house in June 2007. The
happy guy driving is ME! Do you think I'm excited? The boat ran
great those two days. Ron Wenzel is riding next to me in one picture waving
his hand.
Notice the glow stick stern lights? The whole pole lights up not just
the top light! It looks awesome in person.
Here are some pictures that we call "Double Vision." It's the
two Shooting Stars that David restored sitting side by side. David is
the only person that has ever restored two shooting stars at the same time.
I also included pictures of the interior some with the hatch cover on and some
with it off exposing the fold up seats in the back for more passengers.
The guy standing next to the boat in the garage in the last picture is none
other than Bob Switzer! He was the founder of Switzer
Craft boats along with his brother David. When he heard about the boats
being restored he came to see them and autographed both
dashboards for us. A great guy!
David has restored several boats and his work is sensational. His prices
for restoration are also very reasonable. He's always looking for
another boat to restore so if you would like your boat restored you can
contact David at: marleydoyle@msn.com
| 
 |
|
4. 1957
Switzer Craft Shooting Star. This
boat is owned by Gary MacNorius in Florida. It's the coolest boat I've
ever seen. Gary took a 1957 Shooting Star that was ready for firewood
and totally restored it. He also modified the bottom by laminating a
modern high speed Fiberglas hull to the bottom of the boat. This makes
it capable of a smoother ride, higher speeds and a bigger motor. The
souped up 1978 Mercury 155 HP Merc 1500XS on the back pushes the boat over 70 MPH!
| 
 |
|
5. 1958
Switzer Craft Shooting Star: This boat is almost identical
to the 1957 Shooting Star above. The only differences I can see are the
Grill in the bow and there's more of a hump on the front deck of the
1957. Also, the color scheme is different. Great looking boat! | 
 |
|
1956
Switzer Craft Shooting Star with 1958 Johnson 35 HP: This
Shooting Star is clearly very different from the 1957 and 1958 models.
It's long and narrow but is still a super cool looking boat! Here is a
great black and white original picture of a 56 Shooting Star jumping a wake! | 
 |
|
1954
Switzer Craft Baby Bullet with Mercury Mark 20H racing motor:
This is the Switzer Craft Baby Bullet. This one is rigged up for racing
with the super collectable 1954 Mercury Mark 20H racing outboard on it and the
racing throttle. It must be very fast with that motor. These are
considered racing runabouts and not hydroplanes. It must be
uncomfortable to drive kneeling down on the pad when going over waves.
Great looking boat. | 
 |
|
1962
Switzer Craft Shooting Star with 1962 Mercury Merc 1000:
This is a beautifully
restored 1962 Shooting Star with a "Tower of Power" Mercury Merc
1000 100 horsepower outboard on it. These are actually wood boats that
are skinned over with Fiberglas. This boat is owned by Arnie Rubenstein
and sent to me by Scott. This must be a fast boat! | 
 |
|
1956
Switzer Craft Shooting Star: This is a beautifully restored
Shooting Star with a 1956 Mercury Mark 55 on it. The 1956 Chevy Belair
tow care is also a beauty! This boat was seen at an antique boat show in
Wisconsin and I don't know who the owner is. | 
 |
Miscellaneous
Boat Manufacturers:
|
1958 Sea Mac
14 foot wooden boat with 1957 Johnson 18 HP FD-11: This is a
beautiful boat owned by Wayne Bearce. He spent over 200 hours
restoring this great old boat and it looks great! I was lucky enough to
take a ride on it and it's a wonderful ride. The motor is the 1957
Johnson FD-11, which is an 18 HP. Wayne had just restored the motor for
me and it came out GREAT! If you want your outboard restored contact
Wayne at: KWBearce@aol.com |
|
|
1955 Penn Yan
runabout with 1937 Johnson KA 37 outboard: This is another
awesome boat restored by Wayne Bearce. Just look at all those
ribs inside the hull! Wow! This is a great looking boat and the
motor is fits it like a glove. Another wonderful boat and motor
restoration by Wayne. You can contact Wayne at: KWBearce@aol.com |
 |
Back To Top
|
