Re: Mark Twain Cobra
I own a 1985 Mark Twain 190 Bowrider and have the sales brochure for their 1985 boat lineup (bought the brochure on eBay). I don't see any "Cobra" model and I don't think there is such a thing. My guess is the "Cobra" is the outdrive type (OMC guys, sound right??), but not sure. There also is no "205" from 1985, maybe 1986 was different, or maybe that's the hp for the engine or something. Any way you can get more info on the boat? VIN # or whatever.
The was a website and forum dedicated to mark Twain Boats but I think it's gone now - can't remember the web address -
www.marktwainboats.org I think. I learned quite a bit about the Mark twain boat Co. from that site - considered a very solidly built baot in the mid 80's, then a bit cheaper in early 1990's - they went out of business soon after, maybe 1993 or so. Factory was in Illinois somewhere and mostly regional midweast distribution. Crownline took over their manufacturing plant and built some similar boats but they did not buy MTB or the designs, just the factory.
Any 20+ year old boat can be good or bad depending on the life it led. Your Mark twain will have a heavyish hull and be built with decent mterials. However, it could be rotted throughout or in fine shape depending on how it was taken care of. The engine and drive could be fine, could be worthless. Overall botcould be a nice family fun machine or something you need to pay to have scrapped. I hope you got a good one - we need more nice 'Twains out there on the water. I have yet to see another onw where i boat (Western NY State).
