Re: 1957 yellowjacket brochure???
Some didn't have the runabout layout. Front seat was a board attached to the sides with a center brace to the deck. Had a back with a dip in the center so that you could step thru it to get to the stern. Rear seat was identical without the back. Since a lot of engines back then were manual start, you had to go back to start your engine with the pull rope and then work your way back to the front seat. Some had snap in vinyl over foam seat cushiohs that must have been an accessory as I saw a lot of boats outfitted with them.
Nice restoration, saumon.
Roy Rodgers was involved with the company back then; don't remember how. Somewhere floating around the www is a picture of him, Dale, and their many kids in a 16 footer with the new Merc 6 cylinder 60 hp. Seems Karl Kiekhauffer (never could spell his name) started out with the 2 cylinder, like "chinewalker" avatar and then stacked a couple of cylinders on that to make the green cowl 25 hp and from that to the Mark 55 at 40 hp and upped the 25 to a 30 and then around '57 or '58 he stacked another 2 cylinders on it and came out with the 60 hp. Forget the Mark number. Mark 75 sticks in my mind but not sure.
Lots of molded plywood boats around my neck of the woods in S. Texas around that time. I think the hulls were made in Okla. They were light and tough. A little 14' with a 25 hp, which was a big engine for the time, could push them at a good clip. The Mark 55 made them sing.
Well after I told my story as I remembered it, I went back and opened the threads. That is super information and I bookmarked the company history one. Using mahogany wood in their boats and a straight, seamless hull from bow to stern, the wood highly resisted rotting and there was no place to catch the water like on a "clinker" planked boat for example. Hulls were actually better than the later hulls boat builders used in fiberglass with ash or some soft wood for stringers and similar plywood for decking.
Mark
