Re: New book for Christmas
Guess what I got for Christmas????? A fresh new copy of "Tail Fins and Two-Tones".................................
Yes I am biased, no doubt, but am I the only one that thinks some others should have been mentioned?
I too have that book.
Also as a vintage Duracraft owner, I too am biased.
I think that the Duracrafts suffer from a few 'problems' that keep it from having the following that other marquees do.
They are fairly rugged hulls so they are not considered sleek & sexy like other lighter weight hulls, or at least mine is built like a tank. This could also lead to the 'problem' of having such a rugged hull that they were abused fairly regularly by their owners, and when they became unserviceable, the weight offered a pretty good return for scrapping it.
Being a rugged hull also lends them to being 'converted' into fishing rigs by subsequent owners.
Before the internet provided access to vast amounts of info, FeatherCrafts were already 1 of the upper tier vintage marquees. Whether accurate or not, I do suspect that the marketing that tauted FC's as built from aircraft scraps & leftovers from WW2, helped cut a fat market share for their boats, that continues today.
For some marquees, there is an unbelievable amount of info available, for others there is very little, and it doesn't seem to be based on production numbers.
Nor innovations, didn't you dig up the info that had Duracraft as 1 of the early adopters of hydroforming the hull, w/ minimal or very few seams?
My impression is that Duracraft certainly had the drastic detailing & fins of other 1957 boats, but for whatever reason, didn't garner the demand as they became vintage hulls:
Early Porsche cars suffer from typical vintage automotive problems just like others, but have a much greater popular following then other car markers of the same time period that are discounted as electrical/mechanical nightmares. And having little following, means part support becomes even more problematic every year.
In the early 80's I helped a friend attempt to revive a Triumph TR-4. Parts were scarce & w/out access to the internet, it was challenging to source weber carb parts. But I suspect a similar year (1964+/- ??) Volkswagen bug, Porsche or MG wouldn't have been as difficult, IMHO. Brent LOVED that car. Took over 10yrs, but eventually after he got married he let it go. I don't think he ever did much of anything to it after he graduated from high school.
If you are so inclined, I'd suggest you contact the Retro Crestliner site & find out the particulars of how it came the be such a great resource for vintage Crestliners. The FC site is good, but an interestingly narrow minded focus on
as they were originally, to the detriment of the marquee, IMHO. Not using a boat that is 95% complete because you can't find the correct stern handle set, or badgering someone who wants to USE their FC rather then resto it to factory original specs is counter intuitive/productive IMHO.
I think the vintage Duratech site is still a corporate maintained website. So even less 'famous' marquess are still popular & supported.
Not sure what I missed, but thanks for the Christmas cheer bob
:
Your loss, SeaBob. Failing to recognize a quality vintage hull, means there are thousands of great boats that you'll never have the pleasure of boarding or using.
^^^ Cool, more for me & Casey
Collecting info as you have, ser#'s, production data, your interview w/ the son of 1 of the founders (correct?) is all info that you have that probably no one else does all in 1 location/database............
