TOPIC: I wonder were this bad boy is

6 months ago I bought 3 large totes of Mercury history files from 1950 to 1962. Somebody dumpster dived at Mercury. Anyway there are over 500 pictures and heres one of them. Boat was made in Japan by Yamaha, its a tunnel hull with glass windows and a built in radio and rear steps 24 ft long and 12 ft wide, powered by twin 800s the year is 1961 thanks for looking the Merckid

Hey, that's my 18DC! 16' long and 8' wide. I find the formula (Width = length * 0.5) interesting. That is one of the coolest that's popped up here in a while. What a monster.....

Amazing what is contained in company archives- would be great if more was uncovered and posted. One of the great things of the 'net: someone will find it useful, like the Mercury boat house bulletins being scanned and organized in the Classic Boat Library.

For instance, what a help that photo would be to someone with that big 'ole cat in their yard with no idea what it is and what to shoot for in its restoration. I think this sharing of information keeps more old boats out of the dump than anything else.

Off-topic I know, but anyone have a line on what is(was) in the OMC archives and what happened to them over the years?

That is really wild, has a home built flavor. I guess a custom stretch Power Cat or a proto Power Cat 24T&C (Town & Country)8^) Add a blender and it's the ultimate S.FL canal cruizer. Take the kids out swimming by day and the stylin' with friends for a night on the town. I'm sure it has a smooth ride for travelin'.

I'm a pic junkie and found this awhile back, I think off H.A.M.B. Keeping in the spirit of "I wonder were this bad boy is". Have not ID the hull but this cat runs with a fast crowd. I can even picture the ad in my head...FREE if U-HAUL old trailer w/car & boat stacked on top. call - 111.111.1111

Holy crap Steve.

Any chance of getting some of this stuff for the FiberGlassics Library?

I had to ask.

Kelly

Well... All I can say is ... cool!

Wasn't that the dinghy for the House Float - which you would tow with your Bulgemobile?

See you in Muscatine?

Peter
in Denver

HandyAndy wrote:

like the Mercury boat house bulletins being scanned and organized in the Classic Boat Library.

And many more to come. I have the next 2 sections ready to go, and i'll get those posted soon. My son killed my PC, so I'm in the middle of re-installing the crap back on it. Gotta love kids....

The artwork from that time is great!

Howbout a custom

When you were kid did you ever forget that you left the Chameleon in the plastic box outside in the sun?

Peter
Guilty
in Denver

A Buglemobile Firewood? I'd drive that in a heart beat.

Peter_Crowl wrote:

Wasn't that the dinghy for the House Float - which you would tow with your Bulgemobile?

See you in Muscatine?

Peter
in Denver

Was this boat ever really built? I've seen vintage artwork of it for years, but never an actual photo.

It appears by the art work that if it ever was built, it attracted pesky sea gulls that crapped all over the rear deck......

Kidding of course.....

Regarding the HouseFloat...it was a contest prize on the Boat Show Circuit in - '58? - but I've never seen a photo either.

I count 11 people luxuriating on that rear deck...that's 50's advertising art for ya :~)!

Bulgemobile - well yes - there was the FireBlast, FlashBolt, the BlastFire and of ourse the Firewood wagon.

These were done by Bruce McCall for National Lampoon - see more of his work online and here... www.amazon.com/Last-Dream-o-Rama-Bruce-Mccall/dp/0609608010


Peter
Shoes for Industry!
in Denver

kind of looks like Mitt Romney leaning over the back checking out the Lark 35.

A great find. I'd like to see more.

getting a bit of a giggle on the front seat picture of the car...omg, they made it look as wide as my house is long...

Yea know it a bad day when you want to fish, and the twin kickers on the little row boat kick in and leave you stand on the dock.

Now when this guy says...gone fishing, he means it.....

Some day I want to do that with a car. A funny dream but I still want to do it.

I'll throw out what I think I know about the Housefloat. The original airbrush & marker art work was done in 1958 and is at the Milwaukee Art Museum. It was done by Brooks Stevens, a very famous designer no one has heard of. The museum did a show of his work in 2002 and has other OMC original work. If your into design he is worth a study. Stevens was good friends with Evinrude and designed the 1st covered engine for him in the `30s, he went on board with OMC in `58 and worked with them untill his passing in 1995. His web site states the Housefloat was designed in 1961. It was a modular houseboat with up to 6 modules, 1-3 cabin modules and 2 or 3 pontoons. Have never found a pic of a real one or and thing written that it was built. I have this pic that says WIN.

This is a pic with a front view from Brooks Stevens web site, his design company is still in business. They have a bio & many pics of his work but all say, more info coming soon.

A couple OMC future outboards
The Aquajet

The Turboprop

The OMC Heli-bout Brooks said park it at home in your pool and be at your favorite fishing hole in minutes.

These are a couple OMC proto's that did get made.
The Fisherman

An Unknown

And this OMC Dune Buggy Runabout

There were 3 Heli-bouts made 2 crashed and the 3rd is up for auction at Red Barons Auctions
www.wsbtv.com/video/19783786/index.html
(after commercial on video)

watched it, the "it-does-not work" makes me wonder about the heli-boat...

going to see if he has a website...

man this is just some real awesome stuff. I will check out his web site for sure.

How 'bout that, he called it "EVENrude"!

Now that looks like something Big Daddy Roth would have made. Got the chance to meet him in person in 1958.
Mike aka pathfinderz1

The Heli-bout does have a Fink flavor. It always remineds me of the Barris X-PAX 400 Hovercraft.


I found this while sorting out pics. Designed by Andrew DiDio (1960), a mens clothing designer to pay for his car addiction. Owned by Bobby Darin, it's 219" long, $93K, reminded me of the Bulgemobile.

did anyone notice in the "fireblast" pic,that there are people burying someone and a kid fishing in a ditch,and it seems hes doing very well,lol.

Mr. Stevens also put the "buns" on the wienermobile. I got to meet him in 1991 when I was working for Oscar Mayer. He was an amazing designer.

Two futuristic proposals for outboard motors based on predictions of advanced technology. The Water Jet used twin jet-powered water
pumps (similar to today's personal watercraft power units). The Turbojet used port and starboard jet pods exhausting into the atmosphere
for propulsion. Underwater ailerons provided steering.
Outboard Motors of the Future
Brooks Stevens Associates’ marine designs for the mid-
1950s mimicked the automotive industry’s design of
dream cars. The design firm proposed futuristic boats
and motors to explore concepts and test public
response. Stevens was particularly adept at this bit of
showmanship and is credited with coining the phrase
“planned obsolescence.” Although this term later took
on negative connotations, in the post-war years it fit perfectly
with American advertising’s efforts to stimulate
demand for products. According to Stevens, the term
referred to “the natural desire [on the part of consumers]
to own something a little newer, a little better, a little
sooner than is necessary.”

In a series of mid- to late-1950s boat shows,
Stevens and his design office produced several concept
designs—called Outboard Motors of the Future—
that explored fantastic possibilities for marine equipment.
Influenced by the allure of jet-engine airplanes and
the burgeoning space industry, Stevens speculated on
turbo-jet outboard motors and a thing he called “aquajets”
(high-powered water pumps) in what may be a
prophetic prediction of today’s personal watercraft technology.
In his “designer’s notes” for the 1956 New York
Boat Show, Stevens states, “These designs are not for
the moment practical or fully developed concepts. The
industrial designer can be allowed a measure of ‘dream
latitude’ in reaching into the future for a general design
which must be considered from both the functional and
the aesthetic standpoint.” He described three rather
extreme concepts for the Evinrude “X” Outboard Motor
of Tomorrow that would fit right in with a Star Wars or
Star Trek movie. The designs were published in a special
section of Sports Illustrated in 1956.

A camper model, if you have restrictions on trailers in you town


Cool houseboat, anyone have more info

groups.yahoo.com/group/Classictrailerablehouseboats/

White Hawk jet boat

Since this thread popped up again.... I found an article in which they state that a prototype HouseFloat was built. If it still exists in the weeds somewhere is another matter. With scrap aluminum going for big bucks I wouldn't bet on it.


classicfins wrote:

Peter_Crowl wrote:

Wasn't that the dinghy for the House Float - which you would tow with your Bulgemobile?

See you in Muscatine?

Peter
in Denver

Was this boat ever really built? I've seen vintage artwork of it for years, but never an actual photo.