Not only does it look like a boat crashed through the back of a dune buggy, it also functions like a boat crashed through the back of a dune buggy.
First off, if you own a boat, you have to own a trailer, so instantly, there’s two pieces to maintain and insure. Next, I don’t have a clue if you need a course or a license to operate a boat, but I have neither. Also, they’re seasonal, useful only in a short season, and they’re miserable on a windy day, in a province where it’s windy all the time. I went to an antique wooden boat show in Idaho once, only because I happened to be in the area that weekend. I don’t think I’ll ever get another chance to see a minty old speed boat with two Viper V10’s or another with four Corvette crate engines. There was some serious cash in Idaho’s waters that day, which makes sense as B.O.A.T. is short for “Bring Out Another Thousand.”
Years back, I was trying to sell a small GMC Jimmy with a big V8 in it and wasn’t open to trades. Regardless, one guy offered me the ultimate boat that was totally my style, had I been a boat guy, of course. It was a pickle fork drag boat with a big Oldsmobile 455, dragster headers, and classic eighties striped paint. How could I refuse? With two letters, NO. I may not be a boat guy, but I am a car guy, and I am fond of companies who cross the lines and dare to be different once in a while. Evinrude, a boat company for those of you not in the know, made a car once. Sort of.
Over a decade ago, I was at a vintage snowmobile race. In between losing races (literally every one) I was checking out all the rad old sleds. There were a lot of minty ones, a lot of junk (mine) and some crazy manufacturers around just long enough to become a piece of history. One guy had a really nice Evinrude. I don’t recall the model or year, but he lit his cigarette with the in-dash cigarette lighter, and when it was his turn to run, he hit the electric start, used the reverse gear to back out of the pit, and made his way to the starting line. My seat blew off on the drive and I had half a windshield… There are two types of people. That being said, Evinrude made not only nice boats and snowmobiles but also a pretty cool dune buggy, the 1970 Rooney Lakester. Although it was never produced, it’s a neat concept. The idea was, one could back down to the water, and an electric winch would lower the fourteen-foot fibreglass boat out the back of the dune buggy. At the end of the day, winch the boat back into the dune buggy and drive it home. No trailer, no problem, right? Well, I can see at least one potential problem. The boat and buggy both use the fifty-horsepower outboard motor for motivation, so once the boat is out, the buggy is inconveniently dead on the boat launch for the day. How does it all hook up? With a PTO off the boat motor that runs a hydrostatic setup like on a garden tractor, of course. How is the boat secured to the buggy? With a winch cable, and maybe something else? There’s not a ton of information out there on it, but it is cool. Not cool enough to make me a boat guy, but it was definitely cool enough for the dune buggy guy in me.
Have a question or comment for Kelly? Post it at lmtimes.ca/kirk
