Ole Evinrude invented the outboard because rowing across the lake to court Bess took too long, and the ice cream melted. So he mounted a shaft and prop to a motor. Ever since, people have collected outboards. Here's 1200 for sale, 3/4s of a million dollars, as a set, the widow won't break them up

They are for sale but are being sold as one lot, the widow is asking $750,000 for the collection and will not sell individual motors

The collection seems to have every sort of outboard ever made, including some of the very earliest and rarest — such as one that Admiral Byrd had made of brass to deal with the harsh, salt-water conditions at the North Pole, it was bought from the Byrd family.

https://journal.classiccars.com/2014/09/29/eye-candy-mark-trimbles-outboard-motor-collection/

In 1913, Ole Evinrude had 400 employees building engines for rowboats, but in 1914 Bess became critically ill and Ole sold his company to care for his bride. He also started designing a new motor, one that would be stronger and lighter and have twin cylinders.

Bess’s health got better and Ole had his new engine, but he didn’t know quite what to do with it. After all, he’d not only sold his company, but the rights to the Evinrude name.

“We’ll start our own company,” Bess said, and came up with the new name — ELTO: E for Evinrude, L for Light, T for Twin and O for Outboard.

By 1924 Elto had grown larger than the former Evinrude and Ole bought back both his old company and the rights to his own name.

http://www.heartland-classics.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Mahogany-and-Chrome-Issue-1-2016-for-web.pdf

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