Forty-five boats since Lee Anderson got the bug to restore wood boats in 1985, he still owns the 19-footer that he started with, a 1938 Chris-Craft Resorter, as well as the definitive collection of vintage North American boats, with many valued in the millions. Anderson is now focusing on pre–World War II one-off race boats, such as the 1924 Baby Bootlegger, which won the American Power Boat Association Gold Cup in 1924 and 1925, and storied models from then rock-star builders, including Gar Wood and Hacker, and even rarer Canadian mahogany brands. To make the cut, a boat must have a history so intriguing that it makes other collectors jealous.
He inspired his neighbor, John Allen, who also owns one of the country’s largest and rarest collections of classic wooden boats. “I’d see Lee running those boats before anyone else was interested, and it kindled my interest,” says Allen, 67. His first acquisition: a 1929 Gar Wood triple-cockpit in 2001. “That was 29 boats ago.”
When I was a kid in the late 70s , my father bought a 1960 mahagony Yellow Jacket boat, spent one winter stripping and restoring the clear laquer and we used it every week. it still had the bronze propeller on the 65 horse McCulloh outboard,
ReplyDeleteWe also had a tourquoise and white 59 Ford Galaxy Skyliner retractable, with the steel roof that folded up into the trunk,
we;d hook the wood boat to the retractable and go to the lake and spend more time showing them off than riding on the lake. they always drew a crowd and they were only 20 years old . but back then a 20 year old car LOOKED 20 years old. in 1979 a 59 model car appeared and was, old. nowdays a 2003 model car doesnt even look old at all.
oh wow! That must have been really dang beautiful! What a combo!
DeleteAnd you make a great point, back before the 90s, the age of cars based on their style, was clear. Now? Nope. They make the same body for a decade, but slowly improve the mechanicals and tech stuff. The Challenger is hardly changed since 2006 to 2023. 17 years, not really a noticeable change. The Charger had very different grill in 2008 than 2018, for example, but the majority of cars, like the newer Camaros, Mustangs, Prius, Camry etc are just not changing up the exterior design much at all.