17 replies to this topic

[Barnickelbill]

Found one of these in a field today, couldn't get a pic.
Any info on them? How collectible would you say they are?
Thanks
Bill

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[resin head]

Bill,
The Magnolia catamarans are probably more desirable.  There is a Magnolia cat in a salvage yard in WI with twin Mercs, but it's not for sale.  It would definitely be worth putting back into the water even if it needed serious work.  
The runabout you posted has some style, and a bit of fin to set it off from a mundane old fifties runabout, and I don't believe there a lot of Magnolias around, but I don't think it has that knock you off the dock look.
If it's in decent shape, the price is right, and you like the look, it's probably worth some time and effort.
Remember, this is just my opinion.  Maybe some of the other finatics around here may have a different take on it.
Don

[herters059]

I think anything is collectable if the price is right. Now just how valuable will it be is the question. It is a very good looking boat and has fins too. If ya got room you should have it. My two cents
Del

[Bob Whiteside]

Barnickelbill, on Mar 2 2009, 06:55 PM, said:

Found one of these in a field today, couldn't get a pic.
Any info on them? How collectible would you say they are?
Thanks
Bill

We've found several of these.  I'm guessing they had a close relationship with Scott Motors and may have started as a subsidiary making Scott "pre-packaged" boats?

One of our finds is still buried in a foot of Mississippi mud from the big flood.   The other was a beautiful hard top 17 or 19ft. model with all the great original embroidered flower logos on the upholstery.  The glass windshield had hinged 'wing' style window "vents" like the old cars from the '50's.   We tried to contact the owner but the boat disappeared by our trip the following year thru Peoria from Rockford.

They are a bit too wide to be fast and handle well, unless you have twin Scotts on them, which I think was the implication in their design.   They don't appear to be overly solid, and might be a bit flimsy by comparison to Glasspars from that time period.  It would be nice to see one fully restored with the logos, etc. and somebody should do one.  The big question would be:  is it a cored-hull/floor boat?  That makes the restoration way more expensive and difficult.  Maybe Lee has more on the possible connection with Scott?

[greg carlson]

Scott boats were made by Red Fish and were the main reason Red Fish went out of business.  They spent too much time and money locking up the Scott deal and forgot about their own dealers who mostly defected to other brands.  The Scott boats are beauties but were only made for a couple of years, 61 and 62 I believe or close to this.  Magnolias are sharp also but very rare here up North.

[Bob Whiteside]

greg carlson, on Mar 3 2009, 06:39 PM, said:

Scott boats were made by Red Fish and were the main reason Red Fish went out of business.  They spent too much time and money locking up the Scott deal and forgot about their own dealers who mostly defected to other brands.  The Scott boats are beauties but were only made for a couple of years, 61 and 62 I believe or close to this.  Magnolias are sharp also but very rare here up North.

It's just that all 3 that I've seen had Scott motors and controls and branding.  I seem to recall seeing some branding that said Scott Magnolia but I might be wrong and tend to have senior moments even though I'm not hispanic.

Red Fish sort of put the gravestone on Yellow Jackets, too.  Sort of a jinxed company.  Must be the bad karma from ripping-off Bob Hammond in the first place.

[greg carlson]

I think your on to something there Bob about the Karma.  One upside was that Bob Hammond kept redesigning his boats just about every year which gave us a lot of variety in Glastrons.  Atwater and McCullough Scott was known for being very cooperative with dealers and vendors so a Magnolia Scott connection is very possible.  Senior....Hispanic.....Now I get it.  I'm a little slow sometimes.

[bigfinbo]

Hi Guys:

Here is a link to a post from a few months back, there is some cool Magnolia info.

http://bigfinboats.c...amp;hl=magnolia

I like the looks of these boats and have never seen one at a show before.

Merks

[Barnickelbill]

Thanks for the replies folks. I left my number for the owner, but he never called. Not surprised, looked like the type of fellow who never gets rid of anything.
Not a bad looking boat, but I like this Leavens a little more. Size of the fins I guess. Might take a drive, see if it's still there.

Cheers
Bill

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[greg carlson]

Yeah that one is cooler.  Merks, thanks for the thread with the great photos.  Hadn't seen most of those before.

[resin head]

Barnickelbill, on Mar 4 2009, 03:53 PM, said:

Thanks for the replies folks. I left my number for the owner, but he never called. Not surprised, looked like the type of fellow who never gets rid of anything.
Not a bad looking boat, but I like this Leavens a little more. Size of the fins I guess. Might take a drive, see if it's still there.

Cheers
Bill

That's the one I'd go after Bill, that one has got the look!  In my mind it makes it more collectable and more valuable when it's time to sell.
Don

[Bob Whiteside]

greg carlson, on Mar 3 2009, 09:32 PM, said:

I think your on to something there Bob about the Karma.  One upside was that Bob Hammond kept redesigning his boats just about every year which gave us a lot of variety in Glastrons.  Atwater and McCullough Scott was known for being very cooperative with dealers and vendors so a Magnolia Scott connection is very possible.  Senior....Hispanic.....Now I get it.  I'm a little slow sometimes.

I found this old image of the muddy Magnolia.  It is very similar in design to the hardtop we saw in Peoria (except smaller).   The picture may not show it, but this boat is VERY wide for it's length.  It's still there (and FREE) but much deeper into the gumbo.

[FinCrazy]

the Magnolias might not be the most wanted boat out there but I see mine everymoreing when i walk out my door and just love the look of her good lines and very roomy!  I got mine from the orignal owner he past on but his wife said he really loved this boat and they used it often. I will get her out on the water soon and let you all know how she handles.

[lee wangstad]

Hi everyone,
Here is that literature that I said that I'd post.  It's from late 1958 or 1959.  The Mag Cat advertisement is from 1960.  Bob, the motors that came with each boat was completely dependent on what the dealer was selling.  Most, and I'll reiterate most, dealers carried just one brand of outboard motor and a variety of boats in an attempt to cover the market.  It becomes almost regional when you put the packages together.  The motor manufacturers and to some extent the boat producers provided protected territories to their dealers.  This is what determined what motor came with each boat.  It was a dealer territory thing.  None of the motor manufacturers would align themselves with a particular boat fearing that the other boat manufacturers would switch whatever allegiances they had to another.  Boat manufacturers, however, quite often would form alliances with motor manufacturers, like Crosby and Mercury.  Ab Crosby and Karl Kiekhaefer were personal friends with common interests so the alliance went deep.  

In outboard motors (in the 50's) there were the big three, Evinrude, Johnson, and Mercury.  When all the territories were full and another dealer came into the market, they would need a motor.  They would end up with either Scott-Atwater, Champion, or one of the private brands.  I would think that the boats came under the same set-up.  If Glastron, Glasspar, Larson, or the other major manufacturers were represented, you would look for a smaller manufacturer, like Magnolia, to cover your fiberglass runabout market.  Most dealers had a fiberglass runabout line, an aluminum fishing boat line, a plywood boat line, and if they were around big water, a mahogany boat line or a cruiser line, maybe even kits.

What's more collectible?  Whatever you've got out in your yard or in your lake!  It's a diverse market out there today, it's easy to find one that moves you.

Anyway, the closer that you get to the industry history things like this jump out at you.  Sorry for drifting, not meant to move the thread in any particular direction.


Lee Wangstad

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[Jerry]

Keep drifting. We never stop learning something new.  Thanks.

[Bob Whiteside]

lee wangstad, on Mar 7 2009, 09:31 AM, said:

Hi everyone,
Here is that literature that I said that I'd post.  It's from late 1958 or 1959.  The Mag Cat advertisement is from 1960.  Bob, the motors that came with each boat was completely dependent on what the dealer was selling.  Most, and I'll reiterate most, dealers carried just one brand of outboard motor and a variety of boats in an attempt to cover the market.  It becomes almost regional when you put the packages together.  The motor manufacturers and to some extent the boat producers provided protected territories to their dealers.  This is what determined what motor came with each boat.  It was a dealer territory thing.  None of the motor manufacturers would align themselves with a particular boat fearing that the other boat manufacturers would switch whatever allegiances they had to another.  Boat manufacturers, however, quite often would form alliances with motor manufacturers, like Crosby and Mercury.  Ab Crosby and Karl Kiekhaefer were personal friends with common interests so the alliance went deep.  

In outboard motors (in the 50's) there were the big three, Evinrude, Johnson, and Mercury.  When all the territories were full and another dealer came into the market, they would need a motor.  They would end up with either Scott-Atwater, Champion, or one of the private brands.  I would think that the boats came under the same set-up.  If Glastron, Glasspar, Larson, or the other major manufacturers were represented, you would look for a smaller manufacturer, like Magnolia, to cover your fiberglass runabout market.  Most dealers had a fiberglass runabout line, an aluminum fishing boat line, a plywood boat line, and if they were around big water, a mahogany boat line or a cruiser line, maybe even kits.

What's more collectible?  Whatever you've got out in your yard or in your lake!  It's a diverse market out there today, it's easy to find one that moves you.

Anyway, the closer that you get to the industry history things like this jump out at you.  Sorry for drifting, not meant to move the thread in any particular direction.


Lee Wangstad

Looks like I guessed right about the dual motor thing anyway.  The Ad looks like the Mississippi Mud Magnolia in our photo.
Sorry for the delay on the Cincinnati videos, I got booked to do a Blues band video.  I keep running into people and ads who claim they won and/or set records for the St.Louis/NewOrleans race.   KMarty recently sold his PowerCat to the son of the race winner from Little Rock who won it in a Crosby (we hope to get the interview with his photos this summer), I've interviewed Ken Kitson about his Switzer river race wins.  Dave Coleman (I think) mentioned Powercats in the race.  I'd sure love to find some old newsreel or Wide World of Sports footage of those races.
(speaking of drifting - here's the link to The blues video:
http://vids.myspace....ideoid=53607705

Back to the point, I'll try to locate the photos I took of the interior logos and details on the hardtop Magnolia we spotted back in 05.

I'll try to process more of the symposium footage next week.
Thanks again.  You da man.

[lee wangstad]

Thanks Jerry and Bob,  
Okay, now this is getting way off the original track, but here's the Crosby winner, Bing Ding II.  I know I've got something better than this, but everything's kind of upside down while I'm trying to settle in after Cincinnati and gearing up for Seattle next month.  Glad to hear someone is reading.

Lee

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[Bob Whiteside]

lee wangstad, on Mar 7 2009, 02:14 PM, said:

Thanks Jerry and Bob,  
Okay, now this is getting way off the original track, but here's the Crosby winner, Bing Ding II.  I know I've got something better than this, but everything's kind of upside down while I'm trying to settle in after Cincinnati and gearing up for Seattle next month.  Glad to hear someone is reading.

Lee

Here's pictures kept by the winner I mentioned and shared with Marty Monson when they picked-up the PowerCat recently.