VW boat, 1960, on Ebay

Very cool. It definitely has that German look of the time. There is on on thesama, too:

Could be a VW commercial engine....But I haven't heard of VW producing boats...!?!?!

- Pete

"ddh" wrote

I've heard of it but don't know anything about it. I *think* there was an article about them in one of the VW magazines before but I can't recall which one ... or maybe there's a mention in one of my reference books.

I could only find a few blurbs online:

From this page:

:"Volkswagen produced a boat during the 1960s called the Volks-Liner. Thisboat was introduce by The Inboard Marine Company of New York. It was 17 ft.long and powered by a 36 hp Beetle engine. It sold for around $2,400 US.Only a few were produced due to dealership plans for sale of the boatfalling through."

Pretty much the same statement here:

"1960 Volks-Liner,a 17 foot wooden boat powered by a 36hp Beetle motor, was introduced. Only a few were produced."

I have this picture of a boat hitched to a Beetle:

but that doesn't look like the boat in the eBay auction. It would be very cool to own, IMHO.

....................No..........It's legitimate/genuine or whatever. In

1960, someone talked VW into producing a marine version of its 1200 - 36 hp engine and then having VW dealers sell these boats. It was a hair-brained idea that got aborted almost immediately when most of the dealers declined. They were supposed to sell for around $2500 but in 1960 you could get a better boat with an outboard motor that had about twice the horsepower for less money. I'm guessing about this, but $2500 in 1960 must something in the range of 15 to 20 thousand in todays dollars. Remember, soft drinks were 10 to 15 cents back then and Chevy Impalas sold brand new for not too much more than that depending on options. My dad bought a brand new Olds 442 in 1964 for about $3K. Looking back now, I'd guess that the average pleasure boat buyer back then probably didn't fit any kind of 'market profile' that would include owning a small aircooled car that couldn't tow the boat very far without over heating.

................That looks to me like the same type of boat with a different style windshield.

Unrelated but not......Storyland in NH (kids amusement park) has the Cinderella pumpkin ride that takes you from the main part of the park up to the "castle." The carriages are large pumpkins with fake horses attached to the front and powered by VW motors and chassis......just a little bit of inane trivia for you:)

Sneaks

Cripes! Chevy Impalas sold for not much more than the price of a soft drink in the 60s? That's incredible!!!!

It was the only way for american auto makers to get a foothold in the face of the obviously superior, aircooled, competition. ;)

Yah, but does it FWEEEEEEEM ? (Nice "exhausts" pic).

.....................An error in sentence structure isn't that incredible.

And they were worth every penny of it.

Randy

More like wet farts then fweeems.

Randy

It's true! And all the women were beautiful and the children above average.

What a Cool looking Steering wheel too.

Anyone have one like that for 50 bucks?...........I'd like one.

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Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

On Thu, 13 Nov 2003 10:54:12 GMT, "ddh" scribbled this interesting note:

Yeah, but am I the only one who noticed the location of the boat? Ohio? Then why was it last registered in TEXAS??? (look at the decal and number on the side!:~)

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

At one time the Zambonis used in one of the San Jose CA ice arenas were VW-powered. The guy that built my 1600 in 1999 once had the contract to maintain them. Years later he still had a set of manuals for them.

Max

That reminds me of that movie called Pleasantville, if anyone saw that one.

Bill Berckman

67 Beetle Pictures at VW/Porsche Family Reunion Show 2003 Pictures

Good flick. But I was quoting from the Prairie Home Companion... okay, now I'm in trouble if nobody knows what that is.

-- jjs in MinneSnowta