#CHRIS CRAFT RUNABOUT COVER SERIES#

The 38-foot Commuter was the first yacht to introduce a flying bridge, roll-down windows, and even a rack for wine glasses. By the time this dealer catalogue was produced, Chris-Craft was offering 16 models ranging from the 22-foot Cadet runabout to a 38-foot motor yacht, and featuring the first appearance of a cabin cruiser in the company line. Other images offer a tour of the Chris-Craft factory for which Smith adopted some of Henry Ford's assembly line production methods, introducing standardised parts, special shapers, and conveyor lines moving the craft from one end of the factory to the other as the double-planked mahogany hulls were assembled, sanded, and varnished.įuelled by the extravagances of the Jazz Age, demand from the Prohibition rumrunners, and a growing interest in sport boating, the company expanded quickly through the 1920s. These hydroplanes went on to gather speed records and trophies around the world when, following World War I, Christ Smith invested in service surplus aircraft engines as power plant for his svelte mahogany speedboats.

#CHRIS CRAFT RUNABOUT COVER SERIES#

The album opens with a sequence of photographs of the famed Miss Detroit hydroplane series - Miss Chicago, Miss Detroit II, Miss Minneapolis, Miss Toronto II, Baby Reliance II & III, Packard Chris-Craft II - and others designed and built by Chris Smith, designer/racer Garfield Arthur 'Gar' Wood - the first man to travel at over 100 mph on water - and Jack Beebe, chief mechanic who drove Miss Detroit to the 1915 American Power Boat Association Gold Cup. Other images offer a tour of the Chris-Craft factory for which Smith adopted some of Henry Ford's assembly line production methods, introducing standardised parts, special shapers, and conveyor lines moving the craft from one end of the factory to the other as the double-planked mahogany hulls were assembled, sanded, and

With the additional supplied images, this is as complete an exemplar as could be wished for. The accompanying promotional sales letters explain that these volumes were costly to produce, and, as stock changed, additional images would be sent to replace those to be struck from the catalogue. An extremely rare survival, a dealer's deluxe showroom catalogue for Chris-Craft motor boats covering the complete range - from their highly popular mahogany Runabouts to cabin and stateroom cruisers.

Chris craft runabout cover