What nerve. Here I am trying to sell my beloved fully restored show quality 1941 19 ft.Barrel Back, trying to make it seem so rare, and dang! Here comes another one on eBay.. click here. A nice one to boot…..Double Dang! But wait… It needs a complete restoration, thank god. If you look closer you will find the boat is for sale from Absolute Classics Marine in Canada. And they have a $49,000 price on it. I suppose that is Canadian dollars. So you need to do that conversion. This boat is a 1940, so it has the very cool windshield and different bow. I have found that Chris Craft Barrel Back lovers fall into two camps. 1938-40 and 1941-42.. The looks are different. Both breath taking. One more deco than the other, and one more stream lined. So with that said. Since they had the nerve to wonder into my sales week. I will now use it to sell mine… Seems fare! Lets say you get a steal on that 1940 Barrel. You get it for 30K… Merican Dollars that is.. The good green kind. Nothing with a Queen on them in tooty frooty colors…. OK looks like it will need an engine, 6K. – Bottom 35K and that is cheap… While your in there. you will find frames and other rotten stuff. 10K – These numbers will be debated for sure, but the truth here… I just went through this. Looks like you will want to install a correct leather interior. 8K. – Gages 2K – Varnish strip and stripe 6K,- OK now you are close. But things will still need to be done. lets say 5K… Lets add that up OK…. 110,000…. Thats the real number. Now, if you want to do a ton of work yourself, it’s a good deal. Note. I spent over 1000 hrs alone on mine. Look around, 3 year and 4 year restorations are all to common. With one click… ONE CLICK HERE you can skip all that hell ( OK it’s kinda fun… Egh… It’s a ton of fun… But may not be for you )….and start winning shows while saving $25,000…. That’s a another boats worth for gods sake.
UPDATE. BIDDING STOPPED AT $17,000 That seems tragically about right considering the times. Egh, what a great boat, and good folks to buy it from.
WAKE UP MERICA! There’s deals out there that you will kick your self one day for not buying.
$49K Canadian is only about $39500US. And that’s ASKING
There was one sold at antique boat center that had been all redone by Danneberg. It just needed finishing,. had all the chrome done, bottom all the expensive stuff. It was 49,000 So… That was the way to buy a project. And it sold very fast. There are a mess of bids on this boat. And even if it sold for 15K it would equal up to 90K all restored. And from what I can see in todays market. 75-85K is a realistic price for a nice restored boat. Soooo unless you are going to do it in the barn. You are better off buying a fresh restoration…..wait! I have one for sale..
whoa there guys…hope no one is trading any international currency at the above stated rates…..that would be a worse rip off then ole bernie “madeoff” with.
Canadian and us $ are within cents of each other
Who is figuring these currency exchange rates?
Watch it guys, those figures are worse than Bernie “Madeoff’s”……..
I have been told that 30Kish in Canadian bucks might buy this boat. But. In the end we are still talking about a 110K boat. Not in this market. I am loosing 40K on mine. Thats the way to buy one. There are also some on antique Boat center that are this style. For the same amount. But with all that said. A 19 is the size to buy and this has all the makings of a killer garage project.
I know the boat and agree with Matt on the merits of it as a do-it-yourself project, and also the economic folly of having it done professionaly with the expectation that you will come out of it whole or even to the good. I can vouch for the vending broker – I have bought through them and were well treated. They are being honest in their representation of the boat. In fact, I bought this boat through them, only to have Bruce suggest that as an unskilled, new member to the hobby I would find buying a restored boat a better introduction to antique boat ownership. This was the day after I agreed to buy it. So, instead of selling me this boat (at a higher price than it will sell for now)and then selling me the full restoration which they would complete, Bruce instead brokered the deal where I bought my current BB as a preserved, show quality boat. They would have done much better for themselves by selling me this boat, but their assessment of what I should buy, as opposed to what they could sell me, was right on. I respect their integrity for doing that.
Paul Harrison
Thanks Paul I have had several emails saying the same thing about Absolute Classic Marine. They are a real class act and if you are going to start a project like this. These are the the guys you want on your side as you look for such a craft. The ebay description is very open. No tricks or metaphors. And all kidding aside. If you want to do some of the work yourself. This is the one for sure. I bought the same way and paid 35K for a boat in the same if not worse condition… But those were different days.