Evinrude vs Johnson

[steeleman]

Thank you Garry. Truly an enlightening recollection of history

[1946zephyr]

quote pugetsoundboater:

quote SydinNJ:

My thought was they wanted to field test the fuel pump on the brands motor, if it failed it would not hurt the reputation of the Evinrude or Johnson

General Motors has done this also. The first modern day car to have front wheel drive was the Oldsmobile Toronado in 1966. A few years later front wheel drive showed up on the Cadillac Eldorado, it’s close cousin.

What about the Buick Riviera?

[1946zephyr]

quote pugetsoundboater:

quote Mumbles:

I always thought GMC was a luxury Chevy truck. Something like the Cougar being a luxury Mustang.

When Chev and GMC S-10/ 15 trucks first came out, there was a Seattle Buick /GMC dealer owner that i knew. I asked him the difference between a Chevy S-10and a GMC S-15. His response “the S-15 is 5% better” Today i thought of his quick answer my question, shouldn’t it have been 50% better.
Guess he wasn’t the company accountant 😀

Those are only good when you drop a 350 in and make it REALLY perform 😀 😀

[rmhxruss]

Evinrude, Johnson and Gale brands were all about market share. At one time most areas had both a Evinrude dealer and a Johnson dealer and before 1963 could have been a Gale store. This way OMC could have two dealers across the street from each other and both could survive. Otherwise a Mercury, Chrysler, McCulloch or some other brand would be in town. Overall it was good for OMC and the customer.

[outbdnut2]

quote 1946Zephyr:

quote pugetsoundboater:

quote SydinNJ:

The first modern day car to have front wheel drive was the Oldsmobile Toronado in 1966. A few years later front wheel drive showed up on the Cadillac Eldorado, it’s close cousin.

What about the Buick Riviera?

The Riviera was made from 1963 to 1999. It got front wheel drive in 1979, years after the Eldo and Torno.

FYI: I had a 1974 Eldorado for a couple years – these early front drives had a big V8 engine mounted north/south like rear wheel drive engines, with a chain drive to a transmission that mounted under the engine to one side and the transmission output shaft connected to a differential between the front wheels. No "Transaxel". This made for a lot of weight up front. Anti-lock brakes were non-existant, and on ice or compacted snow, barely touching the brake pedal with all that weight up front instantly locked up the front wheels, taking away your steering, making for very dangerous driving in slippery weather. With rear drive you could downshift and take your foot off the brake and steer around stuff under slippery conditions as the car slowed, but with front drive, this is not an option as using the engine in a lower gear to brake the front wheels spins the rear of the car around fast! I hated that car on slippery Minnesota days! Tornos and Riveras with front drive had the same problem.
Dave

[PugetSoundBoater]

I double checked(for once) my facts before posting the Toronado Eldo reply… 🙂

"Some people want to know how a watch works, others just want to know what time it is"
Robbie Robertson

[outbdnut2]

quote pugetsoundboater:

I double checked(for once) my facts before posting the Toronado Eldo reply… 🙂

Yup – good! I also double-checked the facts on the Rivera years before posting my Rivera reply! I been wrong before!
Dave

[PugetSoundBoater]

so much for the Evinrude vs Johnson thread, I lead us astray with the car thing ,but you followed.

"Some people want to know how a watch works, others just want to know what time it is"
Robbie Robertson

[1946zephyr]

As far as Johnson and Evinrude go, it’s one of the same for me. I do like the blue and white styling of the Evinrudes better.
In 1956, all models merged completely and everything was the same. Johnson got the Fleetwin and Fastwin line and Evinrude got the CD and QD line. Even though Evinrude acquired Johnson in 1936, they didn’t completely merge designs until 20 years later.

[hdted]

I grew up on Black River in Southeast Mo. We had a Johnson and Mercury dealer in a nearby town and also a Montgomery Ward store. I remember in the early 60’s there were a couple of Johnsons in the neighborhood and 2 Mercurys. There was 1 Evinrude. Most of the people on the river ran Sea Kings and there were a lot of them. My friend bought a new Sea King 5hp in 1960 and got it on sale for $189 before tax and I have it now along with the original sales receipt. I still run it to fish with. Most of the people here worked in the cotton fields for 60 cents an hour. The Johnsons and Evinrudes cost about 30 dollars more than a Sea King and that was a weeks wages. Not many were willing to give a weeks wages more to own a top of the line motor when the Gale made motors got the job done just as well. My first 2 motors were a 3 and a 5 Sea King. I bought the 3 first in 1962. I was going down the river with it and a lady’s brassiere got tangled in the prop and it threw a rod. I repaired it and traded it in on a new 1963 5 horse. The picture is my good friends motor he bought new and gave to me last year. Runs like a top.

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