Larson watercraft?

[Randy in Tampa]

Hi all, I recently bought a 12′ Larson watercraft runabout and cannot figure out what year it is. It has no mention of Crestliner and I knew Crestliner join the name in the mid 50s and eventually became Crestliner but this pre-dates that name so I’m trying to figure out what year it is. I checked on fiberglassics and the info is a little vague to me. I will post the serial number later thanks and it’s nice to be back online, Randy in Tampa 😀

[chris-p]

The Crestliner/Larson name surfaced on the 1954 lineup. The Larson name was totally dropped by the Fall of 1957. The ’54 Crestliner/Larson Commander would have a red bottom and deck trim. The interior bottom would have green non skid paint.

I don’t know much about the lineup from 1946 to 1949, but pretty sure they were all 12 footers. Don’t believe the 14′ 2" Commadore, and the 16’2" Admiral came until ’49. Then in the 50s lineup they are listed as a 12 foot Commander, Commodore Speedster 14, Seaman 14, and the 16 foot Admiral Speedster.

The 1949 listings note the 12’1" Larson as a Commander.

Then in the 50s, the MOTOR BOATING lineup lists the Commander as being 12′ right on.

Brochures from 1952 show a mix of plywood and aluminum being used in the Larsons, dubbing them "PLY_A_LUM" These had no nails nor screws, yet were all rivets.

Not sure if any of this helps, but is all I could find in my collections of books and brochures.

[opposedtwin]

here are a couple pics of my 1956 12 foot commander. looking familiar?

[Ken Smith]

I have a 1961 Larson All American.It’s all fiberglass.Lund boats went far past 1954.

www.kenadianoutboards.com

[Ken Smith]

Make that Larson boats still being made past 1957. Cheers!

www.kenadianoutboards.com

[Randy in Tampa]

Opposedtwin, my Larson looks just like yours without the windshield, it measures 12 foot exactly and the corner brackets on the transom say Larson watercraft Little Falls Minn.can you post a picture of your corner brackets on your boat? Here’s a link with a picture of the same corner as on my boat http://retrocrestliner.com/nameplate2.JPG

[chris-p]

The plant in Little Falls, MN was the first plant. In ’54, a new plant was opened not far from the original plant, when the Crestliner logo appeared on the boats. In ’55, another plant opened in Strasburg, Virginia. In ’60, the Morrilton, Arkansas plant was Christened, plus a division near me, in Waterloo Ontario Canada eh!

Later in the 60s, the company was sold, and a plant in Thompsonville Conneticut was briefly added. This was about the same time they started making them across the sea, in Como Italy.

Being from Little Falls, it could be one of the earliest models? Not sure when they STOPPED making boats in Little Falls.

[chris-p]

quote Ken Smith:

Make that Larson boats still being made past 1957. Cheers!

Yeah the Larsons were made for decades longer I believe.

According to my Tail Fins and Two Tones book, North American Rockwell Corporations marine division acquired the Little Falls based boat company around 1970 and sold it to American Machine And Foundry (AMF) in 1972. In the 80s AMF was battered in the economic storm, and sold off to some of the Crestliner staff under the banner of Nordic Boat Company. The final twist is when seven years later, the owner of Larson Boats, Genmar Inc made a deal to aquire Nordic and renamed the resulting craft Crestliners!

[Randy in Tampa]

So what was the last year that they made aluminum boats under the Larson watercraft name, not Larson Crestliner, or Crestliner? I’m fairly sure that the boat is pre-1956 maybe as early as the late 1940s but I believe early to mid 50s. And I believe Larson boats of the later years are all fiberglass and not Larson watercraft 😎

[chris-p]

1953 was the last year of strictly being Larson, in 1954 Crestliner was added to the name with Larson.

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