Customer Reviews

The Legend of Chris-Craft

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was so happy when I got this book as I have been restoring a couple Chris's for the last several years. But was dissapointed after thumbing through it. There a very few pictures of the different models, infact the illustrator seems to have used the same 4 boats throughout the whole text, with slight exception. The history material is excellent dry reading witha lot of facts most people are unaware of. Every model is listed in the book but sometimes so briefly the reference has no value. All Chris Craft owners should have this on their coffee table or aboard their boat.

The history that made one of Americas most sucessful boat companies is excellent. The intrigues and negotiations leading up to the founder family parting with their company is great reading and the coverage of the early racing boats leaves little to be desired. The coverage of the massproduced boats is however less informative. The vast majority of the boats designed are only referred to with model name, available sizes and price ranges. All facts and figures are imbedded in the body text which makes the book impossible to use as a source of reference. Almost all pictures are overviews of one boat at the time. There are very few pictures highlighting unique or clever designs, and/or comparative pictures comparing various models and/or year classes.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in historly of this legenday American boat builder. Chocked full of details about the company and the boats.

I was thoroughly impressed with the scholarly research obviously conducted for the writing of this book. The early years especially are covered with a thorough attention to the personalities that built what used to be America's premier pleasure craft builder. The last half of the book will be especially useful for owners of newer Chris Crafts as every single boat is mentioned in its model year and the lines are extensively covered. I also really liked the cover.

The legend of Chris craft is a masterpiece by both the author and publisher that should be made available to our all of our citizens.

The problem as I see it,is, its a best kept secret,not enough marketing,even long time Chris Craft owners do not know of its existence.