I'm looking for any info regarding this boat. I believe it's was built in the 40's and sold to someone in Bay City,MI. Photos of similar old town boats would be great. Thanks
The Old Town boat with serial number 149074 is a 16 foot long, Ocean boat with a keel, outside stems, and a floor rack. It was built between June and July, 1947. The original exterior paint color was white with a tropical red bottom. It shipped on July 18th, 1947 to Bay City, Michigan. A scanned copy of this build record can be found by following the link behind the attached thumbnail image below.
This scan and several hundred thousand others were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to renew.
The Ocean boat model was listed in the catalogs from 1931 to 1956. Some other pictures of similar boats and the description from the 1947 catalog are shown below. More pictures like this and other Old Town boats are available from http://store.wcha.org/The-Complete-Old-Town-Canoe-Company-Catalog-Collection-CD-ROM.html in the Old Town Catalog Collection.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
I think you are right about the towing car -- someone trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear by changing hood ornaments -- not that there is really anything wrong with an MG TF towing a canoe.
Ok, so if a MG TF with 65 horsepower can tow that boat then my '74 Beetle convertible with 50 HP should be able to tow a lightweight trailer with a canoe or two. I'm going to look right now for a trailer hitch and take a canoe with me to the next car show and hand out WCHA brochures. The canoe will probably get more looks than the car!!
That car also towed a few canoes including the war canoe shown below that required a special railroad car with doors on the end so I suspect that your VW will do fine.
There are two Old Town color charts shown at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?7345 but neither includes a Tropical Red. A quick web search located http://www.berryfit.com/CMS/uploads/046-TRO-Red_Tropical_Red.jpg and several other variations that all looked bright red to me. My general advice in these situations is to just pick a color that you like since no one will probably ever know what precise shade was originally used.
You may also be able to do some paint archeology if you have any of the original exterior left. The trick is to find some original paint that seeped into a crack and was not exposed to the sun. Good luck and sorry that I can’t help you more,
I don't know much about boat values but the general rule of thumb for canoes as described at http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?57 is that the value tends to be substantially less than the costs of the restoration. This is why it is generally recommended that you don't do anything if your plan is to sell it. Good luck,
I've finally now started the restoration project on this old town boat. I found some paper work that mentions the accessory page in the old town catalog. I was wondering if there is a copy some where out there.
I know I have posted this before but seems like a good thread to show it again. 39/66. Love to see photos of your Ocean Boat as your work proceeds. I have a 1951 OT Sport Boat. Kind of similar.