A SOMEWHAT CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE CHRYSLER BOAT STYLING/DESIGN DEPARTMENT: by Bob Adair

1965 Chrysler buys Lone Star Boat Corp.

1965 Adam Koch named President for Chrysler Boat Corp.

1965 Jack Gempel transfers from Chrysler Styling in Highland Park, Mich. and appointed manager of Chrysler Boat Styling/Design.  Note: Adam and Jack were the very first Chrysler Corp. personnel to arrive in Plano as part of the new Chrysler team.

1965 / 1966 Don Mortrude Industrial Design, Pompano Beach, Florida was commissioned to design the first “All Chrysler” line of boats which were known as the HYDRO-VEE 15’ 16’ Charger Runabouts, 17’ Courier Bow Rider, 20’ Carvel Cuddy Cabin, and 23’ Commodore Cabin Cruiser & Clipper 486 Day Cruiser.  Note: Later some of the Hydro-Vee hulls were used for a line of off shore, center-console type of Sport Fishing boats with full molded fiberglass inner-liner interiors.

1965 Nick Lanicca transfers from Chrysler Styling in Highland Park and becomes the second member of the Chrysler Boat Design Staff as a modeler/prototype engineer.

1966 (June) Bob Adair (author) transfers from Chrysler Styling in Highland Park to become the third member of the Chrysler Boat Design Staff as a designer reporting to Jack Gempel.

1966 Chrysler Boat Design/Styling Department (Jack, Nick and Bob) moved to a new design and prototype facility in Pompano Beach, Florida and assumed full responsibility for the continued design and development of the Hydro-Vee line following the release of Mortrude Industrial Design. Jack Gempel was named Director of Boat Design/Engineering, reporting to Ed Reinelt, VP for Chrysler Marine Div. Engineering.  Mr. Reinelt was responsible for Chrysler Boat Engineering/Design, Chrysler Outboard Engineering, and Chrysler Marine and Industrial (inboard engines). Jack’s responsibilities included all facets of boat design, prototyping and coordination and liaison with the Boat Plant in Plano, Texas.

1966 Dick Napier was named VP of Chrysler Boat Corporation (replacing Adam Koch) and reported to Don Milton, President of Chrysler Marine Division.

1967 Due to the long distances and communication/coordination difficulties involved, the Chrysler Marine Division made the decision to move the design department and prototyping back to Plano.  The move occurred during the summer of 1967 and the Florida operation was shut down.  While in Florida, the design department added a naval architect (Dick Anderson) who also transferred to Plano.  Dick left Chrysler Boat to return to Florida after about a year.  Dick designed and lofted the first hull lines for the 16’ cathedral hull (16’ FURY RUNABOUT/SPORT FURY BOWRIDER).  This basic hull design was developed into a full line of runabouts, bow riders, and bass boats ranging from 14’ to 18’.  The 15” Sport Satellite bow rider became the most popular and best selling boat in the history of Chrysler Boat Corp.

After the dust settled from the move back to Plano, the Design Department was reorganized to include full responsibility for all boat design including sailboats, the Engineering Drafting Department and prototyping new hulls and decks including all of the multitude of details leading up to production.

When Chrysler bought Lone Star Boat the Lone Star line became Chrysler Lone Star for the first couple of years until the Hydro-Vee line reached the production stage and the Lone Star name began to be phased out.  Two boats continued to maintain their Lone Star identity because they were established as sailing classes across the country.  The LS-13 and LS-16 were carried over for many years and were a mainstay of the Chrysler Sail Boat line until newer designs were developed by outside designers such as Rod McAlpine-Downney in Great Britain who designed several small sailboats such as the Pirateer, Mutineer, Buccaneer, and the high performance 16’ Musketeer Catamaran.  (Side note: Rod designed and built a unique catamaran called the Crossbow that set a world speed record for sailboats.) As the sailboat line grew, the need for larger sailboats quickly became apparent and Halsey Herreschoff was commissioned to design the C-22, C-20, and C-26.  Our last major sailboat that we worked on was the C-30 that was completed near the end of the Chrysler era.  (Another side note: Halsey’s Grandfather, Nat Herreshoff designed and built a number of the winning Americas Cup Yachts during the early 1900’s.) Frank Stinchcombe who was responsible for the Sailboat engineering and production coordination was reassigned from the Manufacturing Engineering Group under Bob Crosby to our design group to better coordinate the many, many details relating to sailboats.  Frank was a great asset to our group since Jack, Nick and I were more attuned to powerboats at that time.  Even though the new sailboats (hull lines) were designed by outside “name designers” we were responsible for the decks, and cabin interior designs of the larger boats and worked closely with the designers and sailboat sales staff who were very knowledgeable of the unique needs of sailors.  To this day I still prefer powerboats, however I did enjoy working with Frank and Jack as the new larger sailboats were developed (Jack, by the way became quite a sailboat fan over the years).  They even managed to get me into a sailboat and man the tiller a time or two!

During the late 1960s we (the design group) began to see a need for an “image Boat” and naturally this would have to be a high performance sport boat.  I began to put some ideas on paper in the form of concept sketches and renderings of various design themes.  Many people probably do not remember or know that Chrysler Corporation had a major part in the Apollo Moon Mission and was a source of great pride for those of us who worked for Chrysler.  The reason I mention this is that if you were to stand the original Conqueror Sport Boat on its transom you would see the great similarity to the profile of the Apollo Space Craft.  That profile was my basis for the shape of the Conqueror.  Even today it is still a very striking and exciting looking boat.  (Of course I might be a bit prejudiced.)  Al Johnston who replaced Dick Napier as VP of Chrysler Boat and Plant Manager came through our design studio frequently and when he saw the sport boat concept renderings he gave us the go ahead to develop the boat and build the first prototype.  The Conqueror was designed and developed “under wraps” in that only the folks at the boat plant knew about it until it was finished and tested.  Only then was the secret revealed, when we presented the boat to upper management of the Marine Division along with a film showing the Conqueror in action at our test site on Lake Dallas.  Needless to say, this was an exciting time for all of us that were involved in the Conqueror’s design and development, especially when the Marine Division gave their approval for full production.  Even to this day I am amused at how the Conqueror was developed in secrecy.  We filed the concept renderings out of sight and always kept the full size hull and deck loft drawings covered when people from the Marine Division visited the plant on occasion.  We usually knew in advance when Management came to visit and the prototype was covered up or kept out of sight.

The early seventies saw the rise of the Deep-V type of hull design that provided a smooth ride and good handling that appealed to many families.  As a result a full line of Deep-V boats were developed (including the Conqueror S III, Conqueror 105, the 20’ Conqueror) and “CV Series” of runabouts, bowriders, and cruisers ranging from 15’ to 22’.  The design and development of the Chrysler CV Series is a source of pride to Jack, Nick and I because we felt that our hulls were equal to any in the boat industry at that time.  I especially like to recall that the new hulls were great performers the first time they were tested.

The seventies also saw the advent of Bass Boats that has become an industry in itself.  I thoroughly enjoyed designing the Bass Runner line of boats because I enjoy fishing and the Bass Boat line lead to many innovations in space utilization, storage, live wells that used a pump for fresh water and provide aeration instead of the typical live well that most boat manufacturers used that went to the bottom of the boat with a hole to fill the well and would drain itself if the fisherman forgot to put the plug back in.  I have no way of knowing for sure but I believe that we were the first boat company to use the plumbed in pump system with an overflow for circulation.  I do know that within a year of our 16’ Bassrunner introduction, suppliers such as Attwood Corp. began to manufacture through transom pumps that were adapted from their bilge pump line plus live well aerator bars to meet the needs of the bass boat manufacturers who saw the merits of live wells that were above floor and eliminated the leaking and cracking problems associated with the live wells that extended through the floor to the hull.

The early years in the bass boat evolution were hectic to say the least.  It seemed that new designs and innovations were coming on-line almost weekly and presented a lot of challenges for us because we were one of the larger boat manufacturers at that time and new designs took time to develop versus some in the industry that would “pop a mold” and be in the boat business overnight.  Chrysler sponsored the TV show “The Fishing Hole” with Jerry McKinnis and as a result we were able to obtain Jerry’s input for the designs and features that he felt were needed to keep us competitive.  The design for the second versions of the 16 and 17 foot Pro Bassrunners came about from a meeting that Jerry and I had sitting in my camper on the shore of Lake Sam Rayburn in east Texas during a Bass Masters Fishing Tournament.  Jerry and I drew and talked our way through various ideas and came up with some rough sketches of ideas that he had.   I returned to the boat plant and began the design process to put our ideas on paper and ultimately into production.  The very first redesigned 17’ Pro Bassrunner was delivered to Jerry (by yours truly) and was featured on his TV Show.

This dissertation has stretched out longer than I intended but it is a story that your members and others keeping the Chrysler Boat legacy alive might enjoy.  I have many fond memories of the years that we were involved with Chrysler Boat and the Marine Industry and were some of the best times of my career.  I sometimes look back and wonder how our small group managed to accomplish all we did during those years.  We could not have accomplished all of the many, many designs that we worked on without the help of a lot of great people that made up Chrysler Boat Corporation.  It was truly a team effort and I am thankful and honored that I had the privilege to work with them.

There are many more stories that could be told, but for now this will have to do.  Three words can sum up those years:   IT WAS FUN!