The little twin cylinder OMC engines have a lot of fans, reliable for years, easy starting and an excellent cost/reward ratio.
My all time favorite though.... a 1977 Evinrude 75 hp, 3 cyl, 49 cubes. Enough power (on a 15 foot hull) to pull adult slalom skiers, both kids learned to barefoot... the doggone thing just loved to rev beyond 6,000.
But the best part: absolutely perfect starting, warm, cold, wet, full throttle run out of gas, switch tanks and an instant restart. My (then) 12 year old daughter would take it to the other end of the lake (14 miles), spend the day and return with no worries. One weekend we gave the battery to friends with a Mastercraft that had battery failure because even a young girl could rope start the 75 horse, first time every time.
Of course our new ETECS all seem to start and run like that, but it was amazing in the 70's.
My all time favorite though.... a 1977 Evinrude 75 hp, 3 cyl, 49 cubes. Enough power (on a 15 foot hull) to pull adult slalom skiers, both kids learned to barefoot... the doggone thing just loved to rev beyond 6,000.
But the best part: absolutely perfect starting, warm, cold, wet, full throttle run out of gas, switch tanks and an instant restart. My (then) 12 year old daughter would take it to the other end of the lake (14 miles), spend the day and return with no worries. One weekend we gave the battery to friends with a Mastercraft that had battery failure because even a young girl could rope start the 75 horse, first time every time.
Of course our new ETECS all seem to start and run like that, but it was amazing in the 70's.
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