Under $5K Higgins! Sorry, You Need To Make Room In The Barn Now!

These are cool as heck boats!

OK, OK, sorry to keep this under $5K drum beating. But holy cow look at this cool Higgins. OH, and you can thanks fellow Woody Boater Mike Unruh for sending us this in. I hope the world out there is getting the point. $5k ish boats can be fun, rewarding, awarding and a fantastic way to go boating and join the community of like minded nuts. This little Higgins appears to be very well preserved and these boats have an amazing history.

The bug traps around her add a touch of care! HA! Love it!

People ask me all the time about Stinky and other barn finds and how do we find them. This is how! And this is one of them. Yes the engine may need work, yes the wood may be rough? But from the photos may??? Just???? Be???? OK???? The point here is that sometimes its just a fun road trip, fun garage art thing and summer adventure getting it running and meeting new people that are just as dumb as you are! So with a simple click of the Buy Now button, you can be woody boating this weekend, or play Mr Snipe and wait til the last second of the ebay auction and maybe save a little money? Or Loose it to a trigger happy “buy it nower”! And see, the fun has already started!
YOU CAN SEE IT HERE ON EBAY

Perfect wheel!

Sticker says 1980? 1990? Also note the plastic bilge hole.

Plywood construction makes this a cool affordable boat to own and restore if you really love it!

24 replies
  1. Jim Staib
    Jim Staib says:

    Anyone who has been in this hobby for some time probably remembers “Henry the Higgins” and all the fun Blair and Tish Cook had in Henry. They probably had 50 boats but Henry was the go to boat.

    • Wilson
      Wilson says:

      I remember when Henry was new and we took her to the mouth of the Homassassa River and we decided we needed a photo with the Florida shoreline in the background. While I was trying to get a perfect angle, Henry drifted up on an oyster bank For many years Tish would remind me of our “Photo opportunity”. Wonder where Tish is today ?

    • floyd r turbo
      floyd r turbo says:

      One year on their way down to Mount Dora from Ottawa where they lived, Tiss said they painted the boat in a rest area on the interstate where it was much warmer than the temps in Canada. Blair was a financial expert in the Canadian federal gov’t in Ottawa from what i understand. Most of the time,

  2. KentB
    KentB says:

    Probably a Chrysler Ace 95HP….
    But odd that it has two exhausts like it might have had a V-6 or V-8 in it at one time.

  3. KentB
    KentB says:

    I am kind of partial to the old Plywood boats. They are becoming quite rare, but nobody seems to value them very highly (yet). Here is a pic of my Barn-Find $200 boat. Needless to say there were a lot of hours and probably less than $4800 in materials in it. If I were to count $2.00 per hour labor in it, then I would be DSQ’s from your <$5k judging class.

    • floyd r turbo
      floyd r turbo says:

      Great lines Kent, is that a Cruis-Along? My grandfather had a 22′ flybridge cabin cruiser, compact and efficient design.

      • KentB
        KentB says:

        1959 Cruis-Along Angler 22′
        Gray 109 6 cylinder.
        Was going to be cut up or used as a chicken coop.
        Already was being used as a “Racoon Latrine”
        There is one more in use on the East Coast that I am aware of. And there is one on display in the Calvert County Marine Museum in Maryland.

  4. Mark in Ohio (sometimes da U.P.)
    Mark in Ohio (sometimes da U.P.) says:

    I have enjoyed the 5,000 boat days this week! It is a great way to get young people into the hobby. Even for us old guys, you can buy 5 or 6 for the price of a double cockpit. If you run out of room build another barn. varity is the spice of life.

  5. Tim
    Tim says:

    Dorky. Can a boat be DORKY? If so then this one is a complete and utter dork, unfit even for lipstick.

    • KentB
      KentB says:

      I love it. Just think there are so few like them out. Very simple. I hold my tongue when they feature some pretty ugly (in my opinion) fiberglass boats. In particular the ones of the 70’s that dont do much for me. But the key is there is somebody for almost every boat. The Rivas and Cobras and such don’t have a lot of meaning unless people can also preserve the “pintos, Cougars, midgets, YUGOS, and beetles” of the boating industry.

  6. Denis D
    Denis D says:

    Cool aeronautical Whatizit behind the boat. Great collection of toys in that barn!!

    Oh, also a cool name on that boat.

    Denis D

  7. John Rothert
    John Rothert says:

    Steal on the Higgins…buy it now.
    I did my part for 5K week….just boat a nice whirlwind from an equally nice guy having meet Richard and the boat at Tavares in the field of dreams. I fly to that on purpose so I won’t tow anything home….a month after the event Richard and I worked it out you he drags it to Va……Pic and details to follow…but this is a one owner boat! Been in the family since new in 1961 and always kept indoors…and looks it. What a sucker I am. Anyone want to buy the Argentine Runabout I have….hell, the rebuilt flathead is worth the 5K ante.
    but that would just get you to the table…not the winning hand…yet….
    John in Va.

    • Troy in ANE
      Troy in ANE says:

      We had to wipe up the drool off the outdoor table at O’Keefe’s while John in VA sat lusting after that poor little Whirlwind. Can’t imagine what it is going to be like once he actually gets his hands on her.

  8. Dick Dow
    Dick Dow says:

    I think “Tim” (whoever you are) has decided his lot in life is to be critical and contrary. This hobby is inclusive. Your comment above is the epitome of snobbery, yet earlier you were decrying the exclusivity of the hobby and bemoaning the cost of boat ownership/restoration. I’m sorry you are so unable to grasp the simple joys of boating.

  9. Alan
    Alan says:

    That simple plywood boat there actually played a major role in the developement of the most famous and long standing ski boat in the world of water skiing. Correct Crafts Ski Nautique was designed off of a mold pulled from a plywood Higgins. I actually own the very first prototype Ski Nautique hull to be pulled from the mold.

    That Higgins is a classic and anyone should be proud to bring that home.

  10. KentB
    KentB says:

    Yep. WWII made the use of Plywood acceptable, and many manufacturers (not just those of PT boats) now had a new mass-production technique to build inexpensive boats for Americans who now could afford a house, a car, and one television. It cannot be understated how mass-produced plywood boats were the fore-runner to the fiberglass boat industry.

  11. Steve
    Steve says:

    After years of following this site there is finally a small discussion about plywood boats and their worth. I’m about six years into a restoration on a 66 Century Bronco and unfortunately will need to sell this boat when complete. I know the boat is rare as it took me years to locate this one. Hopefully it’s not an under $5000 boat but there aren’t many resources for placing a value. I think I may be destined to put it on Ebay and let the market place the value.

    • TOM OXTOBY
      TOM OXTOBY says:

      HI..DO YOU STILL HAVE THE BOAT FOR SALE..I HAVE 4 FORMULAS NOW..LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TOTALLY STRANGE AND COOL..THIS IS IT !..THANKS TOM IN ILLINOIS..217 891 2816

  12. tommyholm
    tommyholm says:

    oooh, I like that Century Bronco 17. Century made about 30 of them in model year 1965 and records show only one in 1966. Most had I/O engines. YOur V-Drive is no doubt an Interceptor 240/352. I had use of a Bronco back when I was a teenager, and surprisingly we both survived. You ought to list your Bronco with the Century Boat Club newsletter.

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