ATTENTION TO ALL OUR LOYAL AMISH READERS! – A Chris-Craft Horse Buggy?
No photoshop!
OK Samuel, or Jacob, have we got this boat for you! Now its on Ebay, so maybe you are not on that. But if you are reading this, here is the description from the seller. Now at first you may be laughing at this thing, but once you read the description it gets cooler and cooler. Which we know being cool is not an Amish thing, but boating on the road isn’t really all that cool anyway. So its a win win for you Abram.
“This Buggy Craft was created in the mid 30’s. My dad had a near-death experience with a wooden boat when he was a teenage. All though he loved wooden boats he was scared to go on them. He rabbit hunted with to buddies of his that worked at the Chris Craft plant in Algonac Michigan.
He ask his buddies if they would design and build him a wooden boat on a horse buggy frame. We lived on a farm and had horses. He road this Buggy Craft for many years going to the store and visiting family and friends. He loved this Buggy Craft. He could be in a Chris Craft boat and not be on the water. As the time went by I lost track of this Buggy Craft until one day my brother ask me if I wanted dad’s Buggy Craft.
OK, this thing is cool!
He had stored it in his barn for all these years. He was selling his farm and had no place to stored it. I said I would take it. I have over the years restored old wooden Chris Craft boats. So I though I would restore this Buggy Craft. I had to replace some of the hardware that over the years disappeared also some of the wood. It is in great condition now. I want some one out there to enjoy this Buggy Craft as much as my dad did. This Buggy Craft has to be pick up at my house in Dryden Michigan. I updated the buggy frame with one I got from the Amish with rubber tires and rear hydraulic breaks. The size of the Buggy Craft is 68″ wide by 10′ long and 67″ high.This Buggy Craft is wired for the bow light and also the flag pole light with a 12 volt system.There is red tail lights in the rear exhaust ports.”
HERE IS THE BUGGY LISTING ON EBAY
WOW, there ya have it, go to work like Christopher Columbus Smith went to work!
PURE MICHIGAN!!!
Whomever bought the Sleigh from February should buy this thing!
(I don’t know who to credit this photo to as it was borrowed from the e-bay ad)
Yes! HA. I love it, we featured a slay a while back. That was Michigan I think as well.
Do road apples dscharge from the exhaust pipes? Stay back, stay waaay back! CQ
Those suckers are aimed right at you Charles!
I call BS!
A+ for creativity, however.
Ha Steve, Maybe HS! I don’t know, why make up a crazy story like that? It doesn’t affect the value either way. The Sleigh we featured did the same sort of thing from Algonac, they also made duck decoys and other crazy stuff there.
I agree with Steve. All the hardware is generic or postwar. If it was built in the mid 30’s why does it have a post war hatch design? I would be more inclined to believe the story if there were some period photos to go with it.
I went back and looked at both the ‘buggy’ and the ‘sleigh’ listings on eBay. Seems both are being sold out of Dryden, MI.
Whether these are authentic or it is a craftsman creating these new, they do look nice and interesting.
Give the fellow points for a good yarn and having an attention getter!
Anyone else notice that it appears to be the same building in the background of both the buggy & sleigh photos?
No matter what the story is, this is really cool! I’d be interested if I didn’t have a real one that still is in process. Happy bidding to someone!!
I’m thinking it was P.T. Barnum that said “There’s a sucker born every day”
The Amish like their buggies is any color they want, as long as it is black.
Maybe I’ll have this guy build me an”antique” coffee table like that.
At first glance the bow reminds me of a mid 50s bull nose but on closer inspection it isn’t and surprise the sides appear to be made of plywood. Where are the mid 30s bungs?
Gotta hand it to the people from Michigan they really know how to move the wool!
Good eyes Kelly.
Guaranteed that is the same building in the background.
Hey you got to give this guy credit! He is a creative craftsman! Take a look at how much time it must have been to build that buggy and the sleigh. His craftsmanship and engineering skills are excellent.
Although, he probably thought up that story during the countless hours spent building it! But hey… everybody loved the James Bond/Hienecken tale!
Based on the spelling errors alone we need to suspect Matt made the whole thing up himself!
Amish Amphicar?
My brother asked if the eBay listing also includes water wings for the horses or are they sold separately?
The Chris Craft Buggy Boat on Ebay was won by the Algonac Clay Township Historical Society. It will be on display at our new Maritime Museum this spring.