Good Year Or Good Beer?
Cool Good Year See Bee Outboard On Ebay
On my morning ebay paroooooooooz I found this little GoodYear outboard? Maybe I should know by now, I am the Woody Boater after all and should know everything.. Little secret…. I KNOW NOTHING! The more I think I know, the more I end up thinking I know very little. Everything is a rabbit hole of knowledge. And at my age do I really want to learn more? HELL YES!
I suppose these were great for when you …wait for it…… Re TIRE! Get it.. Re Tire.. Anyone? Try the veal? Anyone.. Okay we will move on now..
So With this little Outboard I started internetting for a fun story, and found this video. Gotta say, it starts out a tad strange, but this guy would be fun to hang out with, and clearly enjoys a fish’n trip. And honestly provides little background on GoodYear Outboards, but sure can talk a GoodBeer!
Okay one more, So is it a Good Review? Or Good Brew? Sorry….
Okay then, If you still are interested in the Outboard on Ebay, CLICK HERE, or just go to the fridge and relax!
I can’t believe I watched that guy for six minutes!
HAHAHAHAHAA!
Thanks Greg for saving me 6 minutes
Good morning gentleman!
Matt are you missing something?
My calendar says WoodyBoater birthday today!
Is that correct?
If so happy birthday!
Thanks for all the stories! Fun to follow!
Greg I was not fortunate to see your post before I watched the 6 minutes. I must say I do like Leinenkugel!.
Sad day for me. Taking the GarWood off the lift on to trailer.
Could be the last run this year.
The Sea Bee, is actually a good entry into a discussion on outboard motor design and industrial designer Brooks Stevens. I pulled this text off a Facebook post that’s been circulating on various outboard pages this year, enjoy!
How To Style 12 Different Outboard Brands & Not Break The Bank
Most Evinrude fans know that design consultant Brooks Stevens directed the styling for Evinrude outboards from the 1940’s to the 1980’s. That’s a significant assignment in and of itself, but he also styled OMC Gale’s 12 different brands sold through retailers like Montgomery Ward. As you might imagine, creating unique styling for those 12 brands – and all their individual models – could represent a major added expense for outboards intended to be lower-cost.
How It Was Handled – As illustrated in the photos, the answer was to use the basic Evinrude (and sometimes Johnson) motor cover shell and apply distinctive appliques and decals for each Gale brand. (Note that all the outboards in the photos have the same basic motor cover.) Add individual paint colors and you have a unique look. The inexperienced buyer may not have known the connection to Evinrude & Johnson – or cared – but serious outboard guys knew. Considering that Gale outsold Johnson and Evinrude individually in 1947 by producing over 100,000 private-label outboards it certainly was a good marketing strategy….at the time
GALE History – Launched in 1939, Gale was the third outboard division of Outboard Marine Corp located in Galesburg, Illinois. Gale outboards were sold through chain outlets such as: Montgomery Ward, Spiegel, Atlas Tire, Goodyear, Gamble-Skogmo and Esso branded as: Sea King, Sea Flyer, Sea Bee, Hiawatha, Viking, Royal, Brooklure, Saber – and later Buccaneer and Gale Sovereign. ELTO outboards by Gale were made at the OMC Peterborough, Canada plant for the Canadian market. Though an OMC product, some Gale models differed from contemporary Evinrudes and Johnsons. For instance, fuel pumps were offered standard far earlier on Gale models than on Evinrude or Johnson models. Gale continued as a separate OMC division through 1963, the last year for Gale private-label outboards.
(Photo: designer Brooks Stevens)
Wait what Andy in Middletown Hiawatha?
See that is how my brain goes down a rabbit hole.
Haha.. yes! I live the Gale brand names…. so theatrical!
Thanks for the info, Andy.
BTW… they are asking way too much for that motor… (obviously) $50 to $75 would be a far more appropriate price range. Imo.
What a great video. He was right that thing did purr like a kitten. Neat little motors. They sold those at Good Year tire stores. I wander how many fisherman bought those on impulse, while getting tires put on their car. My brother in law has one. He picked it up at an auction for $10.00. Thanks for the backstory Andy.
You got it Mark! I thought Matt might appreciate the design perspective…. $10.. that’s more like it for these neat, but relatively common motors.
Cool story! That said, I had a abusive childhood having to deal with knucklebusters….never could get any of them to run faithfully despite my father’s prodding …. Have to confess that in my teens I once sent a EVERrude to the bottom right off the transom and rowed back to the dock. Fuel injection, electronic ignition, better impellers…no guys…these are the days not those.
John in Va.
Growing up we had a Firestone. 2.5hp if memory is correct.
they make good mailboxes. only decals i had laying around.