Chris Craft U22 – A Price Guide.

As many of you know I have been on a U22 hunt for the last two years. One thing that keeps bugging me is that they are priced all over the map, as well as being all over the map. From some nice restorable boats in Idaho at McCalls to a $65,000 White sided version that I will not link or show… There is even one out there at around $75,000….actually it’s a very rare nice boat…and will do a story on it if i can get some images… That one… mmmm? So…how is one supposed to put a correct price on the specific boat that you want.
As usual regarding things of this nature, it’s between the buyer and the seller. The real test is what will you wind up putting into it. Not the bag of chips and brewskys.. But wood, labor and mechanical work. So, a giveaway could cost you $60K to do, when you could have bought a nice one for 30K…

Here is a rough idea of what we call the Woody Boater Price Guide for U22’s.

Pre-war 1940-1942 In killer 100pt show boat shape. in the mid to low $40,000 –
in OK average shape, low $30K or high $20’s – in restorable condition. $2,500

1946- Painted Sides In mint show winner condition. low $40’s high $30’s User, $20’s and restorable $1,500

Later models $30’s for very nice condition, User $15,000 range and restorable. $1,500

Odd ball one off boats. Thayer IV supposedly one of the three Golden Pond boats sold for $42,000 in user condition on eBay last year, without solid documentation, and we are not sure it did sell, since we have not seen it pop up anyplace. To this date Pat Curtin has not verified one of the three boats. So until then it’s a guessing game. There are a bunch out there and it’s buyer beware on that one. Alan Jackson’s donation to the Antique boat Museum sold for $3,200 at the auction then showed up on eBay a month later. That boat had some issues for sure. And then there is the one that your parents had that they sold when you were a kid and you just found, that one is priced at Arm and Leg… It’s all emotion at some point.

Now I know I am going to get a ton of flack on this, but I have seen 100’s of them for sale over the last two years. There are about 100 of them out there right now for sale.. I have no agenda, I am not selling, nor can I buy one yet…The ones that have actually sold, have sold in this range, asking price is one thing, actual selling price is another. For example, I saw a killer fresh restored late model U22 sell this last spring in Mt Dora for the mid to low $30K range. It was a very reasonable selling price for buyer and seller. It was sold through Antique Boat Center. So $65,000 for a white sided one is a fantasy. Yes you may have that much in it. But that’s the cost of restoration. As we say here, wood is wood, labor is labor. What shape its in in the end, is where the value is.

I hope this helps. Right now, almost any dealer has one or two for sale at reasonable prices. And of course there is the Antique Boat Center with 22 of them in the U22athon . With the discounts from Woody Boater and the Chris-Craft Antique Boat Club the prices are very realistic. Talk to the dealer first were you find the boat and ask around to other dealers, sometimes they are the best moderator between the buyer and seller. The broker can remove the emotion from the deal. And that is were it will cost you.