Cool Wing Thing On A 1976 Chris Craft XK 6.9 Meter?
Only in Europe? But whats the American flag doing there?
If you have been stalking ebay lately you have no doubt come across a huge collection of Chris Craft factory photos being sold one at a time. Yeah yeah, lots of 70’s stuff. But as I was zipping through them something caught my eye. These factory photos of a XK with some sort of funky hardtop thing.
Someone call Herb, he was in charge of this stuff.
Now, I am a sucker for the design of a cool hard top. Do I want to rip around the lake in one? Probably not. The big reason I go out on the boat, is to enjoy the sun and fun of it all. BUT, I don’t live in an environment that require a top up most of the time. So for the few that live in yucky areas, you lucky SOB’s, you get to justify having a hard top.. Is this even a hard top? Or just a wing thing? Its got that play pen thing going on in the back.. OR, you can just click here and buy the picture on ebay. and Now, we have added this sound track so as you read the rest of the story it gets you in the mood.
Looks like Florida? OK, now I am confused. Was this hardtop thing available here?
Maybe I am clueless here? This is cool as hell, and would be huge at any show she showed up at.
And Dammmmmmmmmmm, ya google it and BAM, there is one for sale in Kentucky? Right chere!
And more looking around, This sucker.. WELL WORTH THE CLICK.. on the Chris Craft Commander Forum..
There are a bunch of great photos on the forum..
I love everything about that boat… except the hard top, windshield, playpen, swim ladder, interior and exterior. Other than that, it’s a pretty cool boat.
If it were a larger boat I would call that a “radar arch”, but I doubt many people are going to install radar on that one.
I’m voting for Dane’s Sea Skiff.
It may be rare, but it sure is fuggly.
You want more old Chris Craft catalogs…go look on the Chris Craft club site under archives…They are all there…www.ccabc.org
Its a Pope MoBoat
Now that is funny! Thanks for the laugh.
Kinda reminds me of the vinyl Landau tops on cars during the 70s and early 80s. Remember? The half vinyl and half painted metal ones? Another car it reminds me of is the Fiat X1/9. Had a targa-style top. If the Fiats had been able to run more reliably, they would have been a really cool car. F.I.A.T. = Fix It Again, Tony!
The Fiat X1/9 was the Italians attempt to show they could do auto electronics worse than Lucas.
Lapstrake Love! Thanks Dane.
70’s. ……..Bell bottom polyester pants………Chris Craft should have stayed with wood!
The setting and the attire scream the period. Very nostalgic if you miss that. The boat….meh. The music now, that brings back memories! BTW, love the Sea Skiff header
Pappy – That particular Sea Skiff is a very original 152 hour gem. It fits right in on her home at Bay Lake and it was fun to take her for an evening ride.
If someone were to buy that for me… I could work with it 🙂
Texx, She is awesome. What caught my eye is that she has the original unpainted interior…you don’t see many like that. Just beautiful.
Another shot of “Annika”
Gotta Luv A Lapstrake! Mahalo!
i’ll be glad when all those pics are gone.
Screw the boats, I want that soundtrack, I have an anniversary coming up and that would make a special evening complete, now where’s my gold chain, silk robe, and velvet wrist restraints.
Looked at the eBay Chris-Craft factory photos, but it seems clear that they are just reprints. Though the seller has “original” all over his website, he also clearly states that they are “Newly printed on the highest quality photographic paper”. That sort of leaves out the ’70s, eh?
I disagree with all but Matt here.
I like the 6.9. Not sure I’d buy it, but look at the context, people.
The hardtop 21′ Continental many were drooling over the other day is hardly a looker either. Be honest. It’s overdone in many ways. Anodized alum, Jetson pole, chrome in weird places, fins, funky interior, funky motor box, metallic dash, Batman-design wings… It’s cool, but not a looker. That’s in part why it did not sell in large numbers.
Just like this boat.
I know the wood addicts on this blog will be aghast at me drawing that comparison. Tough. Let’s be objective here.
Give this boat another 15 or so years, like the Continental has. Have it restored. Then bring it to a show. You’ll wow lots of people., just as the Continental does today.
Another thing. This is an XK hull of significant LOA and weight, with a full length deep v bottom. At speed, it will outride nearly every (if not every) boat owned by readers of this blog. The more chop the better. These are phenomenal hulls. And with the I/O, it will outhandle the vast majority of our boats. And it will out speed them too (about 50 mph).
Up top, it will allow open air riding (as Matt, and most boaters prefer) unlike with a hardtop or sedan, yet keep passengers warm and dry. And it also has a playpen for, er, playing. (No Riva owners, you don’t get to own that moniker. My three kids had playpens too, tho serving a different purpose.)
W/o asking Herb P for his input re this boat (though I’d love to hear it!), one can see this boat was purpose designed for Mediterranean or Mediterranean-ish outings. It near perfect for that use.
Kudos to you Matt for showing boats like this in your blog. You do this hobby a service it needs.
(Pope MoBoat is still damn funny tho!)
Another thing. No, Chris-Craft should not have stayed with wood. Chris-Craft was a large scale mass manufacturer, not a custom boat builder. And the mass market called for glass. Had Chris-Craft stayed with wood, the company would have failed far earlier than it did, and many of it’s finest ever boats, such as the Commanders, would never have been born.
1n 1976 Chris Craft offered two versions of the XK-22. This version marketed as the XK-6.9 meter and the original XK-22 but was for that year was called the Lancer 22. If you compare them side by side you can see the 6.9 has a lot of unique parts. The windshield is completely unique to this model as it the arch. I’ve seen some with a top which was probably canvas. Xk-22’s are pretty rare, 6.9’s are endangered! Quite an exotic boat.