TOPIC: 1954 Waconda, From $350 to $6,000 evolution story

Last year I bought this 1954 Waconda with a Mercury engine and a TeeNee trailer for $350. It had not been used for many years … it was a project. I used it to teach my son-in-law and my grandson about boat repair; fiberglass patches, painted interior, added taillights to the boat (rather than taillights on the trailer), made the motor run again, rejuvenated/painted the trailer, and then went fishing. We spent about $425 to do all of that … so we had an investment of $775 in the whole project. It was all amateur work, but that is how the next generation learns.

I then decided that I should sell the boat/motor/trailer so I made a trade with a “classic car” shop (Tim at Kosmic Kustoms) for a 1953 five window Chevy pickup (which I then sold for $3,500).

Tim (being a professional, high-end, auto painter) got carried away on the boat and put an absolutely awesome paint job on the boat, changed the boat taillights, used a Hawaiian theme, and decked it out with bamboo. The paint color went from blue to a sea-foam green (basecoat/clearcoat). He painted the motor and cleaned up the interior. The teenee trailer still has the “brushed” on paint that we put on it.

Now Tim has it for sale for $6,000. See it at boise.craigslist.org/boa/3208770952.html and he took it to the Payette Lake boat show (which is primarily wood boats) and received great response … even though it just sat on the trailer.

The 1954 Waconda (built near the Washington state and Canada border) is a head-turner, it looks like a 1954 Buick or Pontiac, same tailfin treatment.

These 1950’s fiberglass boats do get the attention, and especially when they get decked out …

The pictures show the progression; when I first got the boat, after getting it rejuvenated, in the water, then onto Tim’s showcase paint job.

Thought you all might be interested in this little story,
Larry in Boise, Idaho

very cool larry,great paint.i like it,john

I like it too. I always wished I had an artistic imagination. I have to go and look at my boat and think a little differently. Dave