Baja History "The Thread"

[Dock Holiday]

Originally Posted by XT-Innovator

Doc,

Lane remembers this boat well. It was the only one to have a padded motorlid with the scoops installed, and it was quite a job to do. It is the only one produced by Baja, but I think we built a blank that was simular, at a later date? What did Mike's B-36 have in it for power?

XT

Much smaller power with Speedmaster drives. I think they were #5's.

[JaayTeee]

Originally Posted by Dock Holiday

Much smaller power with Speedmaster drives. I think they were #5's.

....and staggered engines

[Dock Holiday]

Originally Posted by JaayTeee

....and staggered engines

Yes here are some pictures of the engines and drives.

I think I was told they made around 650 HP.

[nomomoney]

I'm pretty sure that boat is sitting in a hanger just south of Dallas. The old Baja dealer in Dallas owns it.

[wildbill3388]

i have a 1981 20 ft baja jetboat with a 460 im restoring. Does anyone have any iformation on these?

[Ebay Ed]

what was the deal with the staggered engines ?? was it so they could make the boat smaller side to side? just seems like it would throw the balance out of wack

[doctor_x]

So I am trying to get back into boating after selling my 32' Chaparral Laser...

I'm looking for cool, cheap, safe, not necessarily fast - and some of the Baja's fit that mold - plus I am an "old boat" fanatic, so when I saw this thread I had to troll..

Anyway...

A few people asked and it was never really answered, so I will ask again. Does anyone know how many of the Baja Cat's were produced? I have never EVER seen one for sale, or in the water. As a matter of fact, that N-Force pic is the only time I've seen it at all. It looks almost exactly like that Wellcraft Cougar Cat to me from pictures..

+1 on the sidewinder being cool.. I love the interior and especially love the center shifter.. Only drag about that boat is that the windshield bubbles make it look like a bug a little - and also you cant turn the chairs around to put your feet up on the rear bench - other wise what a cool boat, and possibly what I might end up with - though a tad small.

Bandit - killer cool boat and has always reminded me of old CVX Glastron Carlson's with the smoked windscreen - but even more reminds me of the 21' VIP Vindicator I had for a while though I think the vindicator was a little more low profile than the Bandit.

Wet Vette - is that simply a bandit hull with some paint and other refinements, or did they change more than that? i.e. is the profile the same?

Twilight Cruiser???? Not one I'm familiar with - and it was just a drawing in the catalog page that was posted, so I assume maybe it was a prototype or still in preliminary stages at the time of that brochure - I am absolutely going to go googling after posting this as that size, and the fact that its old enough to be cheap are both things I'm interested in.

Finally - the 405... Wow.. As much as I like Sonic, Cig, etc for "big boats that I'll never be able to afford" that thing is a really neat looking boat. Maybe in 20 years right??

Thanks for the great thread!

[doctor_x]

one other question - does anyone know if there is such a thing as a pictoral history of baja's from fairly far back? or at least from the mid 80's?

[JaayTeee]

Originally Posted by doctor_x

So I am trying to get back into boating after selling my 32' Chaparral Laser...

I'm looking for cool, cheap, safe, not necessarily fast - and some of the Baja's fit that mold - plus I am an "old boat" fanatic, so when I saw this thread I had to troll..

Anyway...

A few people asked and it was never really answered, so I will ask again. Does anyone know how many of the Baja Cat's were produced? I have never EVER seen one for sale, or in the water. As a matter of fact, that N-Force pic is the only time I've seen it at all. It looks almost exactly like that Wellcraft Cougar Cat to me from pictures..




+1 on the sidewinder being cool.. I love the interior and especially love the center shifter.. Only drag about that boat is that the windshield bubbles make it look like a bug a little - and also you cant turn the chairs around to put your feet up on the rear bench - other wise what a cool boat, and possibly what I might end up with - though a tad small.

Bandit - killer cool boat and has always reminded me of old CVX Glastron Carlson's with the smoked windscreen - but even more reminds me of the 21' VIP Vindicator I had for a while though I think the vindicator was a little more low profile than the Bandit.

Wet Vette - is that simply a bandit hull with some paint and other refinements, or did they change more than that? i.e. is the profile the same?

Twilight Cruiser???? Not one I'm familiar with - and it was just a drawing in the catalog page that was posted, so I assume maybe it was a prototype or still in preliminary stages at the time of that brochure - I am absolutely going to go googling after posting this as that size, and the fact that its old enough to be cheap are both things I'm interested in.

Finally - the 405... Wow.. As much as I like Sonic, Cig, etc for "big boats that I'll never be able to afford" that thing is a really neat looking boat. Maybe in 20 years right??

Thanks for the great thread!

The Wette Vette was a regular Bandit (first year of the
20* bottom) paint and ZR-1 Corvette engine.

Mercury marine evidently made the ZR-1 Corvette
engine for GM, this boat was was something to showcase
that.

[eddie]

I had the privilege of help loading “The Green Monster” on Sunday while at Lake of the Ozarks. It was a balmy 44 degrees with a light mist. Daniel was running the 700 Sci’s at 4,100 w/no windscreen and that isn’t a feeling I will forget soon!

Becker she should be up at your place by now?