Has anyone seen the original WETTE VETTE?

WETTE VETTE · 04-30-2002, 05:23 PM

Back in about 1991 Baja was pushing the new Bandit hull. They did a custom paint job on a Bandit, dropped in a Corvette ZR1 motor, and had a Corvette set up as the tow vehicle. There was a real cool article on the project in either Hot Boat or Powerboat magazine. Does anyone else remember this? I think they said the boat would do low 80's and had great acceleration. I wonder where that boat ended up? I just love Corvettes and performance so I figured WETTE VETTE was the perfect name for my boat. I do think the original was cool especially with the ZR1 motor and the vette tow vehicle.

Flyinbrian · 04-30-2002, 07:02 PM

I thought the original Wette Vette was stolen. I don't recall if it was stolen from Baja, or who, but for some reason I remember reading or hearing about people looking for it.

Anyone with me on this one?

J240 · 04-30-2002, 07:18 PM

Wette Vette I own a 1990 Zr-1 corvette and love that boat also.
There was a great article in POPULAR MECHCANICS. I forget what month it was, but I'll look to see if I can find out.

WETTE VETTE · 04-30-2002, 09:57 PM

I do recall seeing the article in Pop Mech. I don't recall ever hearing that the boat was stolen. That boat is one of a kind and should be easy to identify. I guess I may have stole the name. If you find the article I would like to check it out. Some cool Baja history.

lakejunke · 04-30-2002, 11:42 PM

I also remember seeing a ski boat with vette running gear. It was red, even had zr-1 lights gelled into the back of the hull. Anyone remember that one?

CFD5 · 05-01-2002, 12:20 AM

The ski boat was a Malibu. It was a total piece of junk, great motor but the boat sucked. We have the vette engine in our mastercraft and it has been running strong for 350+ hours, which is alot for a tournament ski-boat, excellent acceleration and the best ski boat / motor combo I've ever been in. I have never seen the Baja version.

jmeng · 05-01-2002, 01:15 AM

I have the Hot Boat with the Wette Vette article laying around here somewhere. That was actually the first Hot Boat I ever bought. Very fine boat and tow vehicle combo. I don't have a scanner but if someone was interested I could copy the article and send it to them.