weldwizard

Hello all, looking for insight and history on boats and people mentioned in title. I did find one thread covering some things but in particular im trying to find as much as i can about can am boats. I attached a picture of the boat specifically im trying to find i believe its a 31 foot. Are these still around? Does anyone know of any of these 31s for sale? Late 70's to mid 80s. Ive dove into the interwebs and cant find much about can am other than it was incorporated in 1978. Ive found some jet boats and one guy on here who had a 26 can am.

Drake22.250

iTrader: (2)

go to magnum forum and search Jim Klem. It will tell you about the history of Klem Gems.

h2oboater

I had the very first 31' Lancer built, & sold by Jim Klem. Back in 1975 I really wanted a Magnum sport but could not come up with the cash for a real one so I went back to Klem to buy a 29' west coast Larry Smith Scarab that he claimed Lancer Marine was making a knock off of. Klem had sold me a blank 24' Cheetah back in 1974 that I raced so I thought I would take a chance buying a hull from him again. The 29' LS Scarab copy never happened & Klem Had $12k of mine for a hull. Jim & Cheetah said they would build me completely new 31' hull that I would be able to race as there was no refund of my 12k ?? I got hull # 1 around April of 1976 rigged it with small blocks to race the APBA modified class, Because the hull was a west coast design I never raced it as it was a wet riding hull that just would not be competitive but was OK as a pleasure boat. Klem never laid up these hulls just rigged them, if you bought a blank & set it up yourself like many of my friends did they we not to bad. I later replaced the engines with 454cu Mercruiser 330hp, the extra weight of them & moving more weight aft helped out the ride but never as good as my Magnums. By 1980 these hulls were copied by other west coast shops like Climax & Warlock, these shops did not changing anything so they all ride a little wet. I traded my 31' in 1980 for a Magnum race boat that needed power & I jumped on that deal never looking back. Because Klem never layed up the hulls up just rigged them you might find one that's worth rebuilding but don't bet on it. There was a Warlock 30' on ebay last year with Volvo small blocks, but I don't believe it sold even with a buy it now of around 13k. For your money I would stay away from this hull as I believe any 30'ish Florida built hull would be a much better choice. The orange & white hull was my # 1 hull & the red & white CONTAGIOUS was Klems 31' that had blower engines that ran mid 70's. Mark

Team Archer

They was one here on the west coast that we converted to a single engine was sold a couple of years ago.

weldwizard

Thanks for the reply. Do you know anything about this boat in particular? Size history anything
?

h2oboater

That is most likely a 31' Lancer Klem sold, looks like it was repainted as I never saw a all white Lancer.. I saw that one for sale a few years ago & that's where I found this pic's of this hull.. By the cut out of the transom it had Sternpower drives @ one time. I do like the updated one piece engine hatch & rear seat & windshield fairing they look very nice. I don't know anything else about this one but unless you can get it for a very good price I would buy something else. I don't know anything else on this Lancer.
A little more info about Lancer Marine the owner Barry McCown was from California & offshore racer owner of the Banzai race team. Berry had raced BANZAI a Spectra 24' with two big blocks in tandem. Lancer Marine also built a 25' version of the 31' & Berry raced that one calling KAMIKAZE I believe with two big blocks in tandem also. Klem sold a few of the 25' Lancer with single engine power.

ironhead

there was 1 that was in the shed at bell maer they said skipper buds had it, that was 3 years ago, had the same round "ho's" in the back, dont remember the trailer or fairing and it was white same boat ????? only h2OOOOOOO knows

h2oboater

That's the one, it was at Bell Maer, where it is today ?????

murfman

Transom is cut for sub woofers lol

Speedracer29

Yeah, somebody was probably going to mount outboards on it and didn't understand the term "bass mid". Rookies. Lol