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

....and staggered engines

Yes here are some pictures of the engines and drives.

I think I was told they made around 650 HP.

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

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

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

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!

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?

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.

recent history
 

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! :eek:

Becker she should be up at your place by now? :coolcowboy:

Yea I heard it's going back to Hawkeye....Nice ride Eddie woulda made you a nice boat!:coolcowboy:

Don't know if anyone has found the Baja Cat article but here is the one I found on the 33 Cat.

Hopefully it attached......

Nice find! I think Bob Morgan had one of those called "Cat in the Act" back in the early 90's.

Why isn't this thread sticky-d? Great read, a lot of info, I think it should stay at the top for the new members (such as my self) to find easily

2x on sticky

I'm not sure if this has been posted before but this is an interesting story about the early years of Baja/ Aeroglastics:

A little Baja history from the local TF.

BUCYRUS -- A small fiberglass company named Aeroglastics Inc., which built parts and products for other companies, moved into building fiberglass boats in 1971.


That company, Baja Boats, was originally located at 543 Jones St., which had been a roller skating rink. The company had many ups, and downs, in its turbulent 37-year history in Bucyrus.

Aeroglastics was incorporated on Feb. 5, 1970, by Neil E. Baker, Charles F. Coulter and John D. Sears.

The company broke ground for a new $1 million facility in the Bucyrus Airport Industrial Center on Dec. 10, 1974. The new building was the first phase of a four-year expansion program which saw all aspects of the company's operation move to Issac Beal Road.

Company president Baker said at the time that plans for the expansion began some years before when it became clear that projected sales would exceed the capacity of the Jones St. plant.

The plans were rushed, however.

While still on Jones Street, the company suffered a series of fires in 1976, the first happening on Jan. 23 and the second Feb. 5. Both were small fires, causing little damage.

The third fire, however, was different. Much different. Fire ripped through the plant in the early morning hours of Sept. 20, causing more than $140,000 in damages and virtually destroying the plant. Flames were estimated as high as 100 feet.

"We couldn't have saved the building by the time we got there," then Bucyrus Fire Chief Gordon Grove said. "The building was down and gutted within 45 minutes after we got there."

The fire occurred just two weeks before an annual trade show in Chicago, but dealers loaned boats to exhibit to generate subsequent sales.

In the meantime, the Jones Street plant was shut down and Baja executives decided to move quicker to build the new plant on Issac Beal Road.

The building suffered another major fire on Nov. 29, 1977. This fire hit a building just 20 feet south of the site of the first fire. Both fires were eventually ruled to be of suspicious origin.

Aeroglastics also suffered another setback on Dec. 20, 1976, when an administrative judge of the National Labor Relations Board found the company engaged in unfair labor practices and was ordered to restore three employees with seniority and other rights and pay them their earnings.

Aeroglastics appealed the ruling, kicking the case up to a three-member panel, who affirmed the ruling of judge Almira Abbot Stevenson on April 10, 1977.

Baja completed its expansion plans in mid-1979, finishing a 12,000-foot square building. At the time, the company expanded its work force by 40.

The company held yet another groundbreaking for a $1.5 million expansion on Jan. 17, 1984, to build a 20,000-square-foot warehouse. The expansion was expected to create 35 new jobs with more jobs coming as other phases of the expansion were completed.

By 1986, Baja reported sales of more than $20 million and 235 employees, that raised to $32 million and 360 over the next year. During peak periods, production hit between 55 and 60 boats per week coming out of the Bucyrus plant.

In 1987, president Doug Smith announced that the company was opening a new manufacturing facility in Mabank, Texas. In that story, Smith said his company is experiencing unprecedented growth. The Texas facility closed after a short time.

Baja opened an 86,000 square foot engineering facility in 1989 and its Baja Sport 250 was named full size boat of the year by Powerboat magazine.

"Our business has doubled every two years for the last eight years," Smith said in 1989. "We have had tremendous growth."

Hi,

Does anyone remember a Baja 60' from the 79'-82' era? I kept a boat magazine that featured it for many years, but can't find it or anything on the web.

I remember it had twin diesels and the text said it would break 60mph. Blue exterior with white interior as I recall.

Anyone know if there is any of these in existence?

That would be a Baia, not a Baja.

Thanks for the info!

There is a BAIA on Grand. Talk about a Rooster Tail O YEA!!
Bout a 55' i think.

Is it black? If its it the one I'm familiar with it is a 65' with v-12 Detroits in it & it should run 65 mph!:eek:

Why are older Bajas more valuable than the newer ones
 

Can someone tell me why some of the late 80 Baja 280 and such are more valuable than some of the newer models of the same size? I like the lines of a lot of the older boats. I had a 24' Commander Supercruiser and it handled great in the chop of Lake Havasu. I'm in the market again for a cruiser/offshore style 24-30 ft boat and see some great deals under $30k for used ones especially Baja. Any insight from the forum would be appreciated on what boats to consider under $30k.

Have not seen a 280 anywhere near the price of the newer 29OL or 302. Most 280's are listed in the 14 - 20K range. The lowest I have seen a 29OL/302 is 25K.

I would sell you my 280 right now for 20k.

This is absolutely one of the best threads I've read....great information about the line and huge history lesson. I don't have the type of boat that most of you guys have, but I've been around it all of my life and really appreciate the history.

I've just replaced the 496 in my 01' 25 Outlaw and put in a naturally aspirated 540 with 700+HP.....it brings a new appreciation and enthusiasm for performance boating. Even squeaked some impressive nods from good old dad who has been a Fountain-holic for 20+ years. I'm sure it's in the top 5% of speed numbers for that modell, but can't confirm that. Would love to find a place where I could actually see other 25OL numbers. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the great info.

Whats the difference between models besides design ex 29OL->30OL?

Did Fountain make som changes during their time?

No wonder I can never find any information about my boat. It was 'only made' for one year. Is there a cross reference of comparable parts/options/etc from either 1989 or 1991, 1992?

I have a 1990 Baja 196 ESS

It was called the Sport 196 in 1989.

XT

This thread is loaded with Great info.................

Thanks Guys!

WwW

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...0822091443.jpg
1974 V-1500 with 1973 Merc 1150. This boat rips! it belonged to my friend's father. we skied behind this boat for years growing up. i replaced the fuel system and wiring harnesses and it's like a new boat.

here's an old ad from 1975.
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...75_V1500-1.jpg

WOW !!!
I can't believe that in a year and a half here I never saw this thread before. I came to the shop cause it was raining and just spent an hour reading this thread, LOL.

I was lucky enough during my search to find a little piece of Baja history for sale and kind of thought the seller might have been yanking my chain just a bit on all his telling me the history of the boat. I came into here and BBO and posted the unit on a thread asking if anyone knew the boat. Dave at XT corroborated the seller's story when he told me that it was the 1996 Baja Marine factory poker run boat for that year model and was a Powerboat magazine cover with a brief write up about her. He even offered up his copy of the mag if I purchased her, an offer I'll soon have to take him up on This was info I didn't even put into that thread cause I thought it was most likely Hogwash coming from the seller to help sell his boat.
Here's a few pic's Ive posted a couple of times from and a link to my boat search thread last year.


http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28.../IMG_15311.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28.../IMG_15202.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28.../IMG_15421.jpg

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/a...hpq6daxcam.jpg

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/b...know-boat.html

I remember a member here saying he had a great pic or video of her getting big air at one of the Great Lake Poker Runs.
If anybody has old pic's/vids or links to them I'd love to have a copy or links to them.
[email protected]

Doc, thanks for your thread from way back. I just learned so much Baja history it's unbelievable.

See ya,
Kelly

2+year restoration is almost complete.

Stumbled on this thread via a Google search and just read the whole thing.
Just bumping the thread because it's a very good read for anyone remotely interested in Baja.

Not the first time it's reappeared, thanks to all the contributors, especially Doc Holiday.

Go back to page one and enjoy some Baja history......

RR

is the building still empty this day?

B-36
 

I'm new to the forum, I joined cause I just picked up a 208 islander. Always wanted a Baja and now I have the pleasure of owing one. I saw a lot of info on the B-36 racing boat. A friend of mine owns this boat now.

I bought a 11 1/2 ft. Cobra Boat in July 1972 the President of the company Neil E. Baker signed the title I still have. My boat is labeled Cobra but they had to change their name because was already being used. They changed the name to Baja. In 1973 all boats were called Baja. I sold the boat around 1982 and found it in 2018 in bad shape but now I have restored. The boat dealer in Lacey Michigan (and friend) ordered 3 of these 11 1/2 Cobra boat. I am trying to find some history myself on how many of this model did they build.
I did here that Neil bought the mold from Checkmate and this was one of his first projects. I don't know this for sure. I have been searching to find Neil E. Baker I would love to talk to him. I would love any information that is out there.
Best Regards