Offshoreonly.com - 311 Rocks

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Traded in a 1988 311 last year,very clean boat,sold it to a very close friend. He kept telling be how great the boat was,I just thought he was happy with his purchase and was maybe over the top with his praises. But today Karen and I went out with them for the day. What a neat boat,20 years old but still classy. Formula should dust off the molds and build a 311 Classic. I'll buy the first one,bet a lot of old Formula owners will get in line to buy a 2008 311 Classic.Am I crazy? What do you folks think?

Everywhere we go ... my 311 gets looks ....comments ... m

Some boats have that timeless styling, the 311 is one of them. They'd probably sell even without steps.

Same here, I always have people chat me up at the gas station (I trailer it), and give me thumbs up when I'm on the highway. And that really surprises me down here in South Florida where you'd think "go fasts" are a dime a dozen. Perhaps since it still looks so good, they don't realize just how old it is.
The problem with a 311 Classic is that the 353 is just so close in size. I haven't been up close and personal with one yet to see for myself the differences. Now that I've had mine for almost a year, the one big change I would want, is more room between the front and rear seat. And A/C for down here in S.FLA. :D

I've said before, I think the 311 may be the most popular performance boat Formula ever put out. Can you get the numbers they produced Robert? Year by year would be good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magicfloat (Post 2248316)

What a neat boat,20 years old but still classy. Formula should dust off the molds and build a 311 Classic. I'll buy the first one,bet a lot of old Formula owners will get in line to buy a 2008 311 Classic.Am I crazy? What do you folks think?

A 311 or 357 classic (complete with the old imron graphic designs) would be awesome. The SR-1 series was what I believe to be Formula's finest ever. The 357 and 311 remain as some of their best selling boats. I emailed Formula last year about possibly bringing back the 311 and 357. The response I got back was from one of Formula's product development managers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam Blythe

Dear Quikdecision

Thanks for the note and compliments. Sorry to say, but the tooling for the boats you mentioned (311, 357, and 402 SR-1's) was retired and has now been destroyed. As you probably know, developing new models is an evolutionary process to which we are continuously seeking improvements. We believe the FasTech design did accomplish that objective.

We have many customers who maintain that the first boat they bought from us was the best. Others applaud us for our progressive design and submit our product just keeps getting better. Learning from customers, of their likes and dislikes, plays a big part in how our design team creates new models. So, I want to thank you for your input.

Keep in mind that suppliers are also upgrading their products, from which we attempt to take advantage. Inherent in some of those changes is the need to modify what we’ve done in the past. Associated with that influence are the ever present automotive styling directions, which tend to drive many industries designs, as consumers are affected by enormous marketing budgets.

Rest assured that the core design of our product will remain the same: fit and finish, superior materials, dependability, unique innovation and spirited performance.

Again, thanks for the note.

Sincerely,

Samuel D Blythe

Product Development Manager; Thunderbird Inc.

I did expect this sort of response, but I thought that they would at least save the molds.

A classic re-issue of a few of the SR1s would be very very cool. I'd bet that Ford is pretty happy they returned to a classic Mustang body style. So goes evolution.

I took my 311 out on Friday for the 1st time in a while with a friend who had not been on it before. Man, we both were blown away! I had forgotten how awesome the ride is.

Makes me sad that I am selling it but one must do what one must do... :(

I get a lot of comments on my old 311, too. They are nearly as big as most "modern" 35's and, while they are not fast, they do ride like tanks for their size. I keep looking to "move up" only to realize I have to buy a 38-42 footer to really make the jump.

Quote:

A classic re-issue of a few of the SR1s would be very very cool. I'd bet that Ford is pretty happy they returned to a classic Mustang body style. So goes evolution.

I agree! I think that would be a great offering...a 2008 classic 311SR1. Even though mine is a 292 SR1, there were only a few differences...like 2'! I love the classic design and compliments are abundant wherever I go!