Hey bud,
Is that the 311 KAAMA you sold??? I want it. Of course I want your 357 as well. Here are a few other shots of the 402 in better lighting.
New interior shots and me trying to figure out all these dang controls!

402 at the ramp......

Hey guys.... this thing really does run, not well, but it runs.
Heading out!

Favorite picture of the year. At Blarney Island.......

Oh ..... one last cool story tonight! I find new storage for the boats this year. Some buddies of mine tell me that the owner of a local resort and bar on the "Chain" here had bought a marine storage facility over the border in Wisconsin. I contact the guy about storage and as the world is so small he tells me that he bought the 1982 F402 that I had looked at in Milwaukee five years ago that was used by Merc Hi performance in the early eighties to test their "new" Hi Performance packages. The original owners son worked in Fondulac at Merc Hi Perf. Story is long but the condensed version told to me by the original owner (who is a big land developer and has one of the largest antique Harley collections in the world) is that this boat had 21 540 Bulldogs replaced over a period of about 11 years. Merc would just pick the boat up, take it to the Hi- Perf facility, take out the wrecked engines for autopsy, and install a new engine. Their instructions.... Run these suckers till they break!!!! They wanted to see how a big tank like an F402 would effect their reliability. So, cool. Another F402 right here in my back yard.
Not the end of the story though. This new owner goes on to tell me that not only is his own F402 stored here but the reason he liked F402's is that his buddy has a black 1984 that he stores in this building. wow! "And oh by the way" he says. " another freind just found and bought the 1982 F402 that was the black one on the Formula F402 brochure in 1982 and that one is stored here as well." This barn is going to have four F402's sitting next to each other in it.
For most of you guys this isn't much of a big deal. You (and I) are used to seeing a bunch of the older birds floating around your fav swim hole. Plenty of 242's and 272's. A few 302's and 311's. A couple 357's. Well after owning this beast for the last four years and having to rely on you guys (Formula seems to have lost all the records on these boats) for all the info I've needed to research the rerigging and rebuilding of my F402, I've ended up with a lot more knowledge about thes old grandaddies of the Formula performance line than I ever wanted to know. What's kind of cool about finding that these four boats are all together in one place is how really rare they might be. There's a fellow on the east coast that was very helpful with my restoration project here. Greg Page had that 84 white F402 that had been for sale last spring. He had been in touch with one of the original riggers that worked for Formula during the eighties. This, as you guys might know, was when Formula had a factory in Ft Lauderdale where they only built the big offshore boats. This guy told Greg that there were only about 12 F402's ever popped out of the mold. Total! All years 1982 through 1985! Kinda of weird that four of them are all together under one roof in southern Wisconsin. All still cared for by a bunch of nutcases like you guys! I'll try to get some pictures to post.......... later ....Al

Alj, I would definitely hold onto that "Bird". If only 12 were produced, at some point it has to start increasing in value. Imagine if only 12 Volkswagen "Bugs" were produced. Or only 12 Corvairs. Or 12 Rambers. Or 12 Corvettes.

I think it's one of the absolute all time classic looking offshore boats. Tremendously long "snout", just looks like it should.

I saw one in Ft. Lauderdale back in 94 when my then wife and I were traveling around Florida in our 242. We met this couple, from Chicago I think but memory is fuzzy here, who had a red one. We were staying at the same marina for a few days and struck up conversations. I remember it was up off the Dania Canal. Anyway they invited us aboard for drinks one night and could not believe the interior. It had lounge chairs along with an actual sofa. And of course the obligatory "Formula Wood" down below. Powered by twin 550's and he said it ran mid sixtys.

Somewhere I have a picture of us moored at a slip between two sixty foot sport cruisers. I went across to another dock and shot a picture. Our boat looks like a floating styrofoam coffee cup in between two boats. It was hilarious. Great place to stay though. Extraordinarily friendly and helpful.

Alj, there is a 402 at a marina in Tampa right by the Gandy Bridge. It's the only 402 I've ever seen in person. One big sucker!

Thats it in a nut shell.

The bank still held floor plan paper on it when I bought it!!!!

I had a hell of a time convincing the state of Florida that all I had was an MSO on an 1986 boat.

The boat was the 86 literature cover boat and had every option available. ie... PRICEY!!!!!!!!!

Interesting note, The boat had a list of $148,000 but the original paper was for $89,000. Tells me boats have some margin in them. I mean Formula made money @ $89,000.00, right?

Knock $20,000.00 off list looks like a good deal, and the dealer still makes $39,000.00 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im in the wrong business.

Interesting to see MFG cost numbers, and wonder if those margins are consistant with todays boats?

I had a 85 272LS that my wife traded for a left over 89 311SR1. They were both great boats. I sold the 311 to Lance Buler in MN. He rebuilt the tired HP500's from my Black Thunder and I parted out my 468 blower motors all over the country. I am interested in a 88 or newer 242LS basket case for rebuild. If anyone has a lead on one PM me the details. Hull needs to be sound and would prefer bolsters. Mechanicals do not matter.

Well my 242LS is for sale and has bolsters...but it's not a basket case

Here is a link, I will take less than the price in the ad...ready to move up!

http://www.cbpba.com/forums/showthre...&threadid=1931