I own a 38 fever and have been on a 38 Scarab. There is no comparison. The fountain, esp a 91, will out perform the scarab in all conditions. The scarab will have to be trimmed out to the max to get any decent speed and the rides goes down hill. You will be able to run the fountain with litlle or no trim in rough water and it will still be faster & ride better

It depends what your after. There are many good points listed. I personally agree with LPBoater. My interests may be different then yours. What drives are on the boat? Do you intend to use it the way it is? Do you expect to want to make it go faster?

LPBoater summed it up well........the Fountain in this case, 4 years newer and the rebuilds have close to the same hours as well. Be sure to take the advice of the surveyor though, even though the Fountain is newer does not usually mean anything, its how it was cared for as well. Don't buy if it does not check out decent.

To say the Fountain will out perform the KV in all conditions is a bit of a stretch.

In the late 80's, early 90's there was no better ride than an Apache, Cigarette or the KV Scarab. the 91 Fountain was not stepped at this point and it took many versions of Fountains step to get it to the point its at now.

Also, the performance of the KV Scarabs of the late 80's/early 90's is what drove the competition between Fountain and Scarab for the speed record (Scarab held it as well several times while duking it out with Fountain).

The Larry Smith KV Scarab was a WELL proven machine by the late 80's. Fountain was just getting started.

I've been in both boats (90's stepped Fountain/late 80's KV). I'd take a KV Scarab over most boats of its time all day long...Cigarette and Apache excluded. But then again, it does depend on the over all condition of both these particular boat and which boat you're going to get more bang for the buck out of.

Didn't mean to make you defend your experience. Lots of guys who are experienced boaters post threads like this. My bad. Sorry.

Scarab. Thye hull was one of the winningest boats in offshore for alot of years.

A survey is a must. Having it done by someone other than a known high-performance specialist is a waste of money.

[QUOTE=Chris Sunkin;2396176]Scarab. Thye hull was one of the winningest boats in offshore for alot of years.

What years were those? There are nice and won races but winningest is a stretch.

I have this 1994 38' Fountain Fever for sale!! 220 original hours and has been updated. 502 Mercury 415hp.

more pictures...........................

Ditto