I have alway loved boats even since ive been little and i wanna take it a step further. What i would like to is buy older high performance boats and restore them to better then new condition but have all modern parts. Kinda like a resto-mod thing. Instead of using carbed motors i would really like to use the vortec 6.0 or 5.3. They are great motors and are easy to pull power out of. Will i be able to make these motors marine ready? Im not looking to make 1000hp but i would like to place them in 16-22 foot Donzi classics. Im only 17 on a student budget but i think with a little time i would hopefully like to see it grow to the point where i would be able to produce my own hulls. The whole concept of the company is a classic performance boat with modern power and reliability. I guess if all goes well i will take custom orders and maybe produces manufacture themed boats. SS, Hemi, or Shelby. It sounds REALLY ambitious but its what i wanna do. I know everyone uses there last name for the company name but Aquino isnt exactly performance material haha. Let me know what you think. My main question is "Will people want the product?"

i'll give you my honest opinion, it may not be what you want to hear though.


Take the money you would have spent on buying that first hull and put it towards a degree. after you get a bachelors degree, then you can start dealing with all the headaches of business ownership. Who knows, by then you may have a different interest for a career. But the important thing is that you will have a degree and you will be marketable to a lot of companies that will pay you a salary while you try to get your startup business going on the side.

Sure people would want the product - BUT:

No one in the history of the world has ever come out ahead on restoring a powerboat unless they got the hull free, and happened to have an extra drivetrain lying around. Lots of members on here with bleeding wallets to verify it!!

OH - and what Shore Thing said is true about the degree.

You want to dance in the business world...thats good.

But your ticket to the dance is the degree. Without that you are stuck with the fat ***** in the parking lot.

From what I have read about restoration deals is that you really have to enjoy messing with the boat and you have to have the $$$ to piss away. It seems to be more of a hobby for people not a business. Not to say that it couldnt be lucrative.

Get the education first though.

Im with you guys on the degree part. Im going to get a degree in international business and hopefully it will bring me somewhere to fund this money pit. As of now I want it to be a hobby with benefits. I have a job and a lot of people behind me to help. Within the next year i would like to find a nice 16-18' donzi classic hull and restore it while in school. Hopefully it will be done by next season and i will push the name as much as possible. For now im just gettin my feet wet, if it goes bad i put it off and try again in a couple years. Job wise, my dad owns a advertising company that i could always fall into but I would really like to use that just to get me of my feet. This all sounded good in my head but now that i see it, this is gonna be alot harder then i thought. The good thing is that im still young and i have alot of time to mess around in the market.

I have to agree with everyone too. Its hard enough to start a successful business in a good economy. But today, I would say dont do it. Get a business or finance degree, and then you can start any business you want. And most likely be very successful. You will not make a living reserecting vintage boats. You'll most likely go broke. They're nice to have, but most people want new boats that go faster with affordable, reliable power.

Go to school and get a degree in a medical or computer field and then when you are in your 30's you will be making enough money to do what you are thinking about now as a hobby.

I was just thinking that, with that way the economy is going now (although its getting better) theres no way someone would shell out $30,000-$40,000 for a 80s donzi just because it restored and has a efi motor. Idk My plan right now is to buy a boat for me, restore it, sell it. If i somehow make a profit ill follow through with it. If i lose then i just buy a nice boat and enjoy it. The only reason i would restore boats was to get my name on the performance map, after i have a reputation i would build my own hull know that i have made a name for myself and its not just another backyard builder. But thats 30 years from now. Im dreaming haha

I'm just glad to see a 17 year old thinking out of the box.

Haha thanks yeah i have a tendency to plan everything out ahead of time. Scary enough i already have a layout of the home i want in a CAD program i use, and yes it has a boat garage. For the past for years in high school i have taken Auto cad and architecture classes. I have designed ALOT of boats from sport fish convertibles to 24 degree deep-vees. I love it but right now theres no money in it so im going into finance and investments. Its a risky move but once your in, your set for a long time. I also got offered an internship a Boston Whaler but i would go insane making boats that can only cruise at 35 haha