I just finished a major catalog and appraisal of an antique outboard motor collection. The collection had more than 100 motors. Most of the motors were pre-WWII with a few newer models mixed into the bunch. As we undertook this mission, it was important to gather the necessary tools for the job. After discovering how difficult it was to find one useful guide or repository, I decided I should write this post to help the next person that goes in search of information about antique outboard motors.
The motors in this collection consisted primarily of the brands Elto, Evinrude, Johnson and Mercury. There were a few other brands mixed in such as Champion, Neptune, and the like. However, 90% of the collection was the aforementioned brands. Armed with that information, I decided it was best to find model and serial number information for the motors. After many time consuming searches, I found several resources that had what I needed.
OldMercs.com has an index of motors manufactured by Mercury up to 1979. This proved helpful for the handful of Mercury outboard motors we had in the collection. From the list, we easily identified year of manufacture, horsepower, model and designation (or model name).
In regard to Elto, Evinrude and Johnson. I had a few things working in my favor. First my research revealed that Evinrude and Elto were both founded by Ole Evinrude (in 1907 and 1921 respectively), and that they merged into one company (Evinrude) in 1929. I also learned that Johnson was eventually acquired by Evinrude (1936), and today Evinrude is a Bombardier Recreational Products company. So I started my research at their website, and noticed in the upper right hand corner of their site a link to a model year guide [note, it's a pdf]. The guide amazingly has every model of outboard motor made by Evinrude, Elto and Johnson since the beginning and includes horsepower and date of manufacture information.
As you can see, my task became much easier. In the cataloging stage, all we needed to find was the model number or serial number of the motor along with the make and we could easily find the date of manufacture, horsepower and other pertinent information.
After the catalog was complete, we needed to value the motors. For this we turned to a handy reference book – The Old Outboard Book
The task of valuing and researching the outboard motors was shaping up to be a tedious one. However, once I had the resources in place the task became much easier. As I mentioned at the beginning, I hope this information helps you in identifying and valuing your antique outboard motor. If you find yourself needing help, feel free to drop me a line. In the meantime, happy motoring!