73 Autocoast Marauder production numbers

[73Marauder]

Looking for anyone that might have information on production boats built by autocoast I recently purchased this 73 marauder super sport 24 with twin 165 mercruiser's. I knew nothing about them when I bought it and am now very intrigued by the lack of info I can dig up. thanks for any insights in advance.

 

[h2oMag]

Here some info from my box of stuff on the Marauder 21' & 24'.

 

[Ratickle]

Wow, interesting. I have never heard about this boat and will do some digging. That flybridge above had to be a riot at speed!!

 

[73Marauder]

Its a super sport 24 with twin 165 mercruiser's needs some restoration work the deck gel coat is in poor shape and needs upholstery Ill try and get some pics next week when I'm off work.

 

[Ratickle]

 

[Ratickle]

 

[Ratickle]

 

[Ratickle]

I've been totally unable to find their production numbers so far....

 

[Seabiscuit 03]

MARAUDER BOATS

I was stumbling through the internet and in a search for Marauder boats (remembering the past), your post appeared. It just so happens that I also owned a 1973 Marauder Super Sport (back in and around the mid eighties) with the twin 165 Chevy six bangers. A friend of my fathers had bought a brand new 24' Flybridge with the twin Holman Moody 302 V8s Volvo outdrives. Man that boat could fly. So I was always on the lookout for another Marauder. Since there were made in the Oregon/Wash state area they were far and few between here on the east coast (Phila PA)
I was always impressed with the deep v hull design and the way it could handle rough water. My SS would run great in the beginning of the season, however the hull suffered from "spider" cracks all through the bottom and she would suck up water and get heavier as the season went on. The other problem I had was the stringer where the mercruisers were mounted rotted out and I compensated by bolting a piece of angle iron the length of the stringer and never had another problem.
Now for the real treat. Back then I was able to contact the original builder and owner of the Autocoast company, and he sent me copies of all sorts of information on these boats. Now MAYBE, if I can find this info, I will be glad to copy it for you. However I have to find it first.
Amazing what you can find on the internet, Right???
Steve

 

[73Marauder]

Anything you have Steve would be more than I have now. I got the port engine running seems to run fairly well so far. Needs carb kits and new coils. I am planning to install electronic ignition this week and hope the starboard engine is as easy to resurrect. I hope to at least give it a trial at Lake Merwin before the end of the summer...

 

[Seabiscuit 03]

Do you have a photo or two you could post? Like to see your boat, I will dig up some photos of mine, too.
I will let you know when I find the Marauder info.
Steve

 

[Ratickle]

I used to live between Battleground and Vancouver and boat on Merwin and Yale and Swift Creek quite a bit. Small world sometimes.....

 

[old377guy]

Spent quite a few days on Merwin myself in my early teens.

 

[Ratickle]

It's a great lake fro almost everything related to boating.

 

[Seabiscuit 03]

sent PM

 

[Ratickle]

Any luck finding the brochures?

 

[73Marauder]

Well its been a very busy summer. Both engines are running well with electronic ignition installed. I decided after quite a bit of time in the engine compartment that the front mount was far to rotted to see the water again and have just completed replacement of the mount. Hope to actually be on the water in two weeks. I have also installed some temporary replacement seats.

 

[73Marauder]

pics aren't making it through I will have to see if I can resize..

 

[Ratickle]

Sometimes, if they are too large, the automatic resizer times out trying to reduce them. Let me know if it continues to give you issues.....

 

[dbottaz]

Autocoast Marauder Update

Looking for anyone that might have information on production boats built by autocoast I recently purchased this 73 marauder super sport 24 with twin 165 mercruiser's. I knew nothing about them when I bought it and am now very intrigued by the lack of info I can dig up. thanks for any insights in advance.

I have owned my 1971 Marauder since 1977 (38 years now), don't take it out as much as I did in the early years but I still love the boat and can't part with it. I spent many years running it out of Newport Beach, next door to were the boat was built in Huntington Beach, California.The boat was built from the years of 1970 to 1974, early years had all teak inside like mine. Set some impressive records that stood for many years, back in the early 70's I recall one Marauder setting a closed 100 mile loop around the channel islands with an average speed of 62 mph, had twin Holman and Moody small block Fords. Two production versions were built, one open cockpit and the other fly bridge. A very few were stretched about 4ft to 28ft behind the bridge area. Most had twin 165 hp Merc-Crusiers, some had twin Ford 302 engines and a few had single large block engines. When I moved to AZ in the 80"s I relocated it to Lake Powell. A Caterpillar Dealer out of Denver had one up on Powell for many years with a V8 Diesel. The Marauder is a very stable boat in rough water and plows through larger swells with ease, even though my version was a sport version for cruising which had a max speed in the mid 40's I had it airborne many times. I rebuilt just about every square inch at least once, but the structure is solid and never had to do any work on the hull or interior. I have an early marketing brochure and a magazine article that I will try to locate, scan and attach to this tread. Hope this info is helpful. Dan