Reply With QuoteI stopped by Sanger Mfg in Fresno the other day, and they had a brand new replica of the Climax boat in the show room.
With that I believe that the mold must still be around, they are just not making boats for sale!
I heard that about 15 years ago the sanger picklefork molds were destroyed so they would not be produced or copied...any truth to that?
I stopped by Sanger Mfg in Fresno the other day, and they had a brand new replica of the Climax boat in the show room.
With that I believe that the mold must still be around, they are just not making boats for sale!
What we now call the "bull head" (big) 19 foot Sanger hydros were produced in 1960 or 1961, at least through 1965, as I know a 65 was at the Bass Lake boat show. I'd dig having one as a mini day cruiser!
What we now call the "shovel nose" was actually originally called a "Junior Hydro" and began life in 1966 (I have an original Sanger ad). The first successful junior hydro was "Mr. Ed" and ran unblown gas in '66. It may have been driven by Jim Ramsey, but I could be wrong. They really caught on in 1967. In '67 Mr. Ed (same hull) went to Blown Fuel and was driven by Larry Schwabeland. Also in '67 was the Sanger factory boat (junior hydro) "Climax" driven by Ramsey that year. Swabeland and Ramsey competed all year and ran in the mid to low 170's. Also that year a new guy came along by the name of Dwight Bale ("Conquest"), and broke the record at 180mph in a junior hydro. The junior hydros were the meat and potatos of hydros in the late 60/early '70. Anyways, Sanger produced limited shovel noses as late as 1977...any one know of a later one than that?
The picklefork began life when they started experiencing too much lift at speeds in the 200 mph range. I remember seeing Climax as a picklefork for the first time in the 1972 season. They either created it in late '71 or early '72 and then began producing them shortly afterward.
I owned a '77 pickle and now own a '71 shovel. Two COMPLETELY different boats.
I just purchased a 1984 Sanger Picklefork so I know they were produced till then anyway.
I purchased my 84 Sanger picklefork about 10 years ago, I was told by the original owner that the last year of production was 85. He seemed to know a lot about Sangers, hope this helps.
I purchased my 84 Sanger picklefork about 10 years ago, I was told by the original owner that the last year of production was 85. He seemed to know a lot about Sangers, hope this helps.
Post up a picture of that bad boy. I havn't seen it in a while.
Ill post some pics soon, the new motor will be in next week then ill take some new pics.
Wish I could go. Looks like I'm going to be working on Sat. Back to topic. I'm pretty sure that 77 was the first year for the Jet Hydro.
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