I hope that this will be a fun page on the website. I want to
put as many videos of toy boats and motors running on here as is
possible and practical for the site. If you have a video of
your Fleetline boat or K&O toy outboard in the water running, or
something unusual, please send it to me to be added to the website.
With some of the videos, depending on your
browser, you need to left click on the arrow in the middle of the
picture once and with others you have to click it twice.
1.) The story of the first
video as told by Steve Richards:
Most collectors of K&O outboards grew up
in the 50's. I was late for the K&O heyday, being
born in 1960. By the time I was old enough to appreciate these toy
outboard motors, the company was out of business.
Lucky for me though, my Dad built a Chris Craft runabout boat kit
in 1956 before I was born, and bought a 1956 K&O Mercury 55
toy outboard to hang on the transom. Fast forward
eleven years to 1967, when I was 6 yrs old. My Dad
brought out the toy boat and motor and gave it to me.
We vacationed on 4th Lake in the
Adirondacks, and Dad thought it would be a good toy for me to
play with. Boy, did I ever love the modern looking toy
speedboat, with the big, red, powerful and speedy Mercury
outboard!!! I became good at being the captain of my
Chris Craft / Mercury combo setting it out for a
big loop out on the lake, with the boat returning to our dock.
I thought that I got pretty good at setting the steering to make
this happen. I would set the Merc on a big turn and let
'er go. One day on another voyage, an
unexpected large wave knocked into the boat making
the motor steer straight ahead. It was off towards the
middle of the lake for my boat and motor. I quickly yelled to Mom
to save my favorite toy. She dove into the lake, and swam as best
she could towards the model boat and motor. She was gaining on it,
but tired and had to turn back towards the dock. But not
before she was able to tap the transom just enough to start
it on a large loop towards me on the dock. Fortunately, the boat circled
back to the dock, although it took on about 1/2 inch of water that
leaked in. If it was out on the lake much longer, it
might have ended up at
the bottom! The best part of all this is that my Dad grabbed the
silent 8mm film camera and took some footage of this great rescue
in action! (I sometimes wonder why he chose to film it instead of
getting in our real boat and helping out Mom.) I guess he
eventually would have, if things got any uglier. Anyway, I'm happy
that he got it all on film.
I've since collected all 18 toy Mercury
outboards that K&O offered from 1955 - 1962, with great help
from Bob McDonald. I was smart enough to take good care of
this original toy boat and motor, and still have it to this day in
my collection. My good friend Jim McCarty refinished the
boat for me, and it sits in dry dock now!
Stephen Richards
Rochester, NY
Here is a still picture of the famous
boat. Left click on it to see an enlarged picture.
Below it is the Video. Click on the arrow to see the video.
