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Fageol 44 VIP

jrose

New member
" I recently bought a 1957 15&

" I recently bought a 1957 15' Century Colt runabout.

It was originally powered with a Crosley/Fageol 44 VIP engine, but has since been changed over to an outboard.

From my understanding, the Fageol 44 VIP was a bit of a hybrid between an inboard and an I/O, kind of a precursor to an I/O.

I'd like to restore it to it's original configuration with the Fageol 44, but I've not been able to locate one.

However, according to the Century Boat Club, the Colt was also offered with a "Norseman Z-drive" in 1958.

Any information on either engine would be great.

Thanks in advance,

Jack Rose "
 
"Jack,

I did some checking,


"Jack,

I did some checking, and it looks like Kent State university has the archives of the The Twin Coach Company, founded in Kent, in 1927, by brothers William B. and Frank R. Fageol. The company came to encompass the Fageol marine engine. Their list of records includes a manual on the Fageol 44 marine engine. See their web page at:

Kent State Twin Coach Collection

I also found the following:

"The Crosley engine was also used long ago as a primitive inboard. This inboard design was called Vertical Inboard Power (VIP). The VIP design mounted the powerhead vertically on the floor of the boat. It was attached directly to a lower unit protruding through the floor into the water. Steering was controlled by turning the entire assembly as one."

at: Homelite 55 page

Hope that helps... good luck finding one, let us know.

Regards,
Andrew Menkart"
 
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