omc cobra vs alpha one?

[rustymich]

Who copyed who here they look really similar?

 

[RicardoMarine]

The Mercruiser stern drive (long before the Alpha drive), pre-dates the OMC Cobra.
Heck......, OMC's Stringer Drive even pre-dated their late Cobra!

 

[bondo]

Who copyed who here they look really similar?

Ayuh,... About as similar as a Chevy,+ a Ford...

The patents issued for what we now know as a Sterndrive were issued to engineers who worked for both Mercruiser,+ Volvo...
It happened sometime in the late 50s/ early 60s....

 

[chiefalen]

30 Years of the OMC Sterndrive

Evinrude Boats: OMC Electric-Shift Model 14 Stern Drive © 2004 Lee K. Shuster

Good read.

They way i understand it the guy who first came up with the idea of having a auto motor with a stern drive first presented it to the owner of omc who was into outboards and he shot it down. The modern i/o motor and drive looks like nothing that was originally put in a boat.

The original omc i/0 had a outboard motor with a outdrive. And i believe it was before merc.

There were very early enclosed type outboards, they were a outboard that was completly enclosed in the rear of the boat i saw them with my own eyes, on lake George NY.