The Beginning

This is how it looked when I first got it home.  The gelcoat was shot, the hardware was junk, there were no controls, someone put bondo all over the boat, and there was a huge crack across the dashboard probably from someone stepping on it.  Not only that, the floor was completely shot and (I found out later) the transom wood is also completely rotted.  I have to admit, I was really questioning the decision to buy this thing, it looked like much more work than I bargained for, and it was work that I haven't done before.  But the motor seemed to be decent and the fiberglass shell was actually in good shape overall (except for the dash crack).  

There were zero identifying marks or labels and no hull ID on this boat.  After doing some research online, I eventually found a couple of pictures of the same boat, and found some discussion forums where the same boat was mentioned.  Turns out that it is a very rare Impala Craft Avenger made between 1968 and 1972, and there are very few examples of them in use today. 

When I went to get the boat registered and titled, I was forced to name the year it was manufactured, even though there is no way of knowing what it is. I chose 1969 for no particular reason.

These boats were made by a company called Impala Crafts, Inc., a division of the Impala Oil Corp., in Enid Oklahoma.  There was also an eastern division office in Seaford, NY.  This is all based on a small plaque that was found on some of the boats, and also on an advertising flyer that you can see on the Avenger History page.  If you have any information or photos for these boats, please send me an email on the Contact page.

When finished, they look like a sports car on the water, with headlights, hood scoop, and tail fins.  Check out all the photos of different examples of these boats they I have found online, on The Boats page.