Antique outboard porn

[localboy]

Today we spent the day visting Denny Akers' collection of classic Porsches, VWs and other assorted oddities/collectibles etc. Mr. Akers is a local legend in the aircooled Porsche community in the PNW. He has one of the largest and most impressive collections of early Porsches and other cars. Well, he also has a few antique outboards/outdrives in his collection. All of them run! He collects all sorts of antique machinery, engines etc. He even had a completely restored 27 cylinder radial engine from a WWII fighter plane WITH propeller in his collection.

Here's a sample of what I saw;



Above: late 40's early 50s gas powered trolling engine. Clarke Engine Co out of Detroit. The engine itself is in the lower leg on top is the fuel tank. It's a direct drive as the crank turns the propeller and the spark plug & points are in the lower unit. The spool around the prop shaft is for the starter rope. He said it runs but roughly so he's working on it.



Above is a "Hydro Pak" outdrive powered by a 4 cylinder, horizontally opposed air cooled Porsche engine. According to Mr. Akers, only 8 were ever built [in 1958]. They did not sell well as the 56 horsepower was insufficient to plane the boat with any load. He said the inventor was still collecting royalties until he died as he invented the original outdrive. It was later sold to OMC. The welds were "rough".



Elto outboard. Check out the oil cans.




Above; "Waterwitch" outboard sold by Sears Roebuck & Company. I love the art deco styling!

More photos here: http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y68/localboymark/Denny%20Akers%20house%2009-21-10/

[Doryman]

Mark, how did you find this guy? Are you a Porsche enthusiast? In the '70s I had a '63 356C coupe that I regret having sold (along with my '67 396 Camaro, etc., etc. )

Warren

[localboy]

Warren. I am an air cooled VW enthusiast. I guess you could say I love aircooled Porsches; I just have the budget for their bastard step-brothers. Mr Akers is well known in the community and he somehow hooked up with a VW enthusiast. Mr Akers has a 356 get together once a year @ this property. He agreed to host a VW get together too.

Check this out. You'll appreciate it.
1959:

1964:

1962:





Unrestored EARLY Porsche roadsters. They are projects. The first one is a literal "barn find". It still has the original everything and is still covered in dust, and since his shop/facility is spotless, it's how he found it. He had pics of it half burried in hay.



Antique motorcycles including a yellow Indian:

Antique restored bicycles:


The 1962 again:


And that's only part of his entire collection.

[Doryman]

[Robbi]

Mark, Denny does indeed have some pretty cool stuff. Did you happen to notice the fire hydrant near the door between the two rooms? It is in the background of your photo of the bicycles, with the three guys standing around it.
That is a work of art. It is a cast iron hydrant, the kind that you see on street corners. It was hand polished to a mirror finish. It looks as if it were chrome plated. Denny treasures that piece of work, and it is admired by many visitors to his shop.

It was done for him by a C-Brat. A very talented Brat, and a heck of a nice guy. When he (they ) retired a few years ago, the car restorers lost a very valuable resource.

So, there is more of a connection to the Brat site and your VW visit than you knew about.

Robbi

[R-Matey]

[localboy]

Well as my late mother would day; "I'll be a monkey's uncle!" Oh, yes Robbi...I noticed & inspected it in detail. In all the excitement I failed to take a pic of it, but I noticed it and can only imagine the hours....make that days of polishing that took. No wonder when Joe shakes your hand...your hand has been SHAKEN! I bow in awe to your talent, patience and strength, Joe. I polished a few small parts on my Notch and quickly realized it is NOT something I enjoy doing.

Wait until I tell the boys I know the guy that did that hydrant!

[localboy]

[Pat Anderson]

Oh boy! That stuff is MAJOR cool - where is the shop?

[localboy]

His actual public shop is in Seattle. I believe they repair/services all yrs of Porsche and buys/sell "used" Porsches.

This was @ his personal property in the Maltby area of Bothell where he has a large steel shop building that he stores his collection and works on HIS cars/toys etc. He is "semi-retired" (his wife's words) although I'd say he is retired, although I can imagine he still has his hand in the biz. His son now runs the public shop in Seattle.

[DaveS]

Mark,
I too have been blessed in observing some of the samples of artistic talents that our esteemed fellow C-Brat has created. (You have merely seen the "tip of the iceberg" of this gentleman's creations!). If I'm not mistaken he has performed his handiwork on a number of restoration/classic auto/truck projects for one of my fellow firefighters.

[localboy]

[localboy]

http://gallery.me.com/shanemedbery/100602

More pics.

[Doryman]

Joe has one of those polished hydrants in his garage!

Warren