1949 Chris Craft 20ft Custom

$49,500.00

1949 Chris Craft 20ft Custom.

The Chris Craft 20ft Custom Runabout was the successor to the pre-war 19ft Custom Runabout or Barrel Back. Only 369 hulls were built from 1946 to 1949. This is hull number 338, built in the final year. They were the first of the post war runabouts to feature the blond decking. Expensive and plush in their day, they featured genuine leather upholstery and a substantial 4 piece folding windshield.

Serenity has all the glitzy features one could ever imagine in a classic runabout but isn’t awkward or overdone. The chrome, armor-like nose plate which caps the stainless cutwater looks wide enough to use as a shaving mirror. From this substantial plate, the blonde king planking begins its way back as it widens to encircle a bright red upholstered cockpit. On the aft deck it continues over the engine hatch, rear deck, and finally rolls over the sheer onto the first plank of a rounded transom. A folding windshield crowns a dazzling array of chrome which lays out, stem to stern. The heftiness of each piece adds to the impression of a well fortified and beautiful boat. Looking into the interior you notice the red sweep of padded and pleated coaming lining three quarters of cockpit and four-unit, five-instrument cluster on the 20′ Chris-Craft Custom. Storage compartments add utility to the back of the front seat. The seat bases, backs and cushions are luxuriously thick. You feel in a first class accommodation even by today’s standards. The Cadillac-style appointments made me think that Chris-Craft spared no expense in putting this model together. The overall look is flash with class and style.

It features a 5200 bottom and fully skinned and glued decks and hull sides. It features the top engine option, the Chris Craft MBL at 158 hp. The boat has been fully rewired and has been converted to 12 volt. All details are correct. It has won numerous awards at shows in Oregon and Lake Tahoe. Restorations on this level do not come cheap, so here is an opportunity to buy a ready to go boat for a fraction of the cost of a restoration. It comes on a custom fitted Ryan Trailer.

https://www.chriscraft.com/our-story/timeline/