Charger boats? ADDED PICTURES!!! Please look... opinions wanted too, please, on buying it. $1300, already negotiated.

ptbrakefield

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Charger boats? ADDED PICTURES!!! Please look... opinions wanted too, please, on buying it. $1300, already negotiated.

I have found a NICE Charger boat... big, 18 foot deep-v... walk through windshield to a piece that flips up or down to make the front solid or have a small place to stand. Totally open under the bow for storage. Heck, you could lie down and take a nap! Steep gunwales, about the height of the seat backs. 135 Evinrude. Ran great when we took it out; got it out of the hole and up on plane quickly. No patches or cracks anywhere that I can find. The transom didn't flex at all. The floor was solid everywhere (and I tested it!!). It's really a beautiful boat.

The thing is... I've done research and I can't find Charger boats... I've found Charger bass boats, but they have only been around for 40 years and this boat is from the 70s, I've found Chrysler Charger boats... but this boat says Charger on each side of the back, not the Chrysler boats emblem. I've found some Charger boats made in Canada, but they look like speed type boats, not a big cruising boat.

I couldn't find any more info in the boat.

Can anyone shed some light?
 

ptbrakefield

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Yes, still in business today making bass boats... but nothing at all like the one I'm looking at... a classic cruiser or maybe a light offshore boat. We had a 1972 Larson very much like this boat. Had a crawl through windshield so you could get to the fuel tank filler from the boat, but the bow was closed.

This is a mystery... thanks for the time and info!
 

jbcurt00

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Does it have a HIN on the starboard stern corner?

Do you think its post Nov 1972? If so, it should have a HIN, and the 1st 3 letters of the HIN will tell you who made it, and the HIN will decode to tell you exactly what year. Then its only a matter of figuring out a model.

No HIN or pre-72, then maybe someone will recognize a pix of it.....
 

ptbrakefield

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It has the word "Charger" in script on the OUTSIDE of each side of the back of the boat... like anywhere else you would see a boat manufacturer's name, so I assume it's made by Charger Boats; however, I will go and look tomorrow on my way back from looking at the Glastron in my other post and an Arrow Glass with a 90 Merc that I have been trying to see for awhile.

Thanks for the info!!
 

trailking82

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Looks like new carpet, when you checked the flooring how did you do it? My worry here is that plywood was laid over an already rotten deck and carpet was added to cover it. That practice is very common to sell an old boat.
 

ondarvr

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Any boat of that age is going to have rotten wood in it, so expect it to need a complete gut and rebuild too, so add a couple thousand bucks to rebuild it, then add more money for motor work. Even if the motor runs it will need attention, and maybe a rebuild soon, these motors are known to break rings, which at best requires a complete rebuild.
 

ptbrakefield

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Looks like new carpet, when you checked the flooring how did you do it? My worry here is that plywood was laid over an already rotten deck and carpet was added to cover it. That practice is very common to sell an old boat.


It's quite worn in high traffic areas. Certainly not new... I jumped up and down in the areas I could (225 pounds) and it didn't give anywhere. I got down on my knees and hit it with a hammer fist and it was solid. However, things to think about...
 

GA_Boater

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Can't see in the pics, but when did/does the registration expire. The rego docs, which are needed with a bill of sale, should have brand. Look in the highlighted area for a HIN.

charger.PNG
 

ptbrakefield

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Can't see in the pics, but when did/does the registration expire. The rego docs, which are needed with a bill of sale, should have brand. Look in the highlighted area for a HIN.



Good until March of next year... Alabama is a no title state, so not sure what all kinds of documents I'll get. Though this guy is an service tech and ex military, so if there is anything he'll have it. Everything in his yard looks well tended. Makes me feel a little better. Doesn't make the boat any newer... just makes me feel better.
 

GA_Boater

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Good until March of next year... Alabama is a no title state, so not sure what all kinds of documents I'll get. Though this guy is an service tech and ex military, so if there is anything he'll have it. Everything in his yard looks well tended. Makes me feel a little better. Doesn't make the boat any newer... just makes me feel better.

You better get the current registration card with the bill of sale.
 

444

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Jul 16, 2010
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For $1300 if the transom seems solid and doesn't flex when you wiggle the outboard up and down I would snag it. Around here $1300 gets you a rotten hulk ready for the landfill. I bought my boat from Alabama several years ago, if memory serves I got a bill of sale and a registration certificate. And again if memory serves, the trailer is registered with the boat so there is not a separate registration certificate for the trailer.
 

Blind Date

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No boarding ladder, how you supposed to get back in it out on the lake? Weren't you planning on doing watersports?
 

Old Ironmaker

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You like it buy it, it's 1300 bucks. You will get exactly what you pay for that money in a boat. I paid $1000.00 to do the brakes on my wife's truck last week. Groceries yesterday was 300. When a budget of $1300.00 is for a boat you are in for a big surprise keeping the bottom of the boat wet. Sorry for being brutally frank. Good luck.
 

ptbrakefield

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Aug 30, 2017
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For $1300 if the transom seems solid and doesn't flex when you wiggle the outboard up and down I would snag it. Around here $1300 gets you a rotten hulk ready for the landfill. I bought my boat from Alabama several years ago, if memory serves I got a bill of sale and a registration certificate. And again if memory serves, the trailer is registered with the boat so there is not a separate registration certificate for the trailer.

I pulled the trigger on this boat...


I got the registration and a bill of sale. Trailers now need tags in Alabama, and that is a different location in the courthouse, LOL. Trailers have to have some kind of unique identifying numbers. If it's homemade you just scratch your numbers in an out of the way place. Mine has a sticker on it with the original ID numbers.
 
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