Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

[Shakemsam]

Hello all! First post here as this is my first Starcraft. I think......LOL
The registration says it is a 1976 Starcraft and the hull# is STR1754DM75F-F.
I have had it about a month. It was set up as a side console but was told it was originally a CC which is what I wanted. I have since returned it back to a CC. HUll# leads me to believe it is a Mariner. But, here is whats strange. On both sides of the boat are decals that say "Venture Line". The plate near the control shift says Venture Line, Goshen Tn. So........I am thinking Venture Line was perhaps a low cost line of Starcrafts built in Goshen Tn??? I have googled every combination of the information provided and I get nothing for Venture Line any place. So what do you guys think?

 

[bananaboater]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

Got any pics? Have you looked at the thread with the brochures? There is a Goshen Tn. Could your id say IN instead of TN?

Albert

 

[Shakemsam]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

I will once I find my camera. Definately Tenn. The brochure makes me believe it is a Mariner as well.

 

[Shakemsam]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

Here ya go.....

 

[Pugetsound]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

The Ventu Line emblem looks like a add on item. That Crestliner is a monster, what size is it??? Your new Starcraft is a bueaty.

 

[Shakemsam]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

Thanks for the compliment on the Starcraft, if thats what it is. The Decal does look like an add-on, but the Coast Guard Plate in the boat is stamped Venture Line Goshen TN. So.....who knows??

The Crestliner is a 1988 24' Sabre repainted white. It looks bigger because the hardtop is from the 27' model installed at the factory.

 

[Rudi2]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

Your Starcraft actually looks alot like mine -- ser.#STRB57771076. The BIA tag says it is a model MRNR16 OB. Goshen Indiana. 1977 with a '78 Johnson 35. It's a nice little boat i bought at an estate sale last fall. Did a little washn' and waxn', rebuilt carb, fuel pump, water impeller. Runs like a champ, one of my better boating buys.

 

[Shakemsam]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

Your Starcraft actually looks alot like mine -- ser.#STRB57771076. The BIA tag says it is a model MRNR16 OB. Goshen Indiana. 1977 with a '78 Johnson 35. It's a nice little boat i bought at an estate sale last fall. Did a little washn' and waxn', rebuilt carb, fuel pump, water impeller. Runs like a champ, one of my better boating buys.

They look very much the same. BIA tag stuff is strange.

 

[kcatto]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

to me it looks more like the star-trek V they were offered in 15' and 18' super combo models

The Mariners V's never had a splashwell in them they had a 21" transom but the star-trek v's did have a splashwell... the Mariner V had a side console and Star Trek V had a center console as well

I have a picture of both of them below.... hope this helps...

kev

 

[fshngho]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

I don't know squat compared to the guys on here but my gut tells me someone may have switched plates and installed decals. Looks like a Starcraft to me.
Dale

 

[barato]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

hazarding a guess here....in the 50s-60s, OMC used to build outboards under a # of different names for the various store chains....Monkey Ward, Western auto, Speigel, etc. they were given names specific to stores rather than sold as johnsons/rudes....the motors sold by Monkey were Sea Kings, regardless of whether they were made by OMC or by clinton/Mcculloch/Eska/whomever.

my guess would be that your boat is a Starcraft equivalent of this practice, SC built but store branded. obv, after seeing your Crestliner, you understand the different corporate "look" that various tinboat mfgrs have...no one would confuse my Lone Star for a SC, or my SC for a Lone Star, altho both made very similar models at the time. yours definitely does have a big-time SC "look".

whatever, nice boat!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

Never heard of Venture Line boats...and neither has google...LOL.

That hull ID is absolutely a Starcraft number, no question about it. I'd call Starcraft and see what they have to say about it.

Sure looks like a little Mariner to me, if that was a center console from the factory that's what it is.

Nice rig...the Crestliner is a nice one too!

 

[kcatto]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

Never heard of Venture Line boats...and neither has google...LOL.

That hull ID is absolutely a Starcraft number, no question about it. I'd call Starcraft and see what they have to say about it.

Sure looks like a little Mariner to me, if that was a center console from the factory that's what it is.

Nice rig...the Crestliner is a nice one too!

Was the MarinerV ever offered in a center console????

I was told when researching my marinerV through starcraft the center console was never an option on the marinerv but on the star-trek V line????

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

The Mariner line I'm thinking of were all CC, those smaller mariner V's are somewhat rare.

I thought they had Mariner models ranging from 22' down to 15'-16' also but I could be mistaken.

 

[couth77]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

That boat looks exactly like my '76 SS 16' starcraft.. color is the same, back cleats are the same, transom's the same, only difference is mine has bow rails and both consoles w/windows and says starcraft instead of venture line... nice little boat!!

 

[Shakemsam]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

I am settling on it being a Starcraft. It must be Goshen IN. on the BIA not TN. One thing I know for sure, it is a fun little boat and really handles well. In the fall, I plan on replacing the floor and transom. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[starcraftstriper]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

Now you have me confused heres my boat what do i have haha

 

[chuckndiscs]

Re: Please help ID 16' Starcraft??

18' Starcraft Star Trek V Example:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/boa/1889916707.html

- For reference...