Johnson vs. Evinrude

[thatone123]

This is kind of an ad on topic to my last post. Some say Johnson outboards were a little nicer in the old days as they had more ornate cowling than Evinrudes back in the 50's with chrome and style. This seems true. The mechanical workings and quality of the motors were almost always the same, or is this true or myth?

 

[jbcurt00]

Not true about chrome.

Google 1957 Evinrude Lark 35hp and compare it to a 1957 Johnson Golden Javelin 35hp.

IMO, both great looking motors, as were the 'regular' trim models offered in both lines:

Johnson RD-19 or Evinrude 25930, both of which I also like.

Gale, Buccaneer, Evinrude and Johnson were all OMCs.

 

[jimmbo]

Sometimes the Evinrudes looked better, other times Johnson looked better. I liked the late 50s Evinrude Big Twins, When the Fiberglass cowlings came along I thought the 1959 35hp and 1960 thru 1970 40hp looked nicer as Johnsons. The 60, 65, 75, 80, and 85hp V4s till 68 looked better as Johnsons. The 1964 - 1968 90 and 100 hp was a toss up. the The 3 cylinders looked better as Evinrudes and so did the V4s from 1969 till about 1980 then it became a toss up again. The Control boxes,well the Evinrudes push button shifting looked very 21st century, for the 1960s, but with some misadjustment of the cable permitted some very high RPM shifts. The Johnson single lever control was much better. Just MHO. Your likes may vary from mine

Edit: The Johnson control, also with a misadjusted cable could also give some high rpm shifts

 

[thatone123]

I'll have to look up some of those motors you mention. I have never run across any of the more than regular trim motors in real life, only in web photos. I was not even aware that there was such a thing as fancy trim! There must not have been a lot of them sold is my guess? Some of the 50's smaller Johnsons I saw recently on the web surprised me by how exotic looking they were. Seems they were trying to channel the fancy Mercury's of the period. I am even less familiar with those larger outboards mentioned, but it is good to know about them.

 

[jimmbo]

In the 50s there was an attempt to make the outboard motor Classy and Refined, instead of an smelly oily noisy thing hanging on the back. So out came lots of chrome, sleek lines, bright colours, on Mercs several colours were offered so boat and motor didn't clash.

Here's a link with lots of stuff

http://www.boatinfo.no/lib/library.html#

 

[F_R]

No Title

It's all a matter of taste. On the practical side, the 1960's Evinrude fiberglass hoods on the small motors fit better than the Johnsons and rattled around less. Back to the looks issue, have you ever seen one of these? 1960 Evinrude Surf Six-O. I wish I had a better picture.

 

[F_R]

No Title

These sold very well, based on their merits of good looks.

 

[tomhath]

I agree with the comment about it being a matter of taste. Personally, I like the red and green '50's Johnson motors.

 

[David Young]

So, were they pretty much the same on the inside?

 

[racerone]

For many years the difference was cosmetic.--All the same parts.---Classic marketing I would say.----Fellow destroys his Evinrude and gets mad.-----Never another Evinriude he says.----Rushes out and gets a big Johnson.-----OMC still gets his money

 

[ondarvr]

So, were they pretty much the same on the inside?

99% of the time they were the same, but at times one brand or the other might have a trim package or option the other didn't offer.

 

[David Young]

I remember a lot of 'heated arguments' on which was a better motor between Evinrude and Johnson as a young boy in the 1960's Never saw a Mercury until the 1970's on my local lakes in East Tennessee.

 

[F_R]

I got a factory tour of the Evinrude assembly plant in Milwaukee during the 1960's, and saw both Evinrude and Johnson motors being built at the same time. During those years, Evinrude made stuff like gears and crankshafts and Johnson made stuff like die castings. Then Evinrude assembled all the small motors and Johnson assembled the big motors. Except the 3hp. Those were made in Belgium. During those years, a "E" or "J" or "B" in front of the serial number identified which plant they came from. Oh, lest I forget, there was "C" for Canada.

 

[thatone123]

WOW, that surf six is a doozie. Did it have a peace sign on the back? Now we know for sure how the downfall of the culture was started. Yes, I like a lot those low slung 50's. Remember when they came out. Lot of good info here!