Skip to main content

#Finding #Evinrude #Pal #Road

As readers of my column know, I look for cool old stuff while touring the countryside in my travel trailer. While camping near the Suwannee River in Mayo, Florida, my wife and I spent an afternoon scavenging the aisles of an antiques mall in Lake City (a nearby town literally in the middle of nowhere). That’s where I stumbled upon a 1937 Evinrude Elto Pal outboard motor.

With a price tag of $150, I thought the tiny .9-hp motor would be an awesome addition to my collection of industrial art, especially if placed beneath the rusting tail of a 1930s-era airplane that was hanging in my den. My wife, on the other hand, told me to walk away from the piece of junk (as she called it), so I did.

That night, while researching the Evinrude Elto Pal’s history, I learned that when it was manufactured it was the world’s lightest outboard motor, weighing just 14 pounds. When purchased new, the Elto Pal came in a wooden carrying case (like a small suitcase) that contained the motor, tools, and accessories.

A similar Elto in mint condition, in its original carrying case, with all the tools and accessories, was listed on eBay for slightly under $12,000. What? My wife and I drove back to Lake City the following day and purchased the motor for $130 ($20 less than the tagged price). With dents and rust on the gas tank, a broken spark plug wire, nearly a century of patina on the aluminum tubing, and no carrying case, tools, or accessories, this Elto Pal was far from mint, but it still had compression.

Source link