What Century boat did I just buy?
 

I just bought a 1987 Century bowrider with a 260 hp Mercruiser V8.

I can find NO information on any Century boats during the 80's. I think that this is an Arabian, but would love to be able to find some information, manuals and parts for this boat.

Can anyone help on this?

Thanks.

Tim

You can try these guys. I used them to get some info on an old Connie.

Vintage Marine Sales

They have stuff through the '80s.

Also, here's the link for the Chris Craft national org. They're mostly focused on older boats, but may have some info.

Chris Craft

Unfortunately, the books I have stop at 1968.

Thanks.
 

Thanks very much - I will call the vintage guys tomorrow.

It is amazing that there is NOTHING out there on Century boats after the mid-seventies.

Hin#
 

If you can provide the hull identification# I can try to run it through the national database used by marine surveyors. There is a good chance that it would come up and at least be able to nail down the exact model. It looks like Century made a few bowrider models in 1987 that are between 18-20 feet long. If you think that it might be the arabian this size range would fit.

boats.com lookup
 

If you go to http://www.boats.com/nada/nada.jsp you can see a listing of all boats, separated out by year. Going to Century for 1987 gives you a few bowriders, an 18', 2 19'ers, a few Arabians and a bunch of other models.

You may want to search the net for the Century Boat Club. They have pics. of most models and provide a CD that shows hundreds of models from the Twenties thru the eighties. They also can link you to several parts sources, one of which is A&A marine in Manistee MI. The Century boat club has a small magazine called the Thoughobred. Although the club is mostly antiques and classics, it may be a start for you... Good Luck

Thanks.
I don't have the boat yet, but may try to take you up on this.

I have a 1986 catalog but nothing seems to fit. I checked the NADA website and it would seem to be an Arabian BUT I don't think they were bowriders.

Anyway, thanks for the help.

The Arabians were not bowriders. I think they went to a numbered series on those bowriders circa 1987, i.e. 3500, 4000, 4500. The 4500 was a big boat, 25' I think. So yours might be the 3500.