Reprinted with permission of Erin Hemme Froslie T

he Forum, Fargo, North Dakota, June 6, 1999

David Selvig’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the Polaroid. To the untrained eye, it looked like a pile of rejected firewood. To Selvig, it was a collector’s dream; the kind that makes boat lovers drool. A distinctive fiberglass tailfin poked above a patch of tall weeds and that could mean only one thing: a Chris Craft Cobra. “I looked at the photos and nearly fell out of my chair,” says Selvig.

Back in 1955, only 108 Cobras were made and today 80 of the boats have been found. For collectors who still want to find one, the Cobra remains as elusive as the Holy Grail. “It’s one of the more collectible post-(World War II) boats,” says Jim Wangard, editor of Classic Boating Magazine. “If I found one, I’d sure hope the seller doesn’t know what it is.”

That was the saving grace. The Cobra in the photographs had been sitting in a field near Oakes, ND for 17 years. When the family wanted to sell it in 1993, they said they had an old Chris Craft ocean racing boat, a name that confused Selvig. I knew there was no such thing,” Selvig says. “At that time I thought it was probably a hand-made boat. Obviously the owners had no idea what it was.”

Three weeks passed before Selvig saw the boat in person and made a deal. The owner, who lived in Texas, was happy to sell the dilapidated boat for $1,000; he thought he had a pile of junk. Selvig could hardly keep from jumping up and down. “I’m glad I didn’t have to negotiate face to face with the guy,” he says. Once Selvig bought it, a collector offered him $10,000 for the boat as it was, although Selvig refused to sell. “I’m the lucky guy in this deal.”

History of the Cobra
To fully appreciate the Cobra, a short history lesson is in order. After World War II, the 1950’s marked a period of changing attitudes, economic recovery and industrial experimentation. People spent money on luxury items instead of only practical ones.

Cars were taking on a fresher look. In 1953, GM introduced the first fiberglass Corvette. Big, colorful and stylish cars became more popular. To stay afloat, boat manufacturers had to keep up. For companies like Chris Craft, then located in Cadillac, Michigan, this meant experimenting with fiberglass. Chris Craft had a long tradition of constructing double-planked mahogany boats, and the company first used fiberglass for cabin corners that were difficult to carve out of wood.

But in 1954, the company designed a boat with its first fiberglass section: a sculpted, golden dorsal fin on the Cobra. It wasn’t the first finned boat on the water, but the Cobra demonstrated a classy marriage of mahogany and plastic. The public shunned the boat though, according to Terry Fiest of Orlando, Florida, president of the national Cobra Club. With a single seat, it was clear the runabout wasn’t a family boat. And with a hefty price tag of between $3,590 for an 18 foot model and $6,560 for the top 21 foot model, the Cobra gained a reputation of being for the “snobbish, rich person.

Because of the negative reception, Chris Craft canceled production after a year. According to Chris Smith, grandson of Chris Craft founder Chris Smith, the Cobra did attract attention and brought buyers into the showrooms where they bought more practical models.
Four of the 108 Cobras were purchased in the upper Midwest. Three found homes in Minnesota and one 18 foot Cobra -- hull #41 -- was delivered to Watertown, SD, and later wound up in a field near Oakes.

Can’t beat the sound
Like other boat collectors, it’s the sound of the inboard motor that draws Selvig to classic wooden boats. The motors don’t have mufflers and a tail pipe directs the exhaust into the water. It generates a deep gurgling that engine lovers call poetry. “There’s nothing like it in the world,” says Selvig. Hull #41 needs more work before it reaches that point. In 1995, Selvig and his boat attending the 40th anniversary of the Cobra in Cadillac, Michigan. There, he Cobra received the distinction of “most in need of restoration.”

“His boat is a phenomenal story,” says Fiest. “Left there to decay and he just stumbled on it; that doesn’t happen much anymore.” But because it was abandoned for so many years, Selvig has only been able to salvage two major wooden pieces from the original boat; the engine stringers, which run from the bow to the stern. Every other piece is carefully removed, copied and recut from mahogany or white oak.

So far Selvig has spent three years of winter weekends and evenings working on the boat. His current challenge is reforming a piece of strip that slopes and gradually twists at the same time. “It’s taken awhile, but for me it’s a hobby.” Selvig says. He hopes to have the Cobra in the water by July 4, 2000.

Then the fun will begin. Heads will turn when they see the torpedo-shaped boat that looks as though it originated from from a 1950 science-fiction film. “People love this boat when the see it,” Fiest says. “When he takes it out to the lake, 95 percent of the people will say they haven’t seen anything like that before. They’ll wonder if it’s new.”