This is a “Boat Bar” that was built from an original 17′ 1949 Chris-Craft mahogany runabout. The boat was cut in half, fitted with built-in fridges, a sink, storage shelves, and a white quartz bar top.
Boat bars like this make excellent additions to poolside entertaining areas, or to any home bar really, particularly those with a nautical theme. This example also comes with a set of matching stools, and the boat has flags mounted to the bow and stern.
This is a “Boat Bar” that was built from an original 17′ 1949 Chris-Craft mahogany runabout. The boat was cut in half, fitted with built-in fridges, a sink, storage shelves, and a white quartz bar top.
History Speedrun: Chris-Craft Boats
The Chris-Craft story began back in 1874 when company founder, Christopher Columbus Smith, started building boats by hand in Algonac, Michigan. By the early 20th century, he and his brother Hank formalized the operation into the Smith Ryan Boat Company, which became Chris Smith & Sons Boat Company in 1922, and finally adopted the Chris-Craft name in 1924.
Over time, Chris-Craft built themselves a reputation for their elegant, mahogany powerboats that combined high speed across the water with some of the best craftsmanship in the county. The firm soon became a symbol of American leisure and emerging wealth – in some respects a parallel to European boatbuilders like Riva.
In the 1920s and 1930s Chris-Craft dominated the wooden boat market in the United States, introducing mass production techniques to a field previously known for handmade, bespoke construction. This allowed the company to sell premium boats at more accessible prices to a larger audience, and at more competitive prices.
Their boats attracted celebrities, athletes, and industrialists, and by the 1930s, Chris-Craft offered a full catalog of custom and semi-custom runabouts, utilities, and cruisers.
During World War II the company shifted to military production, building more than 12,000 landing craft and patrol boats for the US and Allied forces. After the war, it resumed civilian manufacturing and capitalized on the postwar boom in recreational boating – as a result, the 1950s and early 1960s marked the brand’s golden era. Its runabouts, particularly models like the 1955 Capri and 1956 Cobra, became icons of mid-century American design.
Chris-Craft boats attracted celebrities, athletes, and industrialists, and by the 1930s, Chris-Craft offered a full catalog of custom and semi-custom runabouts, utilities, and cruisers. Images courtesy of Chris-Craft.
By the late 1950s, Chris-Craft began experimenting with fiberglass, but the company was slow to pivot away from wood. This gave its rivals an edge as the industry moved toward modern materials and construction methods.
The company was sold in 1960 to National Automotive Fibers, which rebranded as Chris-Craft Industries. Over the next several decades, ownership changed multiple times. The brand struggled with identity and direction under various conglomerates, including Murray Industries and later OMC.
After OMC’s bankruptcy in 2000, Chris-Craft was acquired by Stellican Ltd, a London-based investment firm with a focus on heritage brands. Stellican revived the company’s image, reintroducing classic styling with updated technology and materials. In 2018, Winnebago Industries purchased Chris-Craft, returning to American ownership within a portfolio of American lifestyle brands.
Today, Chris-Craft continues to build premium runabouts and cruisers in Sarasota, Florida, using a combination of fiberglass construction and teak details as an homage to its wooden boatbuilding heritage – the brand remains one of the most recognizable names in American boatbuilding.
The Mahogany Chris-Craft Boat Bar Shown Here
The boat bar you see here was made from a 1949 Chris-Craft mahogany runabout that was cut in half longitudinally. One of the halves was then given built-in fridges, cupboards and shelves, a white quartz bar top, and a sink with a tap and running water (once plumbed in).
This boat bar now sits on a pair of hand-made wooden cradles to keep it stable and upright, and it comes with a set of matching still for entertaining guests.
It now sits on a pair of hand-made wooden cradles to keep it stable and upright, and it comes with a set of matching still for entertaining guests.
It’s now due to be offered for sale by Bonhams in mid-August with a price guide of $60,000 – $80,000 USD. If you’d like to read more about it or place a bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Bonhams
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
