The Harbor of Seville - Page 10

Designed by Bob Hammond, the 1959 Glastron, Sea Flight Seville, Day Cruiser was only produced one year. It was the most expensive boat they made in '59 and required several unique molds to produce, including the floor, deck, and cabin. Only the hull it's self was unaltered. The boat seems to me a refinement of the Lone Star Caribbean, Bob Hammond's old employer.

During a time when close to 5 million cars were produced in the US, according to Glastron figures, only 3,559 boats were made by them, again counting canoes. The average selling price is known to have been $575.00 If 10% were this most expensive model, and I feel that figure is way too high. Then only 356 would have ever been built. Personally, I'll bet it wasn't half that amount. About six are known today. Unlike the auto industry, Production figures can be very sketchy with fifties boats. Even the largest, were relatively small companies, and the emphasis was on surviving, not documenting their history.

The '59 Glastrons had a shortened side trim piece on the hull as shown on the red prototype boat at the bottom of the page, however the cabin was two-toned as shown on the upper photo for the production boats, with silver Mylar decals on the sides to accentuate the curvature of the fins.

As with my "Flagship" I plan to alter the coloration slightly from original, conforming to the design shown in the upper photo, which was computer altered to carry the blue lower onto the hull. I feel this paint scheme best shows off the flowing design of the boat.

This Seville sits on a rare Michigan "Elevator Action" trailer. The wheels fold up hydraulically at the boat ramp. I have two such units in the collection. This boat should be moved to the larger of them, which has been converted to a temporary flat bed for the South Seas Samoan.