Description

CHRIS CRAFT CORVETTE 48" MOTOR YACHT

FULLY BUILT AND READY TO DISPLAY QUALITY MODEL

Dimension approx.: 48″ Long x 14″ Beam
The model is already built. THIS IS NOT A MODEL SHIP KIT

Chris‑Craft Corvette — The Rare Thoroughbred of the Wooden Era

Among the many boats Chris‑Craft produced during its long and storied history, few are as distinctive — or as rare — as the Chris‑Craft Corvette. Introduced in the late 1960s, the Corvette represented a bold attempt to blend the company’s traditional wooden craftsmanship with the emerging demand for high‑performance cruisers. Designed by the legendary Jim Wynne, a pioneer of modern V‑drive engineering, the Corvette was unlike anything Chris‑Craft had built before.

At 36 feet with a 12'5" beam, the Corvette carried the unmistakable lines of a classic wooden cruiser, yet beneath her varnished surfaces she was a technical departure. Wynne’s innovative twin V‑drive layout shifted weight aft, improving balance, stability, and handling at speed. Powered by twin Chris‑Craft 327‑ or 427‑cubic‑inch V8s — up to 300 horsepower each — the Corvette could reach 35 mph, an impressive figure for a wooden cruiser weighing over 14,000 pounds. She was fast, responsive, and remarkably seaworthy, though her performance came at a cost: fuel consumption at top speed could exceed 50 gallons per hour.

The Corvette made her public debut at the 1968 New York Boat Show, where hull #23 was displayed as the newest entry in Chris‑Craft’s performance lineup. Production, however, was extremely limited. Only 20 hulls were built in 1968, followed by 14 more in 1969 — a total of just 34 wooden Corvettes. This scarcity was due partly to the boat’s high production cost and partly to the shifting market, as fiberglass was rapidly overtaking wood as the material of choice for pleasure craft.

Despite its short production run, the Corvette left a lasting impression. Owners praised its speed, stability, and the unmistakable feel of a wooden hull running at pace. It was a cruiser for those who wanted the elegance of mahogany paired with the excitement of modern power — a combination few boats of the era could match.

Chris‑Craft attempted to revive the Corvette name in 1977 with a longer, fiberglass version built in Italy and styled with contemporary “Euro” lines. But the experiment was brief, and the wooden Corvette remained the true icon of the series.

Today, the Chris‑Craft Corvette is one of the company’s most collectible models. With only a handful surviving, restored examples are prized by enthusiasts for their rarity, their Jim Wynne pedigree, and their blend of classic craftsmanship and spirited performance. A Corvette on the water is a sight to behold — a wooden thoroughbred from the final years before fiberglass changed boating forever.