Howard Pipkorn Hustler. Looking for more history.

[John Dorn]

Just brought this home this weekend.
<o:p http://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=261410&d=1344999026

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Here is what I think I know about the boat.

This is a 1965 – 1966 Pipkorn Hustler Tunnel. The bottom was copied by Hustler Boats( IL) from the Switser Shooting. Hustler boats made boat like this around 1965. They sold boats to PipKorn around that time. Pipkorn stared to build his own Hustler Tunnels with the Hustler name and logo but Pipkorn Marine Products on it. I have heard that there were 21 of the boats made (maybe one more sitting in St Luis somewhere). They were run with 100HP motors and were raced for two years.

Things that don’t look right on the boat are the seats, plate on the dash, some of the bracing on the back floor. The hex head screws on the name tag, but someone has painted the boat. That may have been done at that time. Trim tabs are newer. Not sure about the two vertical pieces on the back of the transom.

I’m looking for anyone that has more history on the boat. Photos of the boat form that time. Maybe where there are some more to look at before I start cutting on this. I would like to restore this back to the way it was.

There was a number were the controls were. I’m not sure if this was rubbed in for the back of controls or is this some sort of number for the boat.

http://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=261409&d=1344999023</o

[Michael J Giesler]

hey John i will show pic's to my dad we may have molds for the seats to spash new ones if we don't i know i can take one out of my dads boat to spash some

[Speed Jr.]

Very cool John....Maybe this was the boat that inspired the HydroStream Panther.....Whatcha gunna hang on it?

Jr.

[rev.ronnie]

I saw that boat for sale...it was everything I could do to not go buy it! Good deal.

Looks like the backward impression of an old "keikhaffer" control box. It should have been shimmed out a little.

[John Dorn]

Thanks Michael. Your thinking that seats are not from this boat?

Larry, I'm thinking 100hp from that time.

rev.ronnie, Thats what my thouhgts were also.

I think some one on this board knows a Dave Kohlann from St. louis/Lake Ozarks. I would like to chat with him if I can get his info.

[FlowMaxx]

Very nice John! Glad to see it got saved. :cheers:

[Da Bull]

Looking at the pick of the deck from the rear of the boat you can see where the inspiration came from to build the Viper/Vector deck.

DB

[WARLOCK]

John, I just P.M.'d you. Later, Dave

[jjmalkow]

Nice going John! Should be very cool when your done!

[racerx]

John call John Tiger he is the guru on old streams...

[John Dorn]

Thanks! sent him a PM

[John Dorn]

John Tiger said this one’s before his time. Does Howard ever show up on this board? Where else should I look for more info?

[Hydrovector]

Cool piece of History!!

[LakeRacer99]

Did you get it from Lisle? I looked at it last year. Why not ask Howard? I know he is on BRF. Congrats!

[John Dorn]

Lisle is who I picked it up from. Not sure how get my hands on Howard. I'm emailing with a Jeff Larson from Twin City Power Boat Ass. hopping this gets back to Howard. What is BRF?

[speedinmyblood]

boat racing facts or forums

[stv1991]

[email protected]

[John Dorn]

Thanks for the forums info. Looks like I was on this in 2004.

I have an email sent to the address. Thanks!

[John Dorn]

Nothing from that email address so far. No one on the Boat Racing Facts forum has responded. I did find the location of another one in St Lois. I need to set some time aside to take the 6 hr drive to take photos.

No other thoughts, names, photos, emails or phone numbers??

[Hippie459MN]

So your the one that ended up with that boat. I was out of town for work (Life of a truck driver) and had talked to the guy about coming and picking it up as soon as I got home only to get home and find out someone came and picked it up the day before. Now I know where it ended up. I cant wait to see this project and also what info you find on this.

[milkdud]

A 1966 1100 would look pretty awesome on that boat. The 93 cube 1100 is a bit punchier than the 89 cube 1000's made. Those boats are really cool. It will be great when you get done.

[QuarterHorse]

Glad you picked this up! I had my hands on that boat when a friend bought his Ventura! It's a slick set up.

[Hippie459MN]

Any more word on anything? Would love to know the history of this myself.

[John Dorn]

Not really. Not sureif this will help but I started working pipkornhustler.com. I’ll work thisIdea and see if that get any hits. Hopefully in the next few weeks will site will mostly done.<o:p></o:p>

[specboatops]

There is a guy in Rockford Il That found a beautiful unmolested Hustler race boat, original everything, has the big fairing over the back seat area, I believe he is a member on here as well, I know he had posted some photo's of it, had a period correct Johnson motor on it, boat was a apricote Metalflake with a race number on it.....I'll see If I can find it and link it to here....he I believe got ahold of Pipkorn or someone who was in the know ...

[specboatops]

http://www.screamandfly.com/showthread.php?139494-Picts-of-Hustler-wildcats/page3&highlight=hustler+boats

The boat I was referring to is on the last page, he might be able to help you some John.

[John Dorn]

Well I been doing some digging this boat. I have the name and photos. It is a Wildcat 16. Its a Semi-catamaran sport hull that Howard did about 1966/67. Back then he was selling them for $1395. They were also making a V version called the Venger 16. That went for $1445. I know of one more of the Wildcats that still around. It was the boat that Richard Kojetin run in them days. Howard has that boat now. I put up a website with all the info and photos that I came up with so far.

(http://www.pipkornhustler.com)www.pipkornhustler.com (http://www.pipkornhustler.com)


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[Capt.Insane-o]

Very cool, man what an awsome deck on those!

[Hippie459MN]

Are you sure thats a wild cat? I looks a lot different then the one my dad owned and ours was a v-bottom (all Wildcats were v-bottoms from my understanding) and it looks different then the ones on Hustlers web page. And the wildcats only came in 13 and 15 foot models. The Hustler Victor however came in a 16 foot model.

I dont have any pics off hand but I do have a video of our old one. Its a late 60's early 70's 15' Hustler Wildcat factory comp. My dad sold the boat about a year after this video was taken. He owned it for about 16-17 years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgSWdPfVLOo

Here is the husler page with all the models. Then again I dont think Howard had anything to do with them by this time but I dont know for certain

http://www.hustlersport.com/Page%20hustler%20boats.htm

This looks much more like the Hustler Victor I think.

[John Dorn]

Check out my site. I have parts of the info sheet that Howard was handing out at the time on there. There are line drawings with the names. It is the Wildcat for the cat hull and the Venger for the V. The website hustlerspot is Jim Umbarger site. I've emailed Jim about my boat. This is not a boat he built. He had some thoughts about were Howard got the design.

[Hippie459MN]

That is odd. I have never seen a wild cat like that ever. Every one I have seen has been a v-bottom with a more pointed nose on them.

Have you ever tried to contact Jim Umbarger at all on these?

Contact the shop and im sure they would be more then happy to help you out. I heard they even still have a few old hustlers tucked away there.

http://www.hustlersport.com/

[John Dorn]

Yes. He did not make this boat. Have the emails with him saying there not his boat.

[Hippie459MN]

Maybe that explains why it looks nothing like Jims Wildcats. Learn something new everyday. :)

[NosBoss]

Glad you picked this up! I had my hands on that boat when a friend bought his Ventura! It's a slick set up.

That's this boat? Cool! I remember checking it out along with that Viking tunnel. We should have made another trip up there to grab this one.

[QuarterHorse]

That's this boat? Cool! I remember checking it out along with that Viking tunnel. We should have made another trip up there to grab this one.

This is the boat along with the Torpedo V-King that was back there!!!!

http://www.hydrostream.org/Specific%20Models/Torpedo.htm

[NosBoss]

This is the boat along with the Torpedo V-King that was back there!!!!

http://www.hydrostream.org/Specific%20Models/Torpedo.htm

That's what I was referring too.

[John Dorn]

Are you talking about the same guy (Lyle) I picked this boat up from?

[QuarterHorse]

Yup yup

[John Dorn]

I didn't look at the v-king to long. Wife was done playing boats for the day. Wish I would of looked closer at it. Some one should get that out of there before it has a tree growing out of the center of it.

[NosBoss]

I remember him telling us that it wasn't for sale. In fact, I think it was owned by a friend of his.

[John Dorn]

It was set out in the weather in august when I was there. Just like most of the boat he has there. I think he did say something about that was a friends boat. He had some interesting hulls there. Nice guy. Have you see any more of the pre stream hulls anywhere?

[NosBoss]

The one you purchased is the only one I've ever seen. It was outside and buried behind a couple other hulls next to the garage. He told us it was for sale and the price was right. Problem was that we were there to get my Ventura.

[Hippie459MN]

The Torpedo Vking was for sale on Craigslist for a while about a year or 2 ago and I was told someone bought it and was planing to restore it and is still here in MN. Chet (samari) had talked to the new owner of it a few times I guess. I would love to get a hold of that boat for sure. :)

[QuarterHorse]

Nosboss and I were there last year to get his Ventura II and was told it wasn't for sale, I tried.

[AlaskaStreamin]

Hey John, Call Dick Kojetin (612) 423-5944.

We spent several hours at his house a few months ago attending the frost yer nuts off rally.

Dick has a good memory of the "old days" building and racing the old hustlers with Howard. I see your emblems look good. Dick has a handfull of new ones. FYI.

I love this pict Caprice took of Dick riding "cupcake" behind Howard in Rev. Ronnies HST. :thumbsup:

[Ron V]

One thing I can tell you - if it's a copy of a Shooting Star get ready for a new prostate and kidneys unless you run it on glass. My dad had a 13' Star back in the day and he said every boat wake was like getting yanked off a locker room bench and dropped onto the concrete floor. Everything gets trapped underneath since the tunnel doesn't go all the way through. Umbargers are good guys, known them for years and just bought my new Trailmaster trailer from them this summer. I would give Jim Jr. or Jim III a call at the McHenry location.

[MN4V]

You could ask over here. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2399764693/
Mark N

[John Dorn]

I have been lucky enough to spend time with Mr. Kojetin. One of the two persons that builds the hulls we are talking about. I have two new emblems for the hull. Got me hands on the flyer that was handed out at the time by Howard for the Wildcat and the Venger. That's were the line drawing came from in my signature. From what I was told it was done by Howards brother.

I have emailed Jim Umbarger and know he did not make the boats. His words. He has made it clear on his thoughts on where the design come from. I dont think I would like to get into all of that. I have a boat that was done before 1968 (before Hydrostreame), and would like to put info together on the hulls of this time. From what I have found 3 hulls are still in existence. Two of the cats and one of the V's
My goal is to have as much info on the hull as I can before I start to work on the hull. Thanks for any info or input on the hulls. Give me more!
Is there more of them out there????
269635

[restomods]

Hustler boats McHenry Illinois. Jim Umbarger raced and built the Hustler boats. He and my father raced twin Chrysler 105 outboard motors on them. Jim's family is still in the boat business in Illinois.301800

[John Dorn]

Thanks for the post.I have spoke with Jim about this boat.This is not his boat. HowardPipkorn and RichardKojetin built and race these boats in the late 60’s. http://www.pipkornhustler.com/richard_kojetin.html (http://www.pipkornhustler.com/richard_kojetin.html) I’ve spent time withRichard and he has said this is one of the boats that they built. They usedMerc BP 1000’s on them and also tried twin BP.
I have not had any luck finding anymore of them around.I have been told there is some around but noone has actually show me one or even a photo one.They used the same logo as Jim on their boatsat that time but if you look at the bottom of the emblem it has Pipkorn Marine ProductsSt Paul Minn on them.
If you go to thesite I put up http://www.pipkornhustler.com (http://www.pipkornhustler.com/)I have every thing that I have come up with about the boat on there.It also has my progress on restoring the boatthere also. http://www.pipkornhustler.com/john_dorns.html (http://www.pipkornhustler.com/john_dorns.html)

It looks like yours is a V bottom. Do you have the emblem from the side of the hull? Do you have photos of the back of the boat?
Howard did one of them also. He called it a Venger. http://www.pipkornhustler.com/venger.html (http://www.pipkornhustler.com/venger.html)
http://www.pipkornhustler.com/hoppys.html (http://www.pipkornhustler.com/hoppys.html)

[restomods]

I have a few pics I can send. System will only allow 1 picture attachement.301804301805

[restomods]

301806I have a few pics I can send. System will only allow 1 picture attachement.301804301805

[restomods]

U-39 was Jim U's my father was U-82 and is in the background of the picture301807301808

[John Dorn]

I Shure would like to hear more story's about Jim and Howard and this boat. My hull is more like a Switzer Shooting Star.
301809301810301811

[DanUmbarger]

Hi John, My name is Dan Umbarger....Jim's oldest son. I found your site and is very interesting. I've talked to my dad about Howard's boats and he built some wood boats for him but doesn't remember building any glass boats for him. From looking at your pics the Venger looks to be a splash of our earliest 16' Victor. Then it appears he made some mods to the deck and made the flat bottom/tunnel boat. I've just started restoring an old Hustler 16' Victor so was interested in how yours is coming.

[John Dorn]

Hi Dan. Thanks for posting here. I have emailed with your dad a bit in the past. Just seen that he emailed me around the same time as the Switzer get together. Not sure how I didn't see the email.

Your Dad first sold Howard Victor boats first then sold the flat bottoms to him? Is there any of the flat bottoms still around? From what I was told/thinking Richard Kojetin's boat was one of your boats http://pipkornhustler.com/richard_kojetin.html
This one is still out there. Need a lot of work from what I was told. Chatted with the person that owns it.
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I would love to here more about this time with your Dad and Howard.

As for my boat, Just have not had time to do work on it. I would love to see the one your working on.

John

[DanUmbarger]

Hi John, My dad says he did make a fiberglass flatbottom/tunnel but I don't remember ever seeing or hearing about them and I've worked with my dad since 1969. That being said he said he never sold Howard the fiberglass tunnel and didn't think he sold him the original 16' Victor. He obviously got ahold of one because the Venger looks identical to our early Victor. Looking at the Pipkorn Wildcat the deck and drainwell is totally different that the Victor and my dad said the fiberglass bottom is not one of his so Howard must have made that bottom himself along with changing the deck. He even took our Hustler metal emblem and had them made using his name on the bottom....I thought that was very interesting too. I guess imitation is a form of flattery :)

[DanUmbarger]

John, Here is a pic of the Victor I'm restoring.Someone had already replaced the floor and keel/stringers and they rotted out again and they repainted the deck in metal flake and it's peeling off also. This is going to be a LONG restoration but this is my favorite model so it will be worth the work when it's done.356008356009356010

[John Dorn]

anks Dan. What hulls was your dad selling to Howard. How does the over all dimension of the Victor and the Venger compare? http://pipkornhustler.com/venger.html
I looked over the Wildcat and the drawing I have on it and most is not the same. The deck I have, does not have the detail that the draw or the photo has on the front center of it. I'm thinking its an early version of the wildcat.

Do you have any info on the Boat House Bulletin #66-202-8? There are two of them. One has your Hustler info on it and the other has Howard's Its looks like Richard Kojetin's and his boat.
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[silverfox]

I had a 15' Hustler V hull brand new. Lemon-lime metalflake. It had full length strakes on the bottom so it took a little bit of driving to get rid of the rocking side to side. The 15 footer was actually a 14' with a longer nose to qualify for the FJ class at the time. I had a 125 15"Merc and it did about 65MPH . I didn't race it just cruising. Fun boat.
Bill Hoch

[Michael J Giesler]

My dad's 1971 15' competition wildcat hustler v bottom356046

[CUDA]

I Shure would like to hear more story's about Jim and Howard and this boat. My hull is more like a Switzer Shooting Star.
301809301810301811




Never saw that one

Howard Metal Flake Pipkorn

[DanUmbarger]

Hi John, My dad says he only sold Howard the wood boats...never sold him any glass models. The Venger looks identical to our Victor looking at the pics you have on your website....looks like you could take his Hustler name plate off his and put ours on and it would look like a Victor...all the way down to the raised hump on the deck and the bulge on the transom so I believe he just splashed a mold off our victor and started making his Venger. The Pipkorn Wildcat looks to be his rendition of a flatbottom/tunnel that had its starting from a Victor deck which he removed the hump down the middle and removed the hump for the windshield,redesigned the drain well and made a new bottom. My dad said he made a flatbottom/tunnel in the beginning but I have never seen one and didn't even know about it until we were talking last week. Really...I have no idea where Howard got his Wildcat design but can say for sure the Venger came from our Victor. As for the Boat house bulletin...when I was showing my dad your picture with Pipkorns name as the manufacturer he was surprised and said he had one with our name on it at one time...now I can show him your pic . I think I'm bringing back many memories for him lately :)

[DanUmbarger]

Hi Bill, That was a cool color...I think we might even still have a little bit of that flake left! We still have a little of quite a few colors. You are correct about the 14 footer being the first one made then stretching it a foot for the FJ class. It's funny...we seemed to change things periodically on several models then have to make new molds each time. We went through 3 changes on the Victor and 2 on the Wildcat. As for the chine walking...I think there were a couple of guys that put pads on the bottom of there boats to cure that. Kind of like the Hydrostreams and Allisons. Do you still have the boat? Post a pic if you have one....Dan

[DanUmbarger]

Nice pic!

[Hippie459MN]

I dont mean to chime in a little bit OT but here is a picture of my dads old Hustler Wildcat Comp with a Merc 850 that we had when I was a kid. Was green metal flake. I dont remember when my dad bought it but I remember him always having it and he sold it in the late 80's to my cousin and according to them, it ended up on the bottom of a river and was pretty trashed. I would LOVE to track down another one. Here is a link to a video from 1987 of us having some fun on the lake with it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgSWdPfVLOo

356066

Love the info here and cant wait to see the boat when you start working on it.

[silverfox]

Dan
I am searching for some pictures of the boat. I will scan them and try to post if I can find. We did add some "ride plates" on the transom and that helped a lot. My cousin Joe Rainear in NJ was a dealer for the boats. He had a blue metalflake with a 100 BP on it. I think he later ran a tunnel version of the 15 footer.
Bill

[DanUmbarger]

Yea Bill, A lot of guys ran the after planes ( as we called them) and that helped stabilize the boat a bunch. I'll ask my dad if he remembers your cousin which I'm sure he will. At 83 his memory is still very sharp. The last boat I raced was a 15' tunnel with an Evinrude X115 in the UI class. That boat was a blast to drive.

[DanUmbarger]

Hi Kevin...I saw this pic along with a couple others when going back in the archives along with your video...very cool. I also spent hours last nite going thru your rebuild posts....and boy I hope my project doesn't take me as long as yours has...LOL...my dad put a 15 footer together many years ago with twin stacked Chryslers that was your green color. Was going to attach a pic but S&F won't allow .tif files so here is a stock photo.356128

[Hippie459MN]

All I remember was that Hustler would turn like it was on rails and it was smooth as heck going across the lake. Im sure if we had the knowledge and parts we have now back then, that boat would have been something else. All we had was an 850 bolted to the transom and it had no trim on it so you put the motor down and thats where it stayed. lol That was my first taste at performance boating. I grew up in that boat. My dad bought it in the early 70's a year or two before I was born and we had it until like 88 or 89 and then my cousin bought it from us. My dad sold it so he could finish our basement at the house and he told me for years he wished he never would have sold and he still talks about it today.

As for my vulture, I bought it being told it had the core and stuff replaced and of couse it didnt but I had my first (and only) child about 3 months after I bought it so with baby, house payments, all that good stuff, it sat for a long time then I moved twice, dealt with work stuff a few times, gotta love the trucking industry, and finally this past winter early spring I farmed it out to a good friend just to get it done and im close now but I have had some other priorities with work and buying equipment so the boat is moving slow. I have 95% of everything to get it in the water, its just the matter of finding the time.

[CUDA]

The Vulture is a GOOD family boat , safe , good over ruff water, lots of room .
Give me a Venus (had two) or Vulture V bottom, over any other stream .

I like going fast in ruff water, those two are the only streams that will cut it, safely.
Make sure you blueprint the pad.

[Hippie459MN]

The Vulture is a GOOD family boat , safe , good over ruff water, lots of room .
Give me a Venus (had two) or Vulture V bottom, over any other stream .

I like going fast in ruff water, those two are the only streams that will cut it, safely.
Make sure you blueprint the pad.
Now worries, the bottom of the boat has been all taken care of.

356149

Ok, back on track here. lol Sorry for the OT here.

[W2F a V-King]

I dont mean to chime in a little bit OT but here is a picture of my dads old Hustler Wildcat Comp with a Merc 850 that we had when I was a kid. Was green metal flake. I dont remember when my dad bought it but I remember him always having it and he sold it in the late 80's to my cousin and according to them, it ended up on the bottom of a river and was pretty trashed. I would LOVE to track down another one. Here is a link to a video from 1987 of us having some fun on the lake with it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgSWdPfVLOo

356066

Love the info here and cant wait to see the boat when you start working on it.

Great Video!! Better than a lot of current day videos on youtube, and that one was made almost 30 years ago!

Ha..high speed bail outs...remember those all to well. Was a good way to get an unwanted weggie...:eek:

James

[Hippie459MN]

Great Video!! Better than a lot of current day videos on youtube, and that one was made almost 30 years ago!

Ha..high speed bail outs...remember those all to well. Was a good way to get an unwanted weggie...:eek:

James
Thank you. Surprisingly I uploaded that video like 6-7 years ago. I try not to upload bad quality videos. Plus I have a really nice deal for taking old VHS and converting to digital. I have HOURS of old home movies safely stored on hard drives and my server so we dont loose them.

[FUJIMO]

http://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=356046&d=1474571543

[FUJIMO]

http://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=356128&d=1474682336

[CUDA]

For that period in time, THAT was a real hot rod.

[Michael J Giesler]

http://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=356046&d=1474571543

That my dad driving his competition 1971 15' hustler wildcat v bottom he bought that boat new in 1971 and still has it he bought it directly from Jim at hustler

[Hippie459MN]

I dont mean to hijack this topic too much more but my fater recently passed away on new years ever and we were going through some old photos and came across these pictures. Until I found these, the one picture and the video I posted were all I had of this boat that was the reason for my love for performance boating.

These pictures were taken in 1976 (I was 2 years old at the time) and the one is my mom and dad and the other is my dad pulling a few skiers like he always love to do. My mom was a pretty amazing water skier and was even on a few post cards and stuff back in the 80s promoting a few lake resorts. My mom said that old 15 foot factory comp Hustler Wildcat with the old 850 inline Merc pulled 5 skiers a few times with no effort. It was also really fast too when we werent pulling skiers. I would still love to find one someday again.

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