A nautical fanatic has turned a once sunken boat into a road legal, drivable car. Mark Ray designed and built his dream motor after his wife Robyn bet him that he could not do it. Robyn, 49, had been diagnosed with breast cancer and felt that Mark needed a project to take his mind from being her full time carer. He spent over $7,500 on merging a GMC Jimmy with a sunken and recovered Sea Ray Bow Rider. After stripping the boat of its motor, out drive and interior – including the floor – he built it into the car that had been taken apart and left with only its chassis, seats and motor.
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MotorTranscript
00:00 You have a boat, you have a car and you have a convertible. So it's all three in one.
00:07 COMM: Mark Ray from Atlanta, Georgia always
00:16 loved boats. But it was only after his wife set him a challenge that he decided to create
00:21 a boat car.
00:22 MARK RAY The boat car started about three years ago.
00:24 My wife had breast cancer and after her surgery I was taking care of her and she came in the
00:29 bedroom and said to me, "Why don't you build a boat car?" And I had no idea what's
00:33 a boat car. So I looked at it, I researched it and she said, "I bet you can't do it."
00:38 And in a year I built it and I won the bet and I kept the boat car.
00:42 COMM: Mark was given a recovered 18.5C Ray
00:47 Bow Rider boat for free, which was stripped of its motor, out drive and interior. He bought
00:53 a GMC Jimmy, which was cut apart and the boat was installed on top. It was then down to
00:59 Mark to add the finishing touches and he couldn't resist the nautical theme.
01:03 MARK RAY People ask me frequently, "How do you get
01:05 in my boat car?" I go, "You get in the back of the ladder." They go, "But where's
01:09 the door?" I go, "This is a boat, it's not a car." So we've been asked that so
01:14 many times I ended up putting on door handles. These are fake door handles. You climb up
01:19 the ladder and you're in. I even have a handy-dandy propeller. It doesn't do much
01:25 but it sure does look good. Fishing rod holders. And of course Scully, he looks out for everybody
01:32 getting in and out of the boat.
01:34 COMM: The boat car is fitted with the Jimmy's
01:36 original engine to give it some oomph on the open road.
01:40 MARK RAY This is the expanded metal where air comes
01:42 through to keep the engine cool into the radiator. This is my engine area and I have it covered
01:48 with diamond plate. The boat car does move along pretty fast. It's got a 4.3 V6. Won't
01:53 burn rubber but it does run good.
01:56 COMM: To make it street legal, the vehicle
01:58 had to be fitted with head and tail lights, indicators, a horn, seat belts and mirrors.
02:04 MARK RAY Practicality, it's fun but it's not
02:07 real practical.
02:08 COMM: Mark's creation has won trophies and
02:10 plaques at car shows. But it also stops traffic when he takes it for a spin on the school
02:15 run.
02:15 MARK RAY People are crazy. I'm driving and all of
02:19 a sudden I hear the cars honking and people waving. My daughter and I have seen people
02:23 videotape and run right off into the shoulder. It always puts a smile on someone's face.
02:28 It's a very novel idea. I'd have to take it for a spin to see how it really floats.
02:32 It's awesome. It's an eye catcher for sure.
02:35 Would you drive it?
02:36 Oh, in a heartbeat.
02:37 COMM: And it also floats Mark's family's
02:39 boat.
02:40 It's brought a lot of comic relief to my mom's cancer treatments and everything.
02:44 People look at the boat car and go crazy and
02:49 she laughs about it.
02:50 COMM: Mark spent $10,000 and one year building
02:54 the boat car. He's been offered $30,000 for it but he's determined to keep his pride
02:59 and joy in the family.
03:00 MARK RAY I'm not trading it and I'm not selling
03:02 it. I had one guy offer me jewellery and I told him, "If you keep your jewellery, I'm
03:06 keeping the boat car. It's going to be passed down to the kids."
03:08 (upbeat music)