Making Waves: The Ultimate Street Worthy Boat Car
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 00;01;10;12 00;01;12;12 You have a boat, you have a car and you have a convertible. So
00:07 it's all three in one.
00:12 00;01;12;12 00;01;17;12 Mark Ray from Atlanta, Georgia always loved boats, but it was only
00:18 after his wife set him a challenge that he decided to create a boat car.
00:22 00;01;17;12 00;01;22;12 The boat car started about three years ago. My wife had breast
00:26 cancer and after her surgery I was taking care of her and she came in the bedroom and
00:30 said to me, "Why don't you build a boat car?" And I had no idea what's a boat car.
00:34 00;01;22;12 00;01;29;12 So I looked at it, I researched it and she said, "I bet you can't
00:38 do it." And in a year I built it and I won the bet and I kept the boat car.
00:43 00;01;29;12 00;01;39;12 Mark was given a recovered 18.5C Ray Bowrider boat for free, which was
00:50 stripped of its motor, out drive and interior.
00:52 00;01;39;12 00;01;45;12 He bought a GMC Jimmy, which was cut apart and the boat was installed
00:57 on top. It was then down to Mark to add the finishing touches and he couldn't resist
01:02 the nautical theme.
01:03 00;01;45;12 00;01;50;12 People ask me frequently, "How do you get in my boat car?" I go, "You
01:07 get in the back of the ladder." They go, "But where's the door?" I go, "This is a boat,
01:11 it's not a car."
01:12 00;01;50;12 00;02;00;12 So we've been asked that so many times I ended up putting on door
01:17 handles. These are fake door handles. You climb up the ladder and you're in. I even
01:23 have a handy dandy propeller. It doesn't do much but it sure does look good. Fishing rod
01:29 holders. And of course Scully, he looks out for everybody getting in and out of the boat.
01:35 00;02;00;12 00;02;05;12 The boat car is fitted with the Jimmy's original engine to give it
01:38 some oomph on the open road.
01:40 00;02;05;12 00;02;10;12 This is the expanded metal where air comes through to keep the
01:44 engine cool into the radiator. This is my engine area and I have it covered with diamond
01:49 plate. The boat car does move along pretty fast. It's got a 4.3 V6. Won't burn rubber
01:55 but it does run good.
01:56 00;02;10;12 00;02;20;22 To make it street legal, the vehicle had to be fitted with head and
02:00 tail lights, indicators, a horn, seat belts and mirrors.
02:04 00;02;20;22 00;02;27;22 Practicality, it's fun but it's not real practical.
02:08 00;02;27;22 00;02;31;22 Mark's creation has won trophies and plaques at car shows. But
02:12 it also stops traffic when he takes it for a spin on the school run.
02:16 00;02;31;22 00;02;36;22 People are crazy. I'm driving and all of a sudden I hear the cars
02:20 honking and people waving. My daughter and I have seen people videotape and run right
02:25 off into the shoulder. It always puts a smile on someone's face.
02:28 00;02;36;22 00;02;40;02 It's a very novel idea. I'd have to take it for a spin to see how
02:32 it really floats.
02:33 00;02;40;02 00;02;44;02 It's awesome. It's an eye catcher for sure.
02:35 00;02;44;02 00;02;46;02 What did you drive?
02:36 00;02;46;02 00;02;47;03 Oh, an heartbeat.
02:37 00;02;47;03 00;02;49;02 And it also floats Mark's family's boat.
02:40 00;02;49;03 00;02;51;02 It's brought a lot of comic relief to my mom's cancer treatments
02:44 and everything.
02:45 00;02;51;02 00;02;54;02 People look at the boat car and go crazy and she laughs about it.
02:51 00;02;54;02 00;03;00;02 Mark spent $10,000 and one year building the boat car. He's been
02:55 off the $30,000 for it, but he's determined to keep his pride and joy in the family.
03:00 00;03;00;02 00;03;05;02 I'm not trading it and I'm not selling it. I had one guy offer me
03:04 jewelry, and I told him, "If you keep your jewelry, I'm keeping the boat car." It's going
03:08 to be passed down to the kids.
03:09 00;03;05;02 00;03;10;01
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