The AMF years at Hatteras, as bad as at Harley-Davidson?

[Westfield 11]

I know from my motorcycling past that H-D went downhill rapidly once American Machine and Foundry took over. They are now seen as a typical conglomerate plunderer of it's day: no money for R&D, lower build quality, bad relations with dealers etc. What were the AMF years like at Hatteras? When did they take over and how long did they last? It seems like the managers at Hatteras were able to resist the corporate bean counters better than at H-D.

[Angela]

I had heard the same thing about AMF ("the bean counter years" for Hatteras), particularly as it relates to the electrical wiring on Hatts; however, I'm not noticing anything OEM that unusually poor on mine, but then again electricity is not my forte, so what do I know!

I did notice that the nice bronze portlights turned to plastic. The hulls aren't as thick as the older models. The decks are not a rock solid as the older boats and you can feel the difference when walking on them. The old boats feel like you're walking on a concrete slab when you walk around the bow area. Not so, by the time AMF got done with them.

[fissioneng]

I think this is the ownership chronology

Started 1959
Sold to Rockwell International 1968
Sold to AMF 1972
Sold to Genmar (Irwin Jacobs and companies) 1985
Sold to Brunswick 2002

According to Pascoe, the Rockwell years were awful. The AMF years were good. I think we all have opinions about what has happened after that.

[Boatsb]

If I remember correctly hatteras was not sold to Genmar. Genmar purchased AMF after they refused to sell hatteras and then sold off the rest of the company.

I am not sure if Genmar followed the Hatteras style before imparting the carver styling or if it just took so long to do it that it seemed that way but they built classics for a few years in there.

[Angela]

According to Pascoe, the Rockwell years were awful. The AMF years were good. I think we all have opinions about what has happened after that.

I think I may have had my Rockwell years and AMF years mixed up! I think it was reading Pascoe where I learned about the bad years and the wiring problems. Still, at some point, the boats did start to cheapen up as compared to the really early models. That's where I notice bronze-to-plastic stuff. Even in stupid little things like the cabinet and drawer pulls. The ones on Ed's 1968 Hatt are far superior than the RV style crap I got on my 1980. And then there's the OEM sliding glass "patio" door on my 1980 Hatt in place of the nice wood, sliding or french doors. The aft deck of my boat looks like someone's balcony to their condo. Don't get me started on what a bonehead move by Hatteras that was!

[SKYCHENEY]

I wonder when in 1985 Genmar took over. My April (I believe) 1985 boat has AMF emblems on her.

[MikeP]

Our 1980 53MY has only Hatteras emblems on the boat; the binder with all the oem manuals has an AMF/Hatteras logo.

[SKYCHENEY]

Our 1980 53MY has only Hatteras emblems on the boat; the binder with all the oem manuals has an AMF/Hatteras logo.

Many times owners tried to update the look of the boat with newer emblems. I still have the original blue and white plastic block plate that says Hatteras in the center with a space for the size on one end (53) and a space on the other end for AMF. That is the right one for my vintage.

I remember our 1975 43DC having the black script Hatteras emblems like these:




I'm not sure about when that changed. 1980 could have been either of those two.

I see most people updating to this style:

[MikeP]

Here's what ours look like - I guess they could have been replaced at some point by the PO.

[SKYCHENEY]

That's the newer, Genmar version. It may have been replaced during repaint.