Johnson Outboards was an American manufacturer of

outboard motor An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom. They are the most common motorised method ...

s founded by the four brothers Louis, Harry, Julius and Clarence Johnson.

History

The original company that made Johnson

inboard motor An inboard motor is a marine propulsion system for boats. As opposed to an outboard motor, where an engine is mounted outside the hull of the craft, an inboard motor is an engine enclosed within the hull of the boat, usually connected to a pro ...

s and outboard motors was the Johnson Brothers Motor Company of

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and Terre Haute metropolitan area, its metropolitan area had a populati ...

, United States. They started building inboard 2-cycle marine engines in 1903 in a barn behind the house, along with matching boats. By 1908, they were making V4, V6, V8, and V12 aircraft and marine engines. In 1910, they built the first U.S. monoplane to exhibit their aircraft engines. By 1912, their V-12 was making 180 hp, when disaster struck the factory. Torrential rain, followed by flooding and a direct hit from a tornado, wiped it all out, drawings, machinery, and everything else. The brothers relocated to

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

and then

Waukegan, Illinois Waukegan ( ) is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located north of Chicago, Waukegan is a satellite city within the greater Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, its population was 89,321, makin ...

. Starting in 1922, they designed and built Johnson Outboard Motors, a radical new, lightweight outboard made largely of aluminum. By the mid-1920s, they surpassed Evinrude in sales, and dominated the outboard racing scene. In 1928, the brothers bought the Birmingham Automotive Company site in

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

and established the Canadian Johnson Motor Company Ltd. By 1931 they produced cedar strip hulls at their Canadian facility. The Peterborough factory was at the time 30,000 square feet in extent and had 17 employees. It was an assembly plant for American-produced parts. Usseln-Curioseum-3-Asio.JPG, Johnson Seahorse (1929) Usseln-Curioseum-7-Asio.JPG, Johnson Seahorse (1929) Usseln-Curioseum-4-Asio.JPG, Johnson Seahorse (1929) Usseln-Curioseum-5-Asio.JPG, Johnson Seahorse (1929) The Johnson brothers held over two hundred patents, and revolutionized the American outboard motor. In 1931 an over-ambitious marketing programme failed to return on investment and the American company went bankrupt. The company was first acquired by

Outboard Marine Corporation Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) was a maker of Evinrude Outboard Motors, Evinrude, Johnson Outboards, Johnson and Gale Outboard Motors, and many different brands of boats. It was a multibillion-dollar Fortune 500 corporation. Evinrude began in ...

(OMC) in 1935. In 1936, a fire destroyed part of the Peterborough plant. OMC filed for bankruptcy on 22 December 2000. It has been owned since 2001 by the Canadian firm

Bombardier Recreational Products BRP Inc. (an abbreviation of Bombardier Recreational Products) is a Canadian manufacturer of snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, Side-by-side (vehicle), side by sides, motorcycles, and personal watercraft. It was founded in 2003, when the Recreati ...

. Bombardier stopped selling outboards under the Johnson brand after 2007, and moved all sales entirely to

Evinrude Outboard Motors Evinrude Outboard Motors was a North American company that built a major brand of Two-stroke engine, two-stroke outboard motors for boats. Founded by Ole Evinrude in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1907, it was formerly owned by the publicly traded Outboa ...

until they were discontinued in June 2020. Bombardier supports existing Johnson outboard motors through servicing and parts. Evinrude also provides information about the year of manufacture for vintage Johnson motors, if the model number and serial number can be provided.

References

External links

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Official SiteEvinrude Johnson Online Store
Bombardier Recreational Products Marine engine manufacturers Companies based in Lake County, Illinois Waukegan, Illinois Engine manufacturers of the United States Defunct manufacturing companies based in Indiana {{US-manufacturing-company-stub

History

See also

References

External links