My 1978 17' Chris Craft Lancer ~ Stinger

The History of the Chris Craft Lancer:

In general, Chris Craft built their Lancer line from 1968-1977 (1978 boats were made in '77 but delivered in '78 after Dick Genth, took down the Lancer line in favor of the Scorpion/ Stingers). The hull's design, with a 24 degree, deep-V was designed by Jim Wynne, long time power boat racer. There is even a pattent on it...

The hull design made Lancers great racing boats . And, it made them one of Chris Craft's most popular boats.
Chris Craft made 1135 Lancer units, of varying lengths, over the next 10 years. Many with stylist Dick Avery doing the cockpit and interior designs.

Wynne and Avery took the Lancer to full production and from the successful hull design, also created the Lancer "XK".
The XK saw the Lancer profile cut down lower in the water.

The details about how much or which of Jim Wynne’s partners contributed to the creation of the 1969 Chris-Craft 25-foot Lancer’s design have been lost. While it may matter to some of his team-members, Wynne was hired for his expertise as much as his name. The Wynne name was synonymous with victory and translated to sales. And, ultimately, Wynne is still credited, solely, by Chris-Craft as the hull’s designer. According to the NY Times, Wynne was a designer and winning powerboat racer whose, “engineering developments in creating and perfecting deep-V hulls proved a boon to millions of pleasure and military craft worldwide.” In addition to the Chris-Craft Lancer, he and his team also created the Formula 233 and the Donzi 16 (along with other Donzi models, such as the Donzi 28). Wynne's team also conceived the boats that became the Magnum 35, Maritime’s aluminum 32-footer, and the wooden racer, Ghost Rider.

Due to Chris-Craft’s limited experience with fiberglass, they turned to freelancer Wynne to design their new hull for the Lancer line. It was a decision necessitated by the cost - and demand-driven shift from wood to fiberglass in the boating industry. Wynne conceived and fine-tuned the Lancer’s ride. The result being that she rides well in a rough chop, an integral part of the boat’s practical nature. Beginning in ‘69, Jim Wynne’s 25’ Lancer was available in three models, with between 75-85 units of each model produced during their respective production runs. The Sportsman model, was their top seller at the time, but it wasn’t all Wynne’s work. Chris-Craft’s in-house crew styled the boat’s deck and interior.

Head designer and Stylist, Dick Avery, began working at Chris-Craft in 1962, after a three-year stint at Ford Motor Company. From the interior spaces and the deck design down to details like a toe rail (or the lack of one), Avery and his internal team were in charge. On this 25’ 1” long by 9 ’8” beam boat you’ll find some fixed seating, but owners often add portable deck chairs and a table to get the best use of her open cockpit. The Lancer Sportsman has built-in storage lockers as well as under-gunwale storage for mops, fishing poles and personal flotation devices.

The power package on the 25’ Lancer is a single Chevy V-8 mated to a Mercury Marine Alpha stern drive, which is actually an update, using a combination for which replacement parts are readily available. Originally, Chris-Craft sold its boats with an engine and outdrive package named "Transdrive". Some believe that Chris-Craft branded all of its stern drive packages from all of its established manufacturers as Transdrives – power packages that included the Eaton brand, Volvo-Penta, and Mercury Marine drives. Either single or twin engines/drives were available.

The smoothness of the finish on early Chris-Craft fiberglass boats was originally, and remains, outstanding. The molds used to build their boats were really polished and buffed beyond the competition’s standards. Engaging Wynne, through the use of both his name and designs, enabled Chris-Craft to dramatically promote its shift from building wood boats to all-fiberglass construction.

Chris Craft planned to continue developing, refining, and expanding the Lancer line, until Dick Genth came on board in 1978 and scrapped the whole line, in favor of the Scorpions.That ended Lancer production.

The newly styled 17’ Lancer base model came with the Mercruiser 140 and was a basic runabout with lounger seats up front, jump seats in the back, and a fiberglass engine box as all previous 17’s had since 1968.

The Stinger, however, came stock with a GM marinized 305 C.I V-8 Motor and a Marine Power (Volvo-Penta) Model 280 Stern drive. Dick Avery, designed the interior and cockpit of the Stinger with bucket seats and a bench that sat three people, in front of a sun pad/engine cover.
(Perhaps a sign of things to come, as all post 1978 Chris Craft Scorpions had sun pads as engine covers).

Coincidentally, the "Lancer Stinger" had a brief concept as a member of the "XK" line of Lancers. (If only on the marketer's drawing tables though.)
But, nowhere on the boat does it say “Stinger”. It is only in factory literature.

The "Stinger" also came standard with the 305 GLV V8 with Rochester 4BBL Carburetor, Mallory, Dual Point Ignition system and saw power outputs of 235 HP.
All this was matched up to a Marine Power (Volvo Penta) 280, that made up Chris Craft's trademark "TransDrive".

(Marine Power 305GLV Motor as it looked at purchase.)

Marine Power Stern drive unit. (Volvo Penta 280 Trans Drive.)

NOTE: Images on this and other pages are of my 1978 17' Lancer ~ Stinger...

Information from the Chris Craft Archives at the Mariner's Museum shows only 20 of these 17’ Lancer Stingers were made. with one going to Puerto Rico and another one going to Hong Kong.

My boat is number 9.

There is an old saying in astronomy, that goes "The more you look, the more you will see..."
Well, the same applies to mostly everything...
As I look around the internet for other lancers, like mine, I’ve have finally started to see other Lancer/ Stingers, since I bought my boat.
There is mine, (of course) and through research, the one pictured here...


Now finally on a Facebook group, I have seen another one, located in, of all places, Sturat FL (my old stopming grounds!)
This one could be hull number 15 (of only 20 built) And, who knows how few are left?!?

Photo Credit - Owner Jay Seibert
Also, through the use of the build sheet pictured above And, from scouring any lead I could find,
Hull Number 16 Showed up on a New York Motor Vehicle registration record! (Although I haven't had a chance to contact the owner yet, or see the boat...)
Now I own this boat and since I have found how rare it is... it will be undergoing a complete restoration.

Of all the Lancers built over a 12 year period, 1978 stands out as the most unique year producing the rarest of all Lancers and the least of the 17 foot, Stinger models.

Please enjoy these other images of this classic boat, which is the last of its line and the last of the Chris Craft third generations of the Chris Craft boats.

I would like to thank Craig Judge, whom I bought the boat from, the folks at the Chris-Craft Archive section of Mariner's Museum for providing a lot of valuable research information regarding this Lancer.