As it turns out, that Maldives Blue isn’t so new after all, huh? Just joking. As many of you know this 1970 Sea-Doo 372 and all original-run Sea-Doos built between 1968 and 1970 all came in eye-catching yellow. But this particular ‘Doo in Florence, Alabama, is sporting a new livery that gives it a slightly less aged look. Found by the website “Barn Finds” on eBay with a price of $6,000, the seller states that it has been in dry storage since 1974 but still runs and is “in good shape.”
The first ’68 model – designated a “320” – came with an air-cooled, two-cycle 18-horsepower single-cylinder Rotax snowmobile engine provided by Roy Halverson, Bombardier’s snowmobile distributor in Duluth, Minnesota. The 320 didn’t prove all that successful as the Sea-Doo couldn’t produce enough airflow to cool the engine. So in 1969, Bombardier introduced the 372 model with a heavier (67 lbs.) but more efficient aluminum two-cylinder, water-cooled engine that cranked out 23.5 horsepower. (That’s a 30-percent increase in horsepower in one model year! Can you imagine that today?)
Despite the increase in horsepower and the novelty of riding a snowmobile-meant-for-the-water, the original Sea-Doos faded into obscurity until the inventor, Clayton Jacobsen II finalized a contract with Kawasaki in 1971 (with his now returned patent) to create the JS400 Jet Ski. Obviously, the design was radically different between the two machines, as Bombardier was a snowmobile company (making a sit-down far more logical) versus Kawasaki who was a motorcycle company (thereby producing a standup an appropriate fit). If you’re interested, you’re unfortunately too late. It’s already been sold.
