Could This 1970 Sea-Doo 372 Be The Ultimate Barn Find?


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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.

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Kevin Shaw

Editor-in-Chief – kevin.shaw@shawgroupmedia.com Kevin Shaw is a decade-long powersports and automotive journalist whose love for things that go too fast has led him to launching The Watercraft Journal. Almost always found with stained hands and dirt under his fingernails, Kevin has an eye for the technical while keeping a eye out for beautiful photography and a great story.

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