History of the Glastron/Carlson Scimitar

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Glastron / Carlson

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1980 Scimitar in Emerald Green Mist, length over-all
24'3" - Beam 91 3/8" - Transom width 85 1/2" - Depth
62 1/4" - Capasity 1500 lb - Engine Options 260hp
Mercruiser I/O or Volvo 260hp I/O - Colors available
Metalflake Persion orange with buff, amber interior.

Art Carlson, a designer and manufacturer of performance sport boats in Anaheim, Ca. struck an
agreement with Bob Hammond, founder of the Glastron boats, and merged with Glastron boat company
in 1968. The 1969 Glastron catalogue included the line of performance sport boats known as the
Glastron/Carlsons. The Scimitar's were made in Anaheim, Ca. by Art Carlson from 1980 through 1983.
The last of the Scimitar line was sold in 1984 as a special addition, however these 1984 models were
made in late 1983. In a telephone conversation with Art Carlson in the summer of 2007, Art told me
that there were about 500 of these boats made, but only about 300 of them remained in the United
States, the other, approximately 200, were sold and shipped over seas to dealers in 7 different countries.

According to Art, one morning in fall of 1978, he went into his 17 year old son's bed room to see a pencil
drawing of a sleek sporty looking boat with "T" tops that his son had drawn to resemble his Corvette. Art
liked the idea and began designing the drawing for production, that was the beginning of the Scimitar
line. Tooling and production of the Scimitar was costly, according to Art, and there were a couple of
problems in it's production, one being the windshield, Art said they ordered the windshields three
different times, none of the windshields fit the boat, so they actually re-designed the boats to fit the last
windshields that was ordered and continued on.

Most people think that the Scimitar was used in the James Bond movie "Moon Raker" but the boat that
was used in that movie was a Glastron Carlson CV-23 HT, HT meaning "Hard Top" and they too were a
limited production, but because of the sleek and luxurious eye appeal of the Scimitar, most people seem
associate it as the James Bond boat, but it was actually under construction and testing during that time.

The production of the Scimitar, according to Art, was stopped in 1983 because of the growing demand for larger, longer, and
faster off-shore sport boats in the coastal area. The Scimitar was a fast boat for it's size, reaching speeds up to 60 mph right off
the production line, but because of it's light weight and shallow "v" hull design, it did not have a smooth and comfortable ride
in choppy waters that the longer heavier boats did have, and the cost to produce the larger boats would hardly exceed the cost of
production of the Scimitar at the time. The factory delivered price of the Scimitar was $19,600 in 1981 the factory delivered
price for the 1982 Scimitar was $20,400. Since the production of the Scimitar stopped, and even today, it's not un-common to
see a pretty and well maintained, or restored Scimitar sell for over $20,000 U S dollars and shipped over to another country.