by Forrest Bryant, edited by David Vickers, Heartland Classics Chapter
Photos by Forrest Bryant
As a young-ish advertising executive, I spent most summer weekends in the 1970s and ‘80s at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. Back then, Tan-Tar-A Resort was the place to see and be seen, and I attended Lake of the Ozarks Boat Show there on August 7, 1987. At the show I spotted a sleek, white fiberglass boat by a maker I’d never heard of – Taylor Marine. It looked like a miniature version of those boats from the hit show, Miami Vice. It looked fast. I checked out the boat dockside with Oscar Taylor himself, and told him I’d think about it.
The following weekend, Oscar flew his plane to Kansas City, picked me up, and flew me back to his manufacturing facility located at the Cushing, Oklahoma airport. He took me on a factory tour where we saw several Taylors in various stages of production. After lunch, we gave a Taylor 923 S a sea trial on a nearby lake. The boat didn’t just look fast. It was fast! After the sea trial, Oscar flew me back to Kansas City.
The very next weekend, the Taylor 923 S was delivered to Blue Anchor Marina where I kept a slip.
I have owned many boats, but I loved the Taylor with its striking lines, excellent handling, and +50 mph capability. I enjoyed the Taylor for a couple of years before selling it to a good friend of mine. Other boats followed, including a Hacker, a ’62 Century Coronado, a Donzi, a Cobalt, and a Chris-Craft Silver Bullet, to name a few. But I never forgot that Taylor.
Flash forward 30 years to the Fall of 2020. I hired Heartland Classics Chapter member Dan Diehl, owner of Diehl Aero Marine in Jenks, Oklahoma, to restore the ’62 Coronado for me.
I occasionally made the drive to the Tulsa area to assist with the restoration. One day, we needed to cut a trailer bunk support on a large band saw housed in a hangar at the Jenks Airport, which is just across the street from Dan’s shop. The mailbox outside the hanger read, “Oscar Taylor.” I asked Dan if this was the same Oscar Taylor who owned Taylor Marine. “It sure is,” Dan replied. “Do you know Oscar?”
“I bought a boat from Oscar back in ’87,” I said. And we went inside.
After the lights came on, the first thing I noticed was a white Taylor 923 S on a trailer. It bore the identical paint scheme to the one I bought so many years ago. The motor was out of it and the interior lay scattered across the floor.
“That’s my boat!” I exclaimed. “The one I bought from Oscar.” We quickly checked the hull number. Sure enough, I was looking at the boat I first fell in love with on a dock in the Summer of ‘87.
I told Dan on the spot, “I want to buy it back.” Dan knew the current owner. In fact, they were friends. Dan gave me his number and I called him.
“I appreciate the interest, but I’m not looking to sell the boat,” he told me. “I’m going to restore it.”
“I’m the original owner of the boat,” I told him. “And a serious buyer. If you ever change your mind, I’m your new owner.” That’s how we left things.
I called him back a few times, just to check on the progress of his restoration of my old Taylor.
I had about given up on ever reclaiming the boat when one day my phone rang. I recognized the Oklahoma area code.
“Are you still interested in buying the Taylor?” the owner asked.
He gave me a price and I agreed. The Taylor was going to be mine again. I immediately called Dan. “You have another boat to restore.”
Dan asked how my wife, Kally, felt about having the Taylor back.
“I don’t know. I haven’t told her.”
Dan replied, “If I bought a boat and didn’t tell Alicia, I would be in for some trouble. What are you going
to do?”
“When I hook it up and haul it home, she’s going to ask, ’What’s that?’” I told Dan that then I’ll use the stray puppy story. “I don’t know. It just followed
me home.”
Dan’s restoration of the Taylor took about 2½ years. The boat required a new motor, new stringers, a new floor, and all new wiring and gauges. We installed a 350 c.i. crate motor, and then sent the boat to Jody Winkle at Moss Upholstery for a completely new interior and boat cover.
I entered my Taylor in the 2024 Heartland Classics Mahogany & Chrome boat show at Grand Lake in Oklahoma. It brought home a Platinum Award. The boat was shown at the 2024 ACBS International Show at Gull Lake, Minnesota and received a Gold Award in the RestoMod Class.
I didn’t stay in the doghouse too long for buying and restoring White Lightning. And I couldn’t be happier that she followed me home, again.
Originally printed in Mahogany & Chrome, the official magazine of the Heartland Classics ACBS Chapter