Johnson Outboards

{{Short description|American manufacturer}} {{Use American English|date=November 2021}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}} {{lead too short|date=February 2026}}

'''Johnson Outboards''' was an American manufacturer of outboard motors founded by the four brothers Louis, Harry, Julius and Clarence Johnson.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tribstar.com/community/historical-treasure-trinket-recalls-story-of-johnson-outboards-in-th/article_13627034-4426-5457-a50c-12da70e7908c.html|title = Historical Treasure: Trinket recalls story of Johnson outboards in TH| date=December 9, 2018 }}</ref>

==History== [[File:1927 Johnson Seahorse, Tellus Science Museum.jpg|thumb|400x400px|1927 Johnson Seahorse outboard motor at the Tellus Science Museum]] The original company that made Johnson inboard motors and outboard motors was the '''Johnson Brothers Motor Company''' of Terre Haute, Indiana, United States.

They started building inboard 2-stroke marine engines in 1903 in a barn behind the house, along with matching boats. By 1908, they were making V4, V6, V8, and V12 aircraft and marine engines. In 1910, they built the first U.S. monoplane to exhibit their aircraft engines. By 1912, their V-12 was making 180 hp, when disaster struck the factory. Torrential rain, followed by flooding and a direct hit from a tornado, wiped it all out, drawings, machinery, and everything else. The brothers relocated to South Bend, Indiana and then Waukegan, Illinois.

Starting in 1922, they designed and built Johnson Outboard Motors, a radical new, lightweight outboard made largely of aluminum. By the mid-1920s, they surpassed Evinrude in sales, and dominated the outboard racing scene.

In 1928, the brothers bought the Birmingham Automotive Company site in Peterborough, Ontario and established the Canadian Johnson Motor Company Ltd.<ref name="mary1">{{cite news |url=https://maryboro.ca/story/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-peterboroughs-outboard-marine-corporation/ |title=The Rise and Fall of the Peterborough's Outboard Marine Corporation - Maryboro Lodge Museum | Kawartha Virtual Museum |date=February 5, 2024 }}</ref> By 1931 they produced cedar strip hulls at their Canadian facility.<ref name="tpe1">{{cite news |url=https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/walker-revisiting-the-rev-and-idle-of-peterborough-s-outboard-marine-corporation/article_643a0fe7-2b39-5d9f-b51a-29059263f757.html |title=Walker: Revisiting the rev and idle of Peterborough's Outboard Marine Corporation |date=February 2, 2024 }}</ref> The Peterborough factory was at the time 30,000 square feet in extent and had 17 employees. It was an assembly plant for American-produced parts.<ref name=tpe1/>

<gallery> Usseln-Curioseum-3-Asio.JPG|Johnson Seahorse (1929) Usseln-Curioseum-7-Asio.JPG|Johnson Seahorse (1929) Usseln-Curioseum-4-Asio.JPG|Johnson Seahorse (1929) Usseln-Curioseum-5-Asio.JPG|Johnson Seahorse (1929) </gallery>

The Johnson brothers held over two hundred patents,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.boothbayregister.com/article/johnson-outboard-motors-and-men-who-made-them/57396|title = Johnson outboard motors and the men who made them}}</ref> and revolutionized the American outboard motor.

In 1931 an over-ambitious marketing programme failed to return on investment and the American company went bankrupt.<ref name=tpe1/>

The company was first acquired by Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC) in 1935.{{cn|date=July 2024}} In 1936, a fire destroyed part of the Peterborough plant.<ref name=tpe1/>

OMC filed for bankruptcy on 22 December 2000. It has been owned since 2001 by the Canadian firm Bombardier Recreational Products. Bombardier stopped selling outboards under the Johnson brand after 2007, and moved all sales entirely to Evinrude Outboard Motors until they were discontinued in June 2020. Bombardier supports existing Johnson outboard motors through servicing and parts. Evinrude also provides information about the year of manufacture for vintage Johnson motors, if the model number and serial number can be provided.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Commonscat-inline|Johnson outboard motors}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050328090732/http://www.johnson.com/ Official Site] *[http://www.shopevinrude.com Evinrude Johnson Online Store]

Category:Bombardier Recreational Products Category:Marine engine manufacturers Category:Companies based in Lake County, Illinois Category:Waukegan, Illinois Category:Engine manufacturers of the United States Category:Defunct manufacturing companies based in Indiana