End of production

[flyguy]

I have read the history page and quite a lot of articles on the Seagull factory, lots of references to the end of production but no real mention of why?
Did they just decide to stop making outboards? was it financial? was it a drop in sales or just they decided it was over for Seagulls
I wonder about what happened to all the records,
I would love t know a lot more about the company, can anyone point me in the right direction please

[charlesp]

Towards the end Seagulls began to look very old fashioned, which of course they were.

They began to look very expensive, which of course compared to the imported equivalents they were.

Comparative reviews in sailing and boating magazines began to find it difficult to say much that would nudge a reader towards a Seagull.

There was never enough money to invest in a new motor, not in a way that could ever compete with Mariner, Mercury, Yamaha and the like.

They were a bit of an anachronism, oily, quirky, expensive, and never available in the more powerful versions that so many people wanted.

Interestingly Way-Hope predicted in 1971, shortly before his death, that there was 'another twenty five years left' in British Seagull. He was right, of course, as he was in so many other things. The factory closed its doors in 1996

[Oyster 49]

Charlessp who is one of the moderators on this forum has done a huge amount of work researching the history of the British seagull company and the Marston Seagull before that, including interviewing former staff....It will be an interesting read

[headdownarseup]

Not to mention the ever increasing need for less air pollution.

2 stroke motorcycles have ended up going much the same way.

I often wonder that if BS had managed to keep going, what sort of development could have been made with a 4 stroke unit?

jon

[Oyster 49]

you only have to look at Honda's range of small hand portable generators. Fabulous bits of kit, smooth quiet and reliable. Lightweight too.

[Charles uk]

All you need is the budget & the market & Seagull had neither!

I don't think any of the big 5 did it on their own.

Apart from possibly Honda.

[flyguy]

So I guess the 125 and the 170 were an attempt to keep up with what was going on overseas with Honda and the others
so when they failed it must have been the beginning of the end?
Shame such a long running company couldn't continue
what happened with the machinery was it all scrapped?

[Niander101]

Machinery will probably have been auctioned off as usually happens.
Sadly records destroyed?
Back then no one was interested unlike today!

[Oyster 49]

I remember Charles mentioning that each individual engine had its own record right back to the pre war engines, but they were thrown away! terrible shame.

[Charles uk]

At a guess we're talking a number well over 500,000, that's a lots of legers full of text, that maybe 20 individuals might want a look at, would you want to store it for the next 20 years, & look up all the history of when Mr Smiths SJP was built & by who, if it was a long shaft & was built with a long range tank & who was the dealer that bought it.

Now you understand why it was binned!

[flyguy]

Yes Charles, no online data base back then, unlike now where if the mapping on the Engine identifier was working at least it would be known roughly how many were still around and where they were.

[Charles uk]

No it wouldn't, it wasn't designed to provide that much data, only to provide a cartoon pic of where the enquires come from & we have to tread gently around the data protection act.

It was only there as a bit of fun not a serious tool!

[flyguy]

Ah yes the data protection act, I hadn't thought about that
I read an interesting article about a visit to the Seagull factory in Poole. it sounds like a great place to work

[Niander101]

Yes would of been fun

[Charles uk]

Wonderfull fun! spend all morning cleaning & filing castings, removing sand from cylinders & washing & drying them, then the afternoon assembling them & fitting carb & ignition, 10 a day every day to earn a bonus, real fun!