Saving Old Seagulls

Well, after many years of searching and nothing more than blind luck and the help of some really great people I eventually found myself a Marston Twin to top off my collection travelling nearly 5000 miles to get here, she’s cleaned up but original, unrestored and in really great condition, even still has the decals on the tank.
We all like photos here, so

A beautiful piece, congrats!

Will it ever see the water again?

Great to see it, and interesting story how you found it Its a big beast for sure!

Excellent, a marvellous find. It is indeed a big brute!

Congratulations, you must be very pleased

I’m over the moon with it, all this messing around with these outboards is all a bit of fun but I’m quite passionate when it comes to my hobbies, I do them to the best of my ability and I have to confess that when I opened the crate after six months of waiting I shed a little tear, silly maybe but so what.

Rene,
Congratulations! It looks in wonderful condition. Indeed it looks fully restored.
Thank you for sharing this find with the wider Seagull community.

Can you tell us a bit about the Marston Twin. Most of us have never seen one, or indeed, likely to!
It looks as if the cylinders are positioned one above the other. Capacity?
It looks as if it has a 'clutch' in the drive shaft tube. Has it got just forward?
What power is it rated at?
What other mechanical point of interest has it got? Any really unusual or unique features?
If I start looking for one, what are my chances? Perhaps I would have more luck with the lottery! How many were originally made? When were they made? A commercial success?
Sorry for all these questions, but when something like this turns up, my interest and no doubt many others, are ignited to find out more information.

Jeremy

Perhaps a look at the SOS main pages & then a read through the Marston Seagull page, might answer your questions.

Yes, one cylinder above the other, and two versions, direct drive or with FNR gearbox. Not many about, I think 5 known to exist, one recently re-emerges in the US. Rated (in Marston adverts) as 10hp.

Actually not the rarest seagull, But certainly the most mysterious! Good to see this one being shared and talked about.

There might be more than that, but many Marston owners don't want their treasures all over the internet.

Hi Jeremy, hope this answers some of your questions, most of the info’s on the sos site, there’s also a clipping from an advert I’ve got from 1935. Not many come up for sale and a very niche market as an OA is so much prettier and manageable, still, I have no doubt another one will eventually turn up but a word warning, it shocked how big this motor actually is!

Thanks Rene for your reply and sharing the advertisement. They were indeed very expensive in their day, but being old fashioned now, I expect they are quite cheap .....!!!
Yes, I have looked at the SOS page - thanks for directing me in that direction. All very interesting stuff.
As, has already been mentioned, they are certainly big and heavy.
My choice in life is to go for the slim, small, relatively simple, not too demanding, easy to handle, low maintenance versions. Plus the Marston Twin is a bit masculine for me, whereas the best Female Version - ie the FV - is my personal choice.

Jeremy