The following is our playlist of videos for our 1956 P-56278 Century Cowhide Palomino preservation. Click on each to view the video, or the title or text below to watch and read detailed write-up on the video.
Talk about a barn find! This 1956 16’ Century Cowhide Palomino, hull number is P-56278, is as pure, original and complete an antique or classic wooden boat we’ve seen to date.
While they require freshening, all her finishes are original. Her cowhide upholstery is original and in near new condition. We really, really tried, but cannot find a single blemish in her original green Plexiglas windshield.
She lived in Maine since the late 1960’s, and, according to the kind folks who entrusted me with stewardship going forward shared that they used her at most twice in the last 50 years.
You can almost eat off her bilge surfaces, where she still sports her original bilge paint, and everything is sparkling clean.
After removing all her hardware, and saving every screw – all original in the process, all of it will be shipped to Mickey Dupuis, D&S Custom Metal Restoration in Holyoke, MA.
Her black hullsides and covering boards will be sanded and faired, but not stripped before they are repainted in gloss black.
We hoped we could save the original varnish on the decks, but, even with almost no use, just languishing in a dry barn for over 50 years took its toll here. We must strip and refinish the decks.
As shown in the clip, her 30 HP Johnson Javelin outboard presents as near new, both cosmetically and mechanically. She is electric start, but we pulled her starting cable today. It presents as having never seen the light of day, and the compression is very, very strong.
We will keep you in the loop as we move forward on this exciting preservation of one of Century’s most iconic outboard-powered models.
