Joe Swift

[Mark75H]

I can't find my master notes about Joe Swift right now, but I'll start with what I can remember from memory.

Swift was involved in wood working or furniture manufactoring back in the 1950's. One of the main products was clothespins ... the company logo was actually a clothespin.

In the late 1950's Joe got connected with Carl Kiekhaefer and made a deal to build boats and supply them to every Merc dealer .... making every Merc dealer a Swift race boat dealer. This deal made Swift the most popular race boat in the US, probably the world back in the late 1950's and early 1960's. I can't find my notes on it right now, but the total number of boats was something like 5,000. There were other boats that were faster, but Swift outright dominated racing by shear numbers in that time.

In the late 1960's Joe took over PR for Mercury racing and was once again at the forefront of outboard racing.

Its a start any way .... I'll try to find the exact and correct details.