The story of NEB&M began nearly 50 years ago in Michigan when at the age of 17, Mark Mason, along with his brother, acquired and restored his first mahogany speed boat; a 1940 Chris Craft single cockpit racer, hull number 42160, today owned by Alan Jackson.
In 1968 Mark discovered and purchased for $500, his first triple cockpit speedboat from Harold Dyer, an 85 year old antique automobile collector in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Mentored by visionary collector Eldon Eby, Mason focused his attention on ferreting out the greatest racing speedboats of the Twentieth Century, which were custom designed and built for the millionaire sportsmen of the roaring twenties.
In 1969 he discovered his first major racer, the 36 foot SISTER SYN, a 1927 George Crouch design, owned and built by Horace E Dodge, Jr., of Detroit, Michigan. At an impressive 36 feet, she proved to be a daunting project for a twenty-something year old college student to contemplate. However it did get Mark started on seeking out designs by the famous George Crouch.
After returning from the Vietnam War in 1972, Mark went in search of a Garwood he was told lay in an old apple orchard in Parma. The owner denied having a Garwood, but admitted that he had a 1922 John Hacker speedboat in his barn. A deal was made and Mason began researching his new acquisition and found her to be METEOR V, the Gold Cup racer originally campaigned by W.B. Wilde of Peoria, Illinois, who set seven world records in hydroplane competition.
In the midst of buying, selling and restoring several raceboats, Mark began searching for the legendary IMPSHI a smaller more manageable George Crouch design. Along the way, in 1976, he stumbled across BABY BOOTLEGGER and gave up his search for IMPSHI; wondering if BABY BOOTLEGGER was a divine consolation prize for not being able to find IMPSHI.
In 1979 he moved To Cape Cod where he restored ‘BOOTLEGGER, introducing her to the back into the boating world in 1982. As a result he met collectors who became his first customers. Still based at the Cape, Mason restored the now famous WAMPUM, a 33 foot Garwood and built MISS COLUMBIA, for noted collector Philip Sharpless.
In 1985 he purchased a facility in Laconia, New Hampshire and opened the doors of New England Boat & Motor, Inc., still active today.
Over the next several decades Mason and the rest of the antique boat world found and restored most of the great boats that were extant. During the same time, Mark acquired all of George Crouch’s India ink drawings. These along with others allowed Mason to realize that there were as many boats that had been lost to fires and racing accidents than had survived. His collection original designs gave him the opportunity to recreate authentic racers that were lost a lifetime ago.