Photos by SCM- When Col. Jesse J. Vincent of the Packard Motor Car Company won the Gold Cup title in 1922 in a Chris Smith built boat, Smith and Wood dissolved their business relationship. Smith set out to standardize the boat building business and went into production of a 26’ stock model dubbed the “Standard 26’ Chris-Craft”. Chris’ son, Hamilton, had come up with the sobriquet “Chris-
Craft” while son Jay Smith engineered the conversion of war surplus Curtiss OX-5 aero engines for marine
use. Thus, the Chris Smith & Sons Boat Co. and the name that has become synonymous with antique and
classic boats were born. In 1922, the first year of production, 24 boats were built.
Godfather is hull number six. Godfather is the earliest known production Chris-Craft. She was donated to the Tahoe Maritime Museum in 2003 by Doug & Pam Elmore.