ExtremeEngineBuilders / Series

Outerlimits makes some of

mercury racing
PERFOR MANCE the most radical performance
boats on the market today, and
a pair of Mercury HP 1075SCi
engines fit nicely inside. Shown
here is Mike Stevensen’s 47’
GTX Carbon-Edition ‘Mamba’
STORY AND PHOTOS BY RON POLLI
HISTORICAL PHOTOS COURTESY MERCURY MARINE

at the Desert Storm Poker Run

in Lake Havasu, Arizona.

Mercury Racing: Winning DNA

An Interview with Fred Kiekhaefer

“It’s a reality of life that men are competitive,

and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men.
That’s why they’re there – to compete.
They know the rules and the objectives when they get in the game.
The objective is to win – fairly, squarely, decently, by the rules
– but to win!” - ViNCe LOMBardi

While immortals such as the great Vince
Lombardi were showing the world how to
play football, immortals of industry were
showing the world how to make a better
outboard engine. The playing fields may have
had different shapes but the competitive spirit
and ferocity for the game is what made Carl
Kiekhaefer and Vince Lombardi contemporaries,
each driving their team to victory by sheer will
and determination.
On a brutally cold Wisconsin morning
in mid December, Mercury Racing opened
its doors to EBM and allowed us to bask in
the glory and heritage of Mercury Racing.
F o u n d e r , C a r l K i e k h a e f e r , may no
longer walk these hallways and shop floors,
but his booming voice and the leftover scent
of his cigars still assault the subconscious
senses. His personality was so powerful that
many men and women that worked for him
claimed he had been the most domineering
factor in their adult lives.
His business consumed his life, his
employees and his dealers. He was a man
that found his niche in life and went after it
with every fiber in his body, and the bodies
of those that worked for him. He was to
the boating world what Lombardi was to
Football, a winner!
mErCUrY raCing
7480 C oUntY r oaD UU
FonD DU L aC , WisConson 54935
920-921-5330 Also see our “Mercury Historical Timeline”: Pages 74-75
WWW. mErCUrYraCing . Com
The odd building with round porthole windows
overlooking Lake Winnebago is where Carl
Kiekhaefer left his final mark on the marine industry,
the original home of Kiekhaefer Aeromarine
Motors. This facility is now called Mercury Racing
and Carl’s son, Fred Kiekhaefer rules over the high
performance boating world from the same office
that his father used before him.
After getting a tour around the facility from
Rick Mackie, Mercury Racing’s Senior Marketing
Manager, it’s apparent that there is a high level
of pride in each employee. It shows through in
the way they talk about the products they design
and manufacture. As Carl would often say,
“Nothing less than perfection is acceptable” and
they still believe that to this day.
We went to Mercury Racing’s Fond du Lac
facility to learn why their engines are so dominant
in the Poker Run and Racing ranks; To find out
why many boaters consider them ‘the best’.
What we came away with was a larger story,
a story about an American icon and how it came
to be. On the surface, it’s all about passion for
perfection and the pursuit of speed. But the story
here is really about the Kiekhaefer family and
their history making crusade upon the boating
industry. Fortunately for all of us, it’s also a story
about the enjoyment that their products have
provided to people around the globe.

64 Volume 3.2 | E xtrEmE B oats m agazinE 65

EXTREME BOATS
 ExtremeEngineBuilders / Series
mercury racing
Mercury Racing

the race course for all to see” mentality has provided terrific Throughout the tour, I’ve heard Rick Mackie use the term The new company was Kiekhaefer Aeromarine Motors?
advertising platform. Mercury products, especially the racing “Black Art” several times. What does “Black Art” mean? “Yes. He then restarted Kiekhaefer Aeromarine Motors, freD KIeKhAefer
products, have enjoyed an inherent level of excitement Fred explains, “It’s knowledge that comes from doing. dormant since World War II. I was in and out of that Proudly displaying
because of their racing heritage. Carl understood product It’s knowledge that you can’t put into words, and you depending upon how easy it was to get along with him. the HP 1075 SCi
engine at the 2005
placement long before Hollywood. This type of advertising can’t put into a manual. It’s learned from doing something Ultimately, I went completely off on another career path.
Los Angeles
goes way beyond a good brochure or a public relations firm. Mercury’s way for many years. Dennis Cavanaugh is a When he passed away, I came back and bought the assets Boat Show
It comes from the consumer’s personal experience of either perfect example of a “Black Artist”. Dennis was the head from his estate and salvaged what I could of the business.
using, or watching, someone race a Mercury product. In a of our propeller department. He knew everything about I started a new company, Kiekhaefer Aeromarine, Inc.
“ya get what ya pay for” world, Mercury Racing has products propellers, probably the most knowledgeable person in Basically pushed it in a whole new direction.”
with the highest value in the industry. the world on the subject. We lost him a few years back
Carl’s son Fred Kiekhaefer is now in charge of Mercury’s to a tragic fall in his home. With him went a tremendous Didn’t anyone want to buy the business? “No. There was
high performance empire. Fred grew up with Mercury as his amount of knowledge. It has taken us some time to nothing there worth buying out. It was not a pretty story
brother, he lived through it all, sometimes from a distance recover from loosing him. Now we have Scott Reichow at the end of Kiekhaefer Aeromarine Motors. It’s kind of
and other times with his own nose against the grindstone. and Ron Steiner who have taken over where Dennis left sad in some ways, but my Dad was doing things that he
Mercury Marine has been in his blood his entire life. Some off. It’s a brain trust.” wanted to do. He made the money in the first place so it
might say that Fred’s blood runs Phantom Black. was his to lose.”
Fred was nice enough to take some time out of his busy What type of boat do you have? Fred smiles and says, “When he died, I looked at it this way, I could leave my
day and answer some questions that he’s probably been “I am between boats. I had a 42 McManus offshore boat consulting career and come back here, have a chance of
asked a thousand times before. and I haven’t replaced it yet. I have a Maxum bow rider making good out of the legacy. If I stayed with consulting,
2004:hp 1075 sCi
CARL KIEKHAEFER WAS A LEGEND IN HIS OWN TIME. that I play around with on the lake.” eventually, I would have to come back and deal with an Mercury Racing
‘39 CeDArBurG MfG His passion for engineering perfection combined with Fred, could you enlighten us about your family history? empty factory because none of my family are business firmly established
Carl forms Kiekhaefer itself in the
Corporation from the his need to always win produced an explosive temper Fred begins, “Carl’s father, my Grandfather, August Did you take over the business after your Dad retired? oriented or capable of running it. I didn’t believe the
‘Extreme‘ engine
ashes of the Cedarburg that became his personal trademark. He was brilliant at Kiekhaefer, owned a large dairy farm. When Carl “No. The story is my father left Mercury after the business would survive. I figured sooner or later I am
builder category
Mfg Co (which had marketing his products to the general public. Carl, always graduated from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Brunswick management attempted to promote going to have to deal with the facility, the property and with the launch
been producing under-rated the horsepower of his motors, giving the August bought a manufacturing plant for Carl as a gift for somebody over his head and kind of kick him everything else. It’s better to do it as a growing concern.” of their 1075hp
outboard engines.) monster. Combining
It had everything Carl
consumer more than they were paying for. In the early graduating from engineering school. The company that upstairs. You didn’t kick my Dad anyplace. He didn’t
performance with
needed to design and days, if it said 10 HP, you could bet it put out at least he bought had made outboard motors for Montgomery go anywhere without kicking and screaming at When you say “new direction” are you talking about the
reliability, it is the
build mechanical 13 HP. Carl’s marketing concept worked, his Mercury Ward and others. The final shipment of 300 outboard the very least.” Kiekhaefer drive? Fred replies, “Well that didn’t come best of all worlds. List
products. outboards would always outrun a competitive model with motors was rejected and all got returned. Carl had all these first. First, we successfully upgraded the quality of the price is $150,000.00
the same horsepower rating. Consumers soon viewed engines in inventory and the first thing that he did to raise When your father sold to Brunswick, what percentage trim tabs. Brought out the zero (including a #6
50,000 MIle test
Mercury engines as “high performance”. To this day, capitol was to repair the defective outboard motors. did he sell? “He sold all of his company to Brunswick. effort controls. Dramatically Drive). I’ll take
Product testing has
two please...
always been important Mercury Racing has followed Carl’s original promise of His initial plan was to make equipment for the dairy When he left, he started up another company. In the expanded the propeller
to Mercury. Pictured delivering more horsepower than advertised on the cowl. business. That’s what Carl intended to do, but he never beginning he didn’t know exactly what he was going lines. Did contract machine
above is a 50,000 mile
endurance test of an
Carl Kiekhaefer always had an affinity with racing, got that far. He was going to make magnetic clutches and to do, but he ended up building snowmobile engines work for other companies
outboard on Lake-X. especially winning races. In 1955, Mercury sponsored separators. The separators, as I understand it, were used because it was two-stroke technology and that was including Mercury High
The test boat is being a three-car team for several years in NASCAR and at the to pull magnetic material, like bits of barbwire, out of cow not included in the non-compete. He dabbled in Performance. Just

Mercury Racing
refueled continuously.
Carrera Panamericana rally across Mexico. But boat racing,
of any kind and size was always his passion. He was never
at the wheel, but his factory paid drivers were the best of
their time and were expected to break (either the boat or
their bodies) or win.
You’ll always find Mercury Outboards on race boats, you
can’t say that about the competition. This type of “prove it on
feed before the cows ate it.” that for a while and then started making parts for whatever we could do
“He needed money so he re-worked the outboard offshore racing stern drives. Making them stronger to make the business
motors and re-sold them to Montgomery Ward. so they’d live. He started making racing engines. successful. My father
Once they got those outboard motors and found that they Did contract machine work. Did a whole bunch of had the luxury of
worked, they started to place orders for more outboards things, whatever he found entertaining. He tried to being able to fund the
for the following year. That’s how my father got into the get into turbine engines, but couldn’t quite figure business out of his pocket.
outboard motor business.” out how to make that happen.” That wasn’t a luxury I had.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 68

66 E xtrEmE B oats m agazinE | Volume 3.2 Volume 3.2 | E xtrEmE B oats m agazinE 67
 ExtremeEngine Builders
mercury racing
I only bought assets of products that I thought I could
make into something.” Fred continues, “We wound up the
manufacturing again, started making the products, made
MAIn fACIlItY it profitable and then went on to develop the Kiekhaefer
(From left) drive. We took a couple of World Championships with that
This building drive then we were purchased by Brunswick Corporation
was designed by
Carl with round -- the same company that bought my Dad’s company.”
“porthole style”
windows like on How does Mercury Racing fit into the larger Brunswick org?
a ship. Inside the “We are a division of Mercury Marine, which is a wholly
shop floor area for
two cycle products. owned division of Brunswick. The corporate entity
A craftsman is Brunswick, that’s our parent. We’re a division of
building a number another division - Mercury.”
six drive may spend
up to an hour per
set of gears to get
Tell me a little about your father’s life long battle with OMC.
them to mesh just “Look at it like a wrestling match. There are people that
right so there is no get cheered for it, and there’s people that get booed at.
binding throughout What’s the fun if there’s no enemy to vanquish?”
an entire rotation...
as they say, it’s a
“Black Art”. What did Mercury do right that they did wrong?
“My father used to really enjoy battling OMC. At sales
meetings, he’d hang an Evinrude over a bonfire and get
the dealers all worked up watching it burn. A little tacky,
in my opinion. Mercury paid attention to their business a
little more. I think we had more critical mass. I think on
average our products were better, certainly more exciting.
They had some good products, and some excellent brands.
They had some good distribution; we just had a little
better distribution and were a little quicker on the uptake
of developing trends like engine-boat packaging and
direct-to-OEM channel relationships.”
Did it help that Mercury enjoyed a patent on the outdrive
for seventeen years? “Well, that is a non-trivial question.
That’s actually a very complicated issue.”
I noticed when the OMC Cobra came out and Yamaha
came out, I figured the patent rights had expired.
“Yes, the patent rights indeed expired at the time you
saw that happen. But Volvo held the patent and it was
licensed by Brunswick. That was done because Volvo was
very eager to not have the truth come out about how the
68 E xtrEmE B oats m agazinE | Volume 3.2
outdrive was created. It was actually created by people on
Mercury’s payroll who then clandestinely sold the rights
for the engineering and development to Volvo. If you look
closely, you’ll notice the photo of the first Volvo prototype
has a Mercury gearcase. So there was a very real risk of
litigation around that. My father, by the way, never knew
any of that while he was alive.”
Who is your biggest competitor these days now that OMC
is out of the picture? “On the outboard side you could
name all the players, but the big ones are Yamaha, Honda.
We’re by far, the largest in the marketplace. Sterndrives
we’re substantially number one. Beyond Volvo, no real
head-to-head competitors of any strength.”
Along the way, what was your Edsel?
“I got burned in the late 80’s by attempting
to bring out an integrated engine silencing
system. I had a product that was very elegant
in it’s execution but it was just a total piece of
garbage. It didn’t last very long. There were just
things we didn’t understand about the chemistry
and the acceleration of deterioration with heat.
It was our first attempt at the muffler and
I think we bought back every thing we sold.
Of course that was a time when the company
was still very highly leveraged and we really
couldn’t afford a lot of mistakes.”
So you were buying back your reputation?
“That’s right. It also reinforced an old lesson about
the value of serious validation. Product validation
in the marine environment is a duty we have to
perform to be a world-class manufacturer. A lot
of the reason that we don’t have more competitors
is because other people don’t validate the way we
validate. Then they end up unable to figure out
why their stuff doesn’t stay together. We’ve had
people come in -- trying to become serious players
in the performance market. It’s happened twice
since I’ve been in my role at Mercury Racing and
both times they withdrew.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 69
ComPanY Mercury Racing [ w w w. m e r c u r y r a c i n g . c o m ]
LoCation Fond Du Lac, Wisconson
YEar EstaBLisHED See Mercury Historical Timeline, pages 74-75
stErnDriVE ProDUCts
MODEL
525 EFI
600 SCi
850 SCi
1075 SCi
EnginEs / YEar Tons (i.e. top secret...)
notEs Generations of knowledge, 65+ years of engine building experience
What is the one thing that you wish today, in hindsight, you
had a chance to do over again and do differently? “Oh boy.
At the time I sold my company, Brunswick wasn’t engaged
in ‘creative acquisitions’ where they would buy a minority
share in somebody. They bought all or nothing -- so I sold
all of it. In recent years, Mercury and Brunswick have done
transactions where they bought a part of a company.
Quite frankly, I sold my company because I was concerned
for continued employment of my people and surviving in an
economic downturn with a highly leveraged company.
I spent a lot of money to acquire these assets; we grew very
fast; so, everything I had went back into working capital.
More leverage, more bank debt, because we were growing
the company quickly. When I got in it, it was a down spot
in the cycle, so I rode the wave up.”
“I would have done better financially had I sold 40%
or 50% of the company and enjoyed the increase of the
business value that came from growing it so substantially.
It’s done very very well. I would have loved to have found
stress test a way to not have had to sell the company, but having sold
This 557 Cubic it, there’s not a better partner I could have joined.
inch block is
The synergy that we were able to achieve with the
about to get
dressed up in capable people I found inside Mercury’s organization,
850 SCi trim and plus the entrepreneurial spirit that I brought to it, the
sent to the dyno combination of the two was remarkable. We went places
for some torture
that I could have not have gone on my own. I took the
testing.
business, with the help of a lot of good people, to places that
Mercury Racing would not have gone on it’s own. It’s been
a lot of fun. I will tell you, the talent, capability, depth of
organization, and access to expertise... it was a great learning
curve and we’ve been able to get an awful lot done.”
If you could just wave your magic wand and change one
thing about boat racing what would you want to see?
“Anytime I look at racing, I think about the safety of the
people participating. I would like to have had total capsules
much earlier. We’re getting very, very close to that now,
but we’ve lost too many good people along the way --
Dick Fullum and Mike Poppa, Mark Lavin, and Tom Gentry,
we just loose too many good people through accidents.
RETAIL PRICE* WARRANTY INFORMATION
$59,000 1 Year Includes Bravo One XR drive
$64,000 1 Year Includes Bravo One XR drive
$127,000 180 Day Includes Dry-Sump Six drive
$150,000 90 Day Includes Dry-Sump Six drive
* RETAIL PACKAGE PRICES : ALL CONFIGURATIONS / WARRANTIES SUBJECT TO CHANGE : RECREATIONAL USE ONLY
There are people who could have survived if sanctioning
organizations would have been paying more attention
to the safety capabilities by requiring full capsules, air
supplies, harnesses and Hans devices. Of course you’ve got
the marine environment, with a perpetual debate between
closed and open helmets and I don’t know who wins that
one. The moves that the high-end classes have made
toward oxygen systems and full restraint harnesses have
all been good things, but I would love to see impregnable
casings around the pilots of these things. I am pleased with
the progress we have made in the last decade, but it needs
to extend into all racing classes.”
Everyone has been very tight lipped about new products,
would you like to share any new thoughts on where
you’re going with the Company? “I’ll see you in Miami.
It’s a nice place in February. Bring your camera, we’ll go
for a ride.” I’ll take you up on that offer Fred!
SHOP FLOOR TOUR: Fred has surrounded himself with an
army of high-octane talent like Jim Goerlitz, Manager of
Race Support Marketing. Jim gave us some insight into
Mercury’s racing efforts and the support that they provide
to the racers. Jim, what Supercats were running your motors
this year? “Currently Mercury supplies Supercat motors to
CRC, WHM and Bacardi Silver.”
Please explain the costs involved with running a Supercat
program. Jim explains, “Racer price is $46,000 a piece,
then we rebuild them after every race or two, depending
upon the program they are running. A minor rebuild is
$7,000 per engine, a major rebuild is $10,000 per engine
and if they win, we give a free rebuild for both motors.
Mike Defrees did ok this year, CRC won a lot of races and got
a lot of free rebuilds. I think he even made some money with
the winnings from OSS.”
Jim continues, “We also offer a racer contingency program
for teams that run our 525 racing engines. A 525 attached to
Six drives gets $1,500 per race, the engine with Bravo’s earns
$1,000 per race. It doesn’t matter if they win or loose, just
race our equipment and if you run a Super Vee with Six drives,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 70
Volume 3.2 | E xtrEmE B oats m agazinE 69
 ExtremeEngine Builders
mercury racing

you can get up to $24,000 back in cold hard cash at the end of We got sidetracked along the way, but the original
shop tour the season if you run all eight races.” reason we came to Mercury Racing was to learn the
(From left) What you get when you buy a Mercury Racing product answer to this one question, What makes Mercury
Scott Reichow
and Ron Steiner is very personal attention. There’s no separate line for race Racing engines so exceptional? That answer came
showing the engines versus pleasure engines. When a 525 comes off the from Fred himself:
difference between dyno, they don’t know who the end customer will be or how
how a propeller
enters the building
it will be used. It could go into a race boat or recreational “We have a relentless pursuit of
in the form of a sport boat. Everything here is made to racing specs. consistency through repetition.
Hand assembled is what makes this place tick. As an
raw casting and
how the finished example, there’s one guy that assembles the dry-sump Six
We test it until it won’t break even
product looks drives. He spends hours assembling each set of gears inside the
when pushed far beyond its anticipated
when it leaves
housing. This is where black art comes in, getting multiple sets stress levels. We refine each part so they
on it’s way to a
customer. Every of matched gears to mate in such a way that there’s no binding work in harmony with the rest of the
engine spends at point throughout the rotation of all gears in a finished unit. assembly. When we build a new product
least one hour on
the dyno before it
The 525’s and 600’s are built on the “Horsepower or engine, we first look for results in
Highway”. Engines move along a rail, paced by a single
leaves the factory. the dyno, then it’s time to start testing
mechanic assigned to that engine. He moves it along to
Fred Kiekhaefer
and Rick Mackie of each station that has bins for the parts needed to continue
at X-Site. We race and we punish our
Mercury Racing in the build. However, the Super Cat race engines, 850SCi’s equipment and examine the results.
front of quartet of
and 1075SCi’s are built in a separate area and each engine We are perfectionists and no engine has
HP 1075s engines.
has a dedicated build team, two men per engine. The guys ever left this factory without running
that build them are the same guys you see at all the races, on the dyno for at least an hour. Our
jumping into the engine compartment of each Mercury goal is zero failure of any component
powered Super Cat just prior to the race. Now that’s what
you call customer support!
under the harshest of conditions. We
Another Mercury Racing product is a complete line of hope that our products have provided
propellers. There must have been a thousand raw castings our customers with many years of
of the five-blade cleaver props for the dry-sump Six drive enjoyment and fun on the water.”
in bins awaiting their turn against the grinder. Hours and - fred kiekhaefer

hours go into turning these raw castings into beautifully
polished pieces of stainless steel. This is the area where
they practice their black magic. With sparks flying,
the technicians know just where to grind a little extra when
lab finishing a propeller for a specific application.
Scott Reichow, the manager of Custom Propellers tells
us about how propellers have had to evolve to meet the
As Mercury Racing powers into 2006, we’ll look to see
new products introduced in Miami and we’ll also see Class
One UIM Offshore racing series standardizing on the 1075
engine. Keep an eye on Mercury Racing as it’s just getting
into its powerband. If Carl is watching, I’m sure he’s very
proud of what Fred and Brunswick have accomplished.

Zero Effort
needs of stepped hulls. “Steps create about an inch to an The Race Never Stops!
inch and a half of foam on the bottom of the boat. Combine
Controls
are still built by the high X dimension along with the steps and the old tried
The entire Extreme Boats Magazine team would like to
hand and remain the and true four blade had too much slip. So we made the five
thank Fred Kiekhaefer, Rick Mackie and the entire Mercury
industry standard blade Maximus. It has a little more diameter, an extra blade Racing team for taking time from their busy schedules to
in racing quadrant and we played with the blade geometry a bit, it really hooks
controls. allow us a peek inside the legacy. See you at the races!!!
up to the water way better than the four blade.”

Also see our “Mercury Historical Timeline”: Pages 74-75

70 E xtreme B oats M agazine | Volume 3.2
 ExtremeEngineBuilders / Series
mercury racing
The story of Elmer ‘Carl’ Kiekhaefer is simply amazing, as he epitomized the image of a big business tycoon
during the mid 20th century. He left behind a foundation of greatness that continues to be built upon to this day
by his son, Fred, and the rest of the people at Mercury Marine and Mercury Racing. Books such as “Iron Fist” and
“The Legend of Mercury” have dedicated almost a thousand pages to chronicle Carl’s lifetime of achievements.
1936 1939
1971 1973
1926 - With a degree in engineering, Carl
Kiekhaefer gets his first job as a draftsman
for Nash Motors Body Division.
1927 - Carl is hired as a draftsman by
Evinrude but is fired three months later for
insubordination.
1928 - Carl is hired as a draftsman at Stearns
Magnetic, where he spends the next ten
yeas. Rises to Chief of Engineering.
1939 – With financial assistance from
his father and uncle, Carl starts the
Kiekhaefer Corporation from the ashes of
the Cedarburg Manufacturing Company.
It had everything he needed to design and
build mechanical products.
The Cedarburg company came with 300
outboard motors that were rejected by
Montgomery Ward, a large catalog retailer.
Carl had all these engines in inventory and
needed cash. The first thing that he did
to raise capitol was to repair the rejected
outboard motors. His initial plan was to
make equipment for the dairy business. He
was going to make magnetic clutches and
separators. The separators were used to pull
magnetic material, like bits of barbwire, out
of cow feed before the cows ate it.
Once Montgomery Ward got the repaired
motors and found that they worked,
they started to place orders for more
outboards for the following year.
1940 - Kiekhaefer develops a rubber
water pump that tolerates sand, silt,
and vegetation. A one-piece streamline
housing that protects driveshaft,
waterline, and exhaust from exposure.
He names his new line of outboards after
the mythical fleet-footed messenger of
the Roman gods:
”Mercury – the god of speed”
At the 1940 New York Boat Show,
Kiekhaefer accepts orders for more than
16,000 motors, and the marine industry
changes forever.
72 E xtrEmE B oats m agazinE | Volume 3.2
CARL KIEFHAEFER / MERCURY HISTORICAL TIMELINE
1946 1955
1975
1941 - American factories shifted
production from commercial to military
products. Doing what it could to survive,
the tiny company sought out government
contracts. In two months Carl developed
a portable power chain saw engine to
replace the heavy, cumbersome models
then in use by the Army. In a test, the saw
powered by a Kiekhaefer Aeromarine
engine cut through a 24-inch green log
in 17 seconds, as opposed to 52 seconds
for its nearest competitor. The chain saw
contract was awarded to Kiekhaefer.
1943 - During World War II, Kiekhaefer
Corporation becomes a mass producer of
chain saw engines. They also made five
other engines for the military. In 1943,
they shipped over 10,000 engines.
1945 - By the end of World War II the
Kiekhaefer Corporation is the largest
builder of chain saws in the world.
Kiekhaefer also manufactures two-
cycle engines for drone aircraft, and the
company becomes a recognized authority
on radio-controlled aircraft. Carl often
said the drone engine was his favorite
product. Since the Air Force and Navy
would shoot them down, they never had
any warranty issues.
1946 – The war is over and Kiekhaefer
anticipates the boom in recreational boating
by purchasing a large two-story barn filled
with 90 tons of hay. It would become the
workplace of 150 Kiekhaefer employees.
1947 - It’s a banner year at the Kiekhaefer
Corporation. Carl’s only son Fred is born
and over 55,000 Outboard engines are
built. The large dairy barn in Fond du
Lac, Wisconsin, is converted to outboard
manufacturing. It also becomes the home
office of the Kiekhaefer Corporation. The
company had barely opened the barn for
production when Carl orders a 25,000
square foot expansion.
1948 - Kiekhaefer innovation continues,
as the company develops and
manufactures the first forged aluminum
piston. Thunderbolt engines delivered
1957
1978
a whopping 40 horsepower. A 40,000
square foot expansion is added to the
original barn. A saltwater test site is
founded in Sarasota, Florida.
1951 - Kiekhaefer hires Charlie Strang.
During that year, Charlie shows
Kiekhaefer his idea for a sterndrive that
connects to an internal automotive
engine. Carl dismisses the idea and they
never speak of it again.
1952 - Mercury introduces the Flo-Torq,
the world’s first rubber prop hub to
protect the outboard’s drive train against
impact damage.
1954 - Mercury introduces the first
permanent magnet, direct-drive,
alternator-type, 12-volt generator.
Other innovations included sealed,
quick-disconnect, remote wiring
harness and key switch operation of
electric starter and choke.
1955 - To promote his outboard business,
Carl Kiekhaefer enters a team in the
sport of stock car racing. Driving large
but more powerful Chrysler 300s, team
Kiekhaefer won the largest collection of
stock car racing trophies ever assembled
in a single season and stunned the racing
community. Among their innovations
were the first dry paper air filter that all
automobiles use today.
Charlie Strang and Jim Wynne, both
Kiekhaefer employees, discuss Strang’s
idea for a sterndrive and how the two
of them might develop it outside of the
Kiekhaefer Company.
1956 - Kiekhaefer’s stock car team again
dominated the circuit now known as
NASCAR, starting with a new record in the
Daytona Beach “Flying Mile” at nearly 140
mph in the new Chrysler 300B. His teams
would win a phenomenal 80 percent of
all races entered, without a single driver
injury, and would never be charged with an
infraction of the rules. But because he was
such an overwhelming competitor (at one
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point winning 16 races in a row) race fans
turned against the Kiekhaefer team. Deeply
hurt, Carl Kiekhaefer withdrew from stock
car racing at the end of the season.
1957 - The company leases a 1,400 acre,
undeveloped Florida lake - a new testing
area away from prying eyes. To keep the
test location a secret, Carl Kiekhaefer
refers to it as “Lake X” when speaking
with outsiders, and the name sticks.
1958 - A standard-production Mark 75
was the first outboard to exceed 100 miles
per hour, achieving a two-way average of
107.821 mph. Quicksilver oil is introduced.
It’s the start of the marine industry’s
first comprehensive line of proprietary
accessory products, improving dealer
service and customer satisfaction.
1959 - Jim Wynne leaves Kiekhaefer and
applies for a patent on the Sterndrive
in his name alone. Charlie Strang was
still working for Kiekhaefer and decided
not to leave, giving Jim free reign on
his invention. Jim assigns the patent to
Volvo. Volvo develops and builds the new
sterndrive and premiers it at the 1959 NY
Boat Show.
1960 - First anodic alloy trim tab fights
galvanic corrosion and helps counteract
engine torque.
1961 - Kiekhaefer was growing quickly
and needed to grow even more in order
to fulfill the demand for its products
worldwide. Carl needed a partner with
a similar vision to his and deep enough
pockets to fulfill his corporate vision.
Kiekhaefer merges with Brunswick,
a corporation that specializes in
recreational markets. Kiekhaefer
becomes the exclusive licensee of the
Volvo patent for sterndrives. MerCruiser
Sterndrive introduced at Chicago Boat
Show, offering the first sterndrive unit
with over 100 hp. MerCruiser would
go on to outsell all other sterndrives
combined, eventually capturing 80
percent of the worldwide market.
(Jim Wynne made a fortune and Charlie
Strang never receives a cent for his
sterndrive invention and the secret of its
true inventor was kept until 1990. Carl
never knew.)
1962 - The Mercury 1000. The first
100-horsepower production outboard
is introduced - the “Tower of Power”.
To make it look smaller, it was painted
phantom black.
1963 - The full line of Mercury engines
are painted Phantom Black. That color
becomes the symbol of boating and
engineering excellence.
1964 - New 370,000-sq.-ft. addition in
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin opens.
1965 - The “Wall of Water” silencing
system was introduced, cutting engine
noise by 50%.
1966 - Thunderbolt CD ignition is introduced
- up to 40,000 volts of sure-starting power.
Hydraulic power trim is introduced. Better
performance and easier operation in all
water and boat load conditions.
1967 - MerCathode corrosion protection
is introduced. It’s the most advanced
corrosion protection available. The first
Mercury 150 E snowmobile is introduced.
1968 - The 125-hp outboard introduced.
1969 - Direct Charge fuel-induction
improves performance and increases
power. Exclusive XK360 aluminum
alloy is introduced. The most
corrosion-resistant alloy ever used
on a marine engine.
In November 1969, Carl Kiekhaefer resigns
as president of Kiekhaefer Mercury.
1970 - E. ‘Carl’ Kiekhaefer resigns from
Brunswick Corporation.
1971 - Carl reactivates his dormant WWII
engine company. Kiekhaefer Aeromarine
Motors is reborn. Kiekhaefer sees an
opportunity in the growing snowmobile
market and begins to develop new
and more powerful engines for these
recreational vehicles.
Brunswick changes the company name
and logo from Kiekhaefer Mercury to
Mercury Marine. Logo first appears on
products (outboards and sterndrives)
in the ‘73 model year.
1972 - Carl’s ten-year non-compete clause
is over, he’s now free to get back into the
marine business. Kiekhaefer Aeromarine
begins to compete against Mercury on the
racecourse. Carl taps Dr. Robert Magoon
to pilot Kiekhaefer Aeromarine’s first
entry into the offshore wars. Magoon wins
six first place finishes and is named APBA
US National Champion.
“After having built a company that
has produced over 1.5 billion worth of
product with my name on it, I don’t
know whether any man is capable of two
ventures of this type in a lifetime… It’s
always easier, I suppose, to liquidate and
buy tax-exempt bonds, but I wouldn’t
know what to do with myself since I don’t
like fishing or traveling.” - Carl Kiekhaefer
1973 - Kiekhaefer Aeromarine “Champion
Maker” engines compete head to head
with Mercury and propel Carlo Bonomi
to a World Championship.
1974 - Charlie Strang is named President
and CEO of OMC.
1976 - Kiekhaefer Aeromarine engines win
59 races while MerCruiser and Mercury
outboards win a total of 99 races.
Carl Kiekhaefer is personally honored
when presented with the Ole Evinrude
award for “Immeasurable contributions
to the sport of boating.”
1977 - For the first time since he
resigned, Carl is invited to attend an
open house at Mercury Marine. It was
a moment he’ll always remember. The
place was fantastic and many of his old
employees were still working there and
remembered him fondly.
1978 - Fred leaves the family business
and takes a job outside of the marine
industry first, with a medical imaging
company, then as a business consultant
with Price Waterhouse.
1980 - Carl’s health is deteriorating and
the company is losing money.
1983 - Carl Kiekhaefer passes away on
October 5th at 77 years of age.
“Wherever I go in the future, heaven or
hell, I do hope they have an engineering
department because I might have some
fun being reduced back to a plain old
engineer. The simplest and sweetest
things in life are complex engineering: it’s
the people problems that are responsible
for today’s ills. I hope some day I can still
get a job as a draftsman or engineer with
a boss that can hand me work on a platter
– with no other responsibilities except
that it works.” - Carl Kiekhaefer
1984 - Fred Kiekhaefer purchases some
of the assets of his father’s bankrupt
corporation. Fred opens Kiekhaefer
Aeromarine, Inc. and picks up where his
father left off.
1986 - Fred refocuses the company on
its core products, K-Plane trim tabs,
Zero Effort controls, trim indicators
and propellers. The company begins
to show a profit.
1988 - Kiekhaefer Aeromarine, Inc.
introduces a brand new, heavy-duty
drive that immediately propels
the Gentry Turbo Eagle to a World
Championship with Bill Sirois and Don
Johnson at the helm.
(Mercury sells over 400,000 outboards.)
1990 - Brunswick Corporation acquires
Kiekhaefer Aeromarine, Inc. and merges
Kiekhaefer Aeromarine with Mercury
Performance Products. Fred Kiekhaefer
is named President of the business unit.
Locations under the Mercury Performance
Products banner included, manufacturing
headquartered in Oshkosh, Wisconsin,
R & D facilities in Oshkosh, the former
Kiekhaefer Aeromarine facility (Plant 36)
in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and the Lake X
test facility in St. Cloud, Florida.
1991- The Kiekhaefer drive is renamed the
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Mercury Racing Six Drive. Fred is named
Vice President of Sales and Marketing for
Mercury Marine along with his position
as President of Mercury Racing.
1992 - Mercury is divided into five
separate business units. The high
performance propeller manufacturing
team moves into the former Kiekhaefer
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Aeromarine facility.
1993 - Name changed back to Mercury
Hi-Performance. Ground was broken
for a 32,000 square foot expansion
of Plant 36.
1994 – Mercury Hi-Performance
manufacturing and administrative
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functions move from Oshkosh, Wisconsin
into the expanded Plant 36 facility.
Begins Lab finishing of Lightning E.T.
Propellers for Outboards.
1996 – Mercury Hi-Performance
introduces the 502 cu. in. HP500
carbureted sterndrive engine that
propelled all APBA Factory offshore
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racing classes for their inaugural
season in 1997.
1997 - The Mercury Pro Max and Mariner
Super Magnum 300 outboards are made
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available from Mercury High Performance.
These are the most powerful consumer
outboards available!
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1998 - The late Carl Kiekhaefer, founder
of Mercury Marine, is selected for
induction into the Motorsports Hall
of Fame of America at the Motorsports
Museum in Novi, Michigan. Begins Lab
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Finishing of Bravo I Propellers.
1999 - All of Mercury Marine gets a new
logo. Mercury Racing drops Mariner line
of outboards. Changes business name
from Mercury Hi-Performance to Mercury
Racing. All products get new graphics
featuring new Mercury logo. EXTREME BOA
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2000 – OMC Corporations officially files
for bankruptcy.
All new HP575 SC engine and Bravo XR
drive are sold as a package.
2001 – Mercury Racing introduces the
Integrated Transom System (ITS)
for Bravo drives.
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2002 – The bulletproof, race proven
Mercury Racing 525 is born.
2003 – Mercury Racing begins Lab
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Finishing the Maximus propeller line.
2004 – Going big, the 1075 SCI sterndrive
engine package is born.
2005 – Filling in the gaps, the 600 SCI,
850 SCI are born and the SystemView
Race Edition monitor is premiered to rave
reviews. Lab finishing of the Bravo III XR
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Drives begins.
2006 – The Mercury story continues;
Mercury Racing unveils three amazing
new products at the Miami Boat show that
once again demonstrate their passion
for performance and willingness to take
engineering risks. EXTREME BOA
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Volume 3.2 | E xtrEmE B oats m agazinE