That is how the books are laid out. GM could do the same thing on their
350 engine. Same engine from say 196x to 197x. Just a matter of how they
keep up w/ it. On the other hand - OMC don't need the serial number. The
model number tells them what year.

--
Tony
My boats and autos - http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com



"Gfretwell" wrote in message
...
Not sure what you mean by "Outboards really don't have a "year" like
cars".
They certainly do. The model year changes in July of each year.

That is purely marketing hype. If you go looking for parts or anything
relating
to technical details you better take a serial number. The "year" is
meaningless.