Billgran wrote:

: Actually Jim Winn was the "front guy" to Volvo for the idea of the stern
: drive, as it was really thought up by Charlie Strang who was Merc's chief
: engineer at the time. Jim and Charlie had to talk to Volvo and swear them to
: secrecy as long as Carl was alive. In the late '60s, Strang became OMC's
: chief engineer. He was instrumental in the OMC Cobra stern drive that came
: out when Merc and Volvo's patents expired. Strang was the father of the
: stern drive and had a hand in the design of the Volvo, MercCruiser, and OMC
: Cobra stern drives.

: Bill Grannis
: service manager

Ahh... It's been a long time since I've read the book and I've forgotten
a lot of the detail.

Thanks for the clarification.

barry