What Is a 1434 Flying Scott Outboard Motor?

Scott-Atwater made outboard motors between 1946 and 1960. The style of serial numbers changed twice, once to a four-digit number, then back to the original three-digit style. The 1434 Flying Scott was an exception to this format. Built for one year only, this motor had three characteristics -- beyond its name and model year, which set it aside from other Scott outboards.

  1. The Model Year

    • The 1434 Flying Scott outboard was built in 1958 only. The late 1950s were a time of change for the Scott-Atwater Outboard Motor Company, the firm that built the Flying Scott. Founded in 1932 by Cliff Scott and H. Bruce Atwater, Scott-Atwater built the Champion outboard, sold in Firestone Tire stores, as a Firestone product, until 1946. That year, Scott-Atwater began to build outboards under the Scott-Atwater name.

    The Horsepower

    • The Flying Scott was a 60-horsepower outboard -- the largest outboard built by Scott-Atwood to that time. An in-line three-cylinder design, it was a two-stroke engine that used a mixture of oil and gasoline to operate. It was similar to the Model 1332 in the size of its power head -- the internal combustion engine that provided the power for the outboard -- and its starting system.

    The Model Number

    • Both the Flying Scott motors, the Model 1434 and the Model 1332, were the only Scott-Atwater outboards from the 1950s with a model number that began with the number "1." For other Scott-Atwater outboards built in that decade, the first number was uniformly "3." The second number was "0" for the 3.6-horsepower motor, "7" for the 5-horsepower motor, "3" for the 7.5-horsepower motor, "8" for the 10-horsepower motor and "9" for the 16-horsepower motor. The last two digits of the model number, when reversed, revealed the year. For example, a Model 3775 was a 5-horsepower outboard built in 1957.

    The Driveshaft

    • The Flying Scott 1434 outboard came from the factory equipped with a 22-inch long driveshaft. This driveshaft length gave the operator some flexibility when adjusting either the outboard's depth or its trim -- how far up or down the outboard was tilted to compensate for the load on the boat. The model number, the horsepower, the production year and the shaft length are the unique features of the Flying Scott 1434 that set it apart from other motors built by Scott-Atwater.