The outboard touted as tow-sports power? Sounds oh-so-very 2016, but Mercury was doing it 50 years ago. Check out this ad from 1966, in which the copy boasts that the outboards have “the most pulling power you can hang onto.” The ad touts the new 110 hp Mercury 1100, billed as “the world’s most powerful outboard.” That notion seems quaint in an era where builders slap quad 627 hp outboards onto transoms. Imagine, in today’s terms, calling a 50 hp outboard “midrange power.” Still, generations of skiers got their start behind these outboards, proving that 110 hp is plenty strong.
