The original company, Chris-Craft Boats, was founded in the late 19th century by Christopher Columbus Smith (1861–1939) in Michigan.

[4] Chris-Craft sold high-end powerboats to wealthy patrons, such as Henry Ford and William Randolph Hearst.

[7] Following the war, Chris-Craft introduced a new lineup of civilian pleasure boats in time for the great American consumer market expansion of the 1950s.

The company sold high-end boats to famous customers, such as Dean Martin, Katharine Hepburn, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley.

That decade marked the height of company prestige, and the brand name Chris-Craft became virtually synonymous with pleasure boating.

At one time, the company offered 159 different models, and it was the sales leader in many categories of small civilian powerboats.

This dramatic new design was unveiled at the New York City National Boat show, perched at the top of an escalator on a giant, castered cradle.

Between the 1960s and 1980s, Chris-Craft increasingly moved toward fiberglass as a construction material of choice, primarily because of its durability and low maintenance requirements.

In the face of declining sales due to the recession of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Chris-Craft Industries sold its boat division to George Dale Murray and a small group of investors that included Dick Genth, F. Lee Bailey, and Walt Schumacher in 1981.

[13] Murray believed that a racing program would benefit the company to develop safe, performance watercraft for its customers.

Most notably, a 1984 Chris-Craft 312 won the Golden Gate to Spruce Goose race sponsored by Powerboat Magazine in 1984.

[14] In 1984, Chris-Craft worked out a deal with Michael Mann Productions to have its 39-foot Stinger 390X featured on their new television show, Miami Vice.

As the company grew, George Dale Murray became involved in various real-estate ventures, which included a sizeable investment in the American Community Development Group (ACDG).

For its $58M, OMC acquired the tangible and intangible assets of Chris-Craft including the manufacturing facilities in Bradenton, Florida; Goshen, Indiana; and Swansboro, North Carolina.