Re: Force motor
My version differs a little. <br />Chrysler bought out West Bend, which made Elgin motors, and motors for private labels retailers like Montgomery Wards, etc.<br /><br />USMarine (Bayliner) bought out Chrysler, and labeled the motors FORCE. <br /><br />In '90, Mercury bought out USMarine and labeled the motors Force, and then Force by Mercury Marine. Throughout the 90's, Mercury made upgrades to the motors by using existing Mercury parts, ignitions, lower units, etc, but they remained a low tech, low cost motor.<br /><br />The Mariner line originated in Japan. In 1974, Yamaha and Mercury entered into a partnership to create the Mariner line. Motors 55hp and below were made by Yamaha, and the larger motors by Mercury. In 1983-84, the Federal Trade Commission forced the Mercury/Yamaha partnership to be dissolved. Since then, all Mariner outboards were made by Mercury. Yamaha does however, produce powerheads for some of Mercury's line.<br /><br />While the entire Force line was discontinued at the end of 1999, the Mariner line continues. But in 2003, Mercury announced that the Mariner line would not be distributed in the USA.<br /><br />Additionally, most of Mercurys' portable and small motors are built by Tohatsu, which manufactures Nissan outboards also.
