The 1951 25 horse broke the ice. The four cylinder prototype Evinrude built could not compete with Johnsons twin which turned out to be just as smooth at an idle. This resulted in Johnson using Evinrude’s gear case and Evinrude using Johnson’s powerhead/exhaust housing. The 75 HP V-4 had a Johnson designed gear case which proved to be much faster on a light boat.
