A vintage Chris-Craft boat got star treatment in the 1981 film, "On Golden Pond." Suddenly, there was a renewed interest in getting these ­beautiful "old tubs" back out on the water.

For Chris-Craft Corp., the world’s largest manufacturer of motorboats, the answer to this question was to be found last week in boatyards in Michigan and Florida.

A vintage Chris-Craft runabout is the aquatic equivalent of a 1950s T-Bird convertible, certain to get attention for the vehicle and the driver. The runabouts are like mahogany jewel boxes ...