In the summers when I was young, my grandfather took me fishing every Saturday morning with his Caille 79 (this was the late 1960's). This motor sparked my interest in outboard motors. Then about 15 years ago my dad gave me the old Caille and I thought that one day I would fix it up. It sat on a shelf in my basement for years until I decided to actually restore the motor. The first thing I did was search the internet for information about Caille motors, there was not much out there for information, but I did discover the AOMCI. I immediately joined the national club and the local Gopher Chapter.
I received some good information from the local chapter people and this gave me the help I needed to restore my motor. After restoring the 79, I gave a lot of thought to what could be my next project. I went to meets and looked at all kinds of motors. I decided that I wanted another Caille. Since then I have accumulated a few Caille motors, but being kind of limited on space, I decided to at least learn as much as I could about the Caille motors I liked so much.
Getting that out of the way, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Randy Kallevig, I have recently become the Caille Special Interest Group leader. For my first article I would like to give some basic information about Caille Perfection Motor Company of Detroit, Michigan.
First, they produced outboards from 1913 to 1934. I have seen some information stating they were in business until 1935, but I have no proof of that. There were two things that always were a trademark of a Caille motor: First the powerhead always stayed stationary, the tiller handle turned only the lower unit. Second, every motor came with a priming cup on each cylinder.
In all of the literature I have seen, the Red Head singles are all referred to as sub "A" class motors.
The Model 79 was advertised as "THE WORLDS GREATEST OUTBOARD VALUE. Caille stated that this new motor was 2 years in the making. It featured a cast aluminum gas tank that would not dent and could push a heavy fishing boat 8-9 mph and a light hull to 14-15mph. It weighed only 34 lbs. You could go to your local Calle dealer and take one home on the "Caille Five Day Free Trial", they claimed to try it is to buy it.
The fixed prop 79's were made in early 1932 through 1933. In 1932 the 79 had an underwater exhaust with just a slightly turned down-tube (see photo 1). The only change to the motor for the 1933 model year was the exhaust had a cast aluminum exhaust trumpet (see photo 2).
I have seen some literature in catalogs from late 1933 that shows the "new and improved" 88 (but it is the same motor with a $9.00 higher price tag). This motor was carried over until the end in 1934. In 1933 the 79 was also available with a 5 speed lower unit and designated model 109. These motors were rated at 4 hp at 4000 pm for 1932-33, then listed at 4.44 hp at 4000 pm for 1934. All had a 2.25" bore and a 1.75" stroke (6.958 cu. in.).
The model 99 and 119 were added to the lineup in 1934, these motors had one "B" class twin cylinder. The 99 was a fixed prop and the 119 had the 5-speed lower unit. The bore was 2.5" and the stroke was
2" (9.817cu. in.) and they were rated at 5.45hp at 4000pm.
Although there is no reference of a long shaft option being available in any of the literature I have been able to acquire, a couple of long shaft Red Head singles have turned up. The most interesting feature of these long shaft models are a transom clamp that is 5" longer than standard version, along with the longer tower and muffler downtube (see photo 3).
All of the Red Head singles model numbers reflected the cost of the motor. And in ALL 1934 motors, model numbers reflected the cost of the motor.
One other interesting fact on these Red Head motors is that the 5-speed lower unit (consisting of 2 forward speeds, a neutral and two reverse speeds) were all called "MULTI-FLEX from 1930 - 1933. In 1934 they change the name to "GEAR SHIFT CONTROL"
This group of Red Head singles was an attempt by the Caille company to survive the depression with a variety of low priced models. These motors were very inexpensive compared to earlier models such as the 1915-1925 5 speed Row Boat motor (cost $100.00) and the 1924-25 Pennant (cost $160.00).
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