1968 Commander 23' from Fiumicino (Italy)

Hello all,

I have been a long time lurker here in this great forum, looking for information about Commander and Lancer 23'.

I now take the plunge of posting here since I have just found and bought in France a 1968 Chris Craft built in the Fiumicino plant in Italy (very few CC in Europe from that era are from the States).

Basically the hull and deck structures are in good shape but all the interior need to be rebuilt. The estimated 700 hours work (complete restoration and repowering, like new) will start in a renowned French shipyard next week.

Originally, I was looking for a Lancer Transdrive, but when I saw the boat, at first sight I thought it was a Commander because there was no fish-tank at the rear of the boat. However, I saw also that it was not a V-drive but a Z-drive (Transdrive). Therefore, according to the existing litterature (mainly CC Essential Guide), it was not possible that the boat could be a Commander.

Now that I have the papers with me, I am surprised because according to them, the boat has the following hull number : FRAZ-23-6008
If I understand correctly the CC nomenclature, it should seems the following :
- F : Fiberglass Division (in that case, Commander division, not the Corsair one which is O)
- R : Runabout
- A : first type of deck design
- Z : Z drive
- 23 : 23' length
- 6 : 6th year of production
- 008 : 8th boat build during that year

The papers also state that the year of production is 1968 in Fiumicino. Then, if I still remember correctly, the Lancers 23' production has started in 1966 and the Commanders in 1968 (but that was in the US. The hull number should then be FRAZ-23-008 (if it is a Commander) or ORAZ-23-2008 (if it is a Lancer).

I suspect there is an error on the papers but as I still did not find the plate on the boat, I cannot confirm yet. Moreover, the boat has been imported from Italy to France in December 1968 (there is still the custom stamp on the papers) ; so it cannot has been built in 1971 like the hull number suggests...

Then my questions :
- I know that the Fiumicino plant was building Lancers, but I did not know about it was also building Commanders. Have you ever heard about that?
- For me, Commanders were only V drive. Since the boat seems to be a true Commander and not a Lancer (because of no fish-tank at the rear and the hull starting with "F"), how possible that boat could be a Commander with a Z drive?

In other words : is the boat a Lancer or a Commander?

I am quite puzzled about that.

Many thanks for your help

thibaud