Makaha. Since 1963
November 21st, 2006 by Kilwag
Since 1963… with a few blackouts here and there. This started out as just lame quickie because I wanted to post a picture of this wacky old plastic Makaha skateboard that I’ve always loved. In the beginning, just as with Nash, Makaha was a real company. Makaha was one of the first skateboard companies, and the first one to use clay wheels. Owner Larry Stevenson has an actual patent on the kicktail! Their web site claims to have made the first production longboard as well. Also like Nash, unfortunately, at some point in the 70’s Makaha started turning plastic toys. After the jump there are some more examples of Makaha’s past and present.
Check out this blast from the past below. The Makaha web site has a lot of history, but not enough if you ask me. Part of the problem is that it’s all done in flash and you can’t click to enlarge the pictures. High volumes of that kind of content is tedious to work into a flash presentation.
Back to the board that started this post, this picture of the underside shows how the wacky truck was mounted to the board. If you look at the top you see one bolt sticking through per truck. Basically, the top of the plastic skateboard is acting as the baseplate for the truck. The pivot point just rests inside a plastic housing. It’s an ingenious method for cutting costs. High performance? Not so much. This yellow board was probably the most distinct Makaha product from the era. It’s got an odd race car/rocket dynamic that would have appealed to any 11 year old boy. This is the skateboard they should be reissuing!
The web site is big on the 60’s history of the company but kind of mum on the 70’s and beyond. I didn’t even know they were around in the 80’s and 90’s. Occasionally you’d see it advertised in Poweredge magazine as Coming Soon! but the product and rebirth of the company never seemed to materialize, at least not to anyone outside of the immediate vicinity. It seemed like they were working on the idea but the capital fell through. Actually, I seem to remember Makaha being one of the backers of Poweredge, but I wouldn’t place any bets on it.
Although they are made out of plastic, they have heavy duty construction and a very solid aesthetic to them that is really noticeable in the black board below. So these were the highest quality of toy skateboards.
You can’t fault Larry for trying to cash in on the recent wave of collector hysteria. His name and company is firmly cemented in skateboarding’s past. He has to do it now because it won’t be too long before the guys that appreciate the brand name won’t be in a position or mind set to collect them anymore. They’ve gone back to the route of craftsmanship. These boards aren’t cheap by any means. Not just modified or tribute re-issues, they are almost more like museum quality recreations. Head on over to the Makaha web site to check it out.
Lastly, speaking of quality reissues, check out this glamor shot Larry’s beauty queen wife Helen from 1959.
November 21st, 2006 at 5:29 pm
I have one of those yellow square ones at home as well as an orange one that is shaped like the black one in your article. It has an oval sticker in the middle that says Makaha though.
November 21st, 2006 at 9:38 pm
I had this very board (the yellow one) in 4th grade.
November 23rd, 2006 at 11:44 pm
Yeah great. One of you had it , and one of you has it. That does me no good, since I don’t have one.
November 24th, 2006 at 10:56 am
Haha!
January 19th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Hey what a cool article. I used to ride a Makaha like the Black model in pictures. Do you think it is possible to get that model this days? new or used, doesnt matters
January 19th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
Garage sales or Good Will, I’ve got my eyes open.
February 9th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
I had the Black Makaha Board pictured in this article when I was a kid. I miss having it. If anyone knows the Model # and if i could find one for sale i would love to buy it.
August 29th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Hey…I just bought a vintage Makaha like the green one here…I cant wait till delivery…it has red wheels and yellow board…. $59 bucks plus shipping to my country (Colombia)
August 31st, 2008 at 7:53 am
Hey, the black one is called Makaha Pro IV. I´m about to buy it….I found it
October 9th, 2008 at 5:54 am
I have many (125+) of these original NOS boards that I will be posting to eBay soon. I also have one of the black plastic ones shown above, as well as two different shades of blue that are all NOS. E-mail me at oldesouthmercantile@yahoo.com with any questions.
November 9th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Wow!! I had this black model.My dad bought 2 in 1977 or 1978. He and I were pictured in a newspaper riding down a steep hill in Germany.I rode that thing everywhere. Now my son is a total skater and I’m always bragging about my board.They were near indestructable unlike todays boards.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
DUDE! That is AWESOME! That green plastic Makaha is my first skateboard! I’ve been looking for photos of that thing on the Internet forever and could never find any.
The shape of the green one is exactly what I had. Except mine was blue and had the Makaha logo stamped on top (like the black version). Awesome. So cool to see that someone has pictures of those.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Totaly Rad!
Too bad skateboarders today are too concerned about conforming to the skateboarding status quo to ever accept any design experimentation.
In skatepark boards it is either an old school pool board or a popcicle stick - that’s it. Don’t vary, don’t experiment, don’t inovate or you are a kook.
I guess the time when just anyone could ride a skateboard have past. Now skateboard riding is about the same as being any kind of gang member.
The first skateboard I owned was 1964 Roller Derby Mustang. I was 11.