runabouts

Runabout is a term used in both boating and automotive contexts to denote small, simply arranged vehicles intended for short-range, casual use. In maritime usage, a runabout is a small, motorized open or lightly decked leisure boat designed for day trips and quick hops along a coast or lake. Typical runabouts are under 25 feet (about 7.5 meters), have an open cockpit or a minimal cabin, and are powered by outboard or stern-drive engines. They are used for cruising, water skiing, fishing, or as tenders for larger vessels. Materials range from traditional wood to fiberglass, and layouts may include bow seating, a center console, or side-by-side helm seating.

In automotive history, runabout referred to a light, open car with little weather protection, designed for short trips and simple operation. Early runabouts, popular in the 1910s and 1920s, often had two seats (and later four) with minimal if any weather protection, a single row of doors, and a simple body. The label was common in marketing but not a fixed engineering category, and many manufacturers used runabout variants to describe roadsters or open cars. Over time, the term faded as manufacturers adopted more standardized body style names such as roadster, convertible, or open car.

The term today remains primarily historical in the automotive sense, while in boating it continues to denote a broad class of small, versatile pleasure craft used for short-range recreation and as auxiliary vessels.