Got Gotti's Boat? Lake Of The Ozarks Powerboat May Have Connections To The Infamous Gangster

Sleek. Fast. And blood-red.

Shane Quam's 1987 Fountain is the kind of boat that turns heads. And this powerboat has a mysterious past… Quam believes it may have belonged to one of the most infamous American gangsters of the 20th century.

Boaters at Lake of the Ozarks may have seen Quam’s Fountain on the water. An Iowan, Quam likes to visit the Lake a few times each summer and always tries to make it for the Shootout. You can't help but watch it go by: the ICBM is bright, retro-styled, and wonderfully flashy.

Fountain ICBM - photo by Brad Glidewell Photography 7.jpeg — photo by Brad Glidewell Photography

Quam searched for a long time before stumbling upon it.

"I had looked for probably five years because I wanted this very specific boat I had seen once down at Lake of the Ozarks when I was a kid," he said. "I always wanted that bright-red Fountain flat deck with the wing on it, because it reminded me of Miami Vice."

Miami Vice (2) - screengrab Large.jpeg — screengrab - Miami Vice

His search culminated in northern Ontario, Canada. Quam found a 40-ft 1987 Fountain ICBM, with lots of original materials. Acquiring the boat was no easy feat. He detailed the challenges in bringing the boat home, sight unseen.

"It was a nightmare," he admitted, recounting the trials of dealing with a neglected vessel and navigating border crossings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the setbacks, Quam's dedication to obtaining the boat and restoring it to its former glory never wavered.

He meticulously replaced parts, including the rub rail. He even ceramic-coated the boat multiple times to protect the aging fiberglass. The result is a vessel that stands as a near-perfect time capsule from the 1980s.

"Every screw on that thing has been touched," he said with pride. "I put the original decal on from when it was finished, and put it all back to the way it would’ve been from the factory... It's immaculate now."

Shane & crew with Fountain ICBM - photo by Brad Glidewell Photography 6.jpeg — photo by Brad Glidewell Photography

Immaculate it may be. But Quam made some strange discoveries during the restoration process that hinted at a less-than-squeaky-clean past.

Some elements of the boat were in shockingly good condition. It still had original material, and the interior was unchanged — almost unused. "Who sees vinyl last 35 years?" Quam mused.

Fountain ICBM - photo by Brad Glidewell Photography 3.jpeg — photo by Brad Glidewell Photography

The low engine hours for a nearly 40-year-old boat also suggested long periods of inactivity, leading Quam to theorize that it may have been confiscated and stored for years. At some point he believes it was sold in an auction.

"I don’t have any proof, but whoever owned it for an extended amount of time never used it," he said.

Fountain ICBM - photo by Brad Glidewell Photography 2.jpeg — photo by Brad Glidewell Photography

A Shady Past

He dug into the boat's ownership history. The Fountain was first sold at Everglades Marina in Fort Lauderdale. But Everglades Marina was shuttered in the early 2000s.

Everglades article from V8 Power Magazine 1994 - pg 2.png — old article on Everglades Marina, from V8 Power Magazine, 1994 issue
screengrab

Quam couldn't find any county records on the boat's registration, with limited information available from the pre-digital era.

With the help of a photo, though, Quam began to suspect the boat's first owner may have been infamous Gambino crime family boss John Gotti.

Gotti led one of the most powerful crime syndicates in the '80s. The Daily Beast describes the notorious boss: "Gotti managed to avoid going to jail for murder, illegal gambling, loansharking, and truck hijacking—the first time anyone had beaten a federal RICO case. In response, Gotti bought a boat and named it 'Not Guilty.'"

Gotti - only available photo - Not Guilty - Reddit.png — Reddit

A singular, uncredited photo circulating the Internet shows Gotti aboard Not Guilty: a blood-red Fountain ICBM, bearing a striking resemblance to Quam’s Fountain. And Gotti was known to have kept a residence in Fort Lauderdale.

"John Gotti would have obviously had the money to buy something like that," Quam said. "And when we removed the windshield... there looks like two bullet holes that somebody’s filled in… right where the driver would be."

Image from 'Get Gotti', courtesy Netflix Large.jpeg — Courtesy of Netflix © 2023
Courtesy of Netflix

Gotti was eventually sentenced to life in prison in 1992. He passed away from cancer in 2002 at a federal prison hospital in Springfield, Mo., less than 100 miles from the lake where — were he not behind bars — he could have someday found a boat looking an awful lot like Not Guilty.

Image from 'Get Gotti', courtesy Netflix - 2 Large.jpeg — Courtesy of Netflix © 2023
Courtesy of Netflix

'Not Guilty' Now

"It’s like the boat that started everything," said Quam, referencing Sonny Crockett’s Wellcraft Scarab 38KV from Miami Vice, a boat often credited with birthing a love for flashy powerboating in America. "I love it and that it’s very unique. There’s no other ones that I've seen like it."

Fountain ICBM - photo by Brad Glidewell Photography 4.jpeg — photo by Brad Glidewell Photography

He's right. Each outing on the water invites admirers. Quam hopes to participate in poker runs and showcase the boat at events in the future.

The boat's ties to John Gotti may never be confirmed. Perhaps it's better that way. But for Shane Quam, the journey itself has been its own reward — a testament to the enduring allure of a vintage Fountain boat with a story to tell.