An Old Racer: 1926 Dodge with Airplane Engine

Seems like people tolerate off-topic boat posts here every once in a while. My family is pretty heavily involved in wooden boats and I figured some of you might like to see a few pictures I took a day or so ago of a 1926 Dodge. At one point Dodge (via Horace Dodge’s interest, I believe) got in on the mass production of boats. Various members of the Dodge family built/sponsored/built a variety of race boats during this time and a few still survive.

July 3, 7:34 in the morning and an odd shape appears in the distance.



It is Sister Syn, one of Horace Dodge Jr’s 1927 Gold Cup contenders, coming to pick us up for a run down to the diner for breakfast.



Under way towards the south end of the lake, little to no traffic, light chop. Sister Syn runs about 36' in length, making her one of the longest of the early Gold Cup boats.



At 1200 rpm the Curtiss V-12 is moving along but hardly breaking a sweat…the pedal goes down (yes, throttle actuation is by gas pedal, located similar to old sprint cars where you press down rather than forward) and acceleration is electric. 650 hp isn’t considered high anymore for boats but this one is making that power at less than half the rpms modern motors make it at.

 

Docked near the diner in Alton Bay. Exhausts exit on either side, towards the rear, and right at the waterline. I think Gold Cup boats were required to have a forward passenger seat (covered in this picture) and this one also has an extra bench seat (which can also be covered over) behind the driver. All hatches and covers open via coffin locks.



36 feet…not long by modern offshore/speedboat standards, but this one isn’t quite 6 feet in beam at its widest point.



Motive power. 1570 cubic inches, 12 exhaust ports per cylinder bank. Ever hear the starter motor on one of these? Just like in the movies, you hear it whine, winding up, the motor coughs, and you half expect someone to yell “Contact!” when the engine catches.



One last shot for now. Idling away after breakfast, plenty of gauges, levers and things to keep you occupied. Check the thickness of everything relating to the steering…in their prime these things were beat on like rented SeaDoos, running into each other, buoys, debris, and rough chop, so as long as it didn’t mean making it too heavy to float, there was no such thing as over-building anything on these boats. Many went down. Sister Syn is one of a handful of survivors from this era and it’s great that it is used often instead of being holed up in a museum somewhere. Its history and details are for another time and another place, but I have plenty of other pictures including many details shots if anyone is interested.



Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Cris

 

Wow!

 

What a beautifull boat very nice thanks for the pic,s

 

that thing is way too cool!!!!

 

I want one of those someday.

 

Thanks!

 

Lets see more of this wonderful craft!

 

Thanks for sharing the pics. I've always wanted a wooden boat and seeing this beauty makes me want one even more. I can't even imagine what something like that is worth.

Nik

 

Simply stunning!! What an example of craftsmanship that has gone away. I'm glad there are surviving examples of what talent and time can produce instead of mass produced boredom. Thanks for posting this, just what I needed to end the 4th of July weekend.

Frank

 

I'm not a boat guy, but the quality and beauty of this thing is truly impressive. I'd love to hear this baby on the water.

I think you need to remove the guages and sell them to me....

 

I am not a boat guy, but wow that is a liquid Hot Rod.

 

Exactly! You don't need to love boats to appreciate that kind of quality! (in fact I hate boats)

 

I love wooden boats, that is one SEXY piece. The gauges, motor, the finish on the wood are amazing, well all the detail really is. Thanks, for sharing I really enjoyed all the pictures.


CBB

 

WOW!!!!

That is one of the coolest boats I've ever seen.

 

Wow! I consider that engine way on topic!

 

A long time ago I went to the Curtiss Museum when it was in the mansion in Hammondsport. Cool thing about it was the place wasn't big enough and some stuff was stored more than displayed. The lights were on in the cellar and one item down there was labeled as a former rumrunners boat with a Curtiss motor. It was shorter and fatter with a small cargo area, still a real hot rod. Probably it's all restored and shiny by now, or maybe it's still in the cellar, forgotten...

 

that thing is just beautiful. thanks for the pics chris.
dan

 

Wow! the first thing that comes to mind looking at that is "hotrod". I can't imagine the amount of work in it.....

 

amazing....simply...amazing...

i'm fianlly starting on my 15 gentlemans racer with the extra money from selling a car...

african mahogany,with a deck wood thats gonna be a secret ....lets just say it starts with Z

 

that is a beautiful boat, I hope that rat boats aren't next

 

That is one of the sexiest things I've ever seen.

 

Not many things as beautiful as a wooden boat. Awesome is the only way to describe this one! Thanks for the pictures....

 

can you get a video onto you tube? i would love to hear that start and run...

 

That is an awesome boat!

There is an old unlimited hydroplane racer about two hours north of me tucked away in a barn since the early 1950's. It's got an Allison V-12 in it and he's got a spare Allison V-12 with zoomies sitting on the floor next to it. There's also a row of old hemi's and an original 50's hot rod. It makes me happy just to think about it all.

 

We don't just tolerate posts like this, we welcome them with open arms. That boat is awesome.

 

"...but I have plenty of other pictures including many details shots if anyone is interested..."

Are you kidding??!? POSTPOSTPOST, man!!!

It's not often that lots of money, good taste, craftsmanship, and cool machinery come along all at once!

 

Man I gotta work harder. Something else to add to the list. Beautiful piece of history.

Doc.

 

crap, no pics.

 

Wish I could see the pics...