Here's, Duffy, built in 1950. She's our new home away from home: While she's no speed demon, she's got it going on the looks department...
That last one has to be the prettiest boat I've ever seen Sent from my K88 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
My mother with Phil Wood's boat, Gar's brother, at Grayhaven where Gar's home was. My grandfather worked for Gar Wood from 1936 until grandpa died in 1945. He had worked for Edward Gray from 1906 to 1919 before that including the time frame where Gray was Henry Ford's Chief Engineer (1909-1914).
I checked my grandmother's notes and indeed, that is the 'Mildred G. III', the yacht that Edward Gray lived on while developing 'Grayhaven' where Gar Wood lived, so this photo is c. 1915 or so, also because it appears Gray and his son are on the stern and his son died around 1918. My grandparents moved from Highland Park to very close to Grayhaven after Gray left Ford Motor c. late 1914 as grandpa continued to work for Gray until 1919 before returning to Pennsylvania.
This one is interesting to me, a Chris Craft during the time my grandfather worked for Gar Wood. And this doesn't look like the Grayhaven area where my grandfather worked for Gar Wood yet I checked around Algonac and I really didn't find anything like this either but who knows, anyway c. 1940 photo. (I uploaded some 'crops' of the photo as well.)
While we're on the topic of michigan boating. This is my grand fathers Chris Craft, some time in the 40's. I think it around 30 something feet. They lived in Grosse Point. He invented the first comercially available car wash equipment and the first blow drying system for car washes. If anybody remebers Minute Man Car Washes, thats the name.
If you have a vintage Chris-Craft, you need a vintage woody to tow it. '48 Chrysler T&C with a 1942 Chris-Craft Sport utility. Chris Smith and Henry Ford were buds and many C-C's were equipped with Model A steering boxes. Restoring a vintage boat makes hot rodding look cheap!
Damn.This thread just gets better.There`s nothing better than seeing a well built and maintained wood boat from the 20`s through the 60`s.Weather a runabout or a full blown yacht. Good luck.Have fun.Be safe. Leo
My 1948 Cracker Box Racer - ran the big class with a Merc Flatty late 40's to about '55. Been sitting for over 60 yrs. Hopefully restoration soon as it's all complete just minus the Flat Head. Everything is there.
Henry goes boating... Henry Ford’s many accomplishments during the 1920’s are heavily documented, however his involvement with wooden speedboats is not that well known. While he was busy building cars and aircraft, Henry Ford decided to order a custom made 1924, 33′ Hacker from legendary designer/builder John Hacker. Today, Henry Ford’s wooden speedboat has a remarkable history, and has now been brought back to life by Tim & Brian Robinson at Robinson Restoration in California. This was one of only two 33' boats of this design built by Hacker. Hacker himself always called this the "Ford Job" and as “the prettiest boat ever turned out.”. Power came from a Liberty V-12 aircraft engine. In the Hacker correspondence letters, the Ford boat was referenced as being used as a “dispatch boat” for the Ford’s 224-foot steam yacht, the "Sialia". Henry Ford was quoted by John Hacker in these letters as commenting “It is a wonderful sea boat.” The boat was named "Evangeline", the name of Henry's mistress. With the Liberty power it was clocked at 49 mph in 1924 – faster than many race boats of its day. It was also believed to have been used as a chase boat for a short time for the Ford fleet of race boats which it shares many of its design cues with – all of which were also Hacker designed and built, no doubt with a great deal of Edsel Ford’s design influence. It was Edsel who was heavily into boat racing. This September 1926 photo was taken at the Harmsworth Race on the Detroit River. In the foreground are Gar Wood’s Miss America’s III, IV, and V. On the right is the Excelsior-France challenger. On the left is the "Evangeline", with Ray Dahlinger on the deck, Henry Ford behind the wheel in the light suit with his foot partially covering the name on the side, and Evangeline Dahlinger over his right shoulder. Also in this photo far left is Horace Dodge, and standing center-right on the dock in white coveralls is Garfield Wood. The tall, narrow white-sided yacht in the background is Gar Wood’s 70-foot yacht. At some point, Henry decided to gift his custom 33’ Hacker runabout to his long-time mistress, Evangeline Coté Dahlinger, who was the wife of Henry’s chauffer, first-rate mechanic, and racing driver, Raymond Dahlinger. It was a marriage that Henry himself arranged. Henry even reportedly proposed to Evangeline for Ray. Lavish gifts to Evangeline over their 35-year affair included (but not limited to) a 150-acre Dearborn parcel with a 38-room mansion and boathouse on the Rouge River with secret passageways to her personal bedroom, a vacation home on Lake Huron, and a Curtiss Seagull flying boat (Evangeline was the first female to carry a pilots license in the state of Michigan.) Evangeline Dahlinger was hired by Ford in 1910 as a stenographer when she was just 17. She quickly rose to become Henry Ford’s personal secretary and handled personal correspondence for Clara Ford, Henry’s wife. Ford family historian David Lewis considered Evangeline Dahlinger to be one of the ten most influential people to the Fords. Following the Harmsworth Race in 1926, the Dahlingers kept the boat for several years. It was sold and wound up in upstate New York by the early 1950s where it was named "Hedonist". By the mid-1950s, a Long Island, New York boat broker owned it. From there it sold in 1960 to a collector. Still unrestored, it was brought out to Southern California in 1982. Thankfully, like many historically important boats, the flush-copper-riveted hull survived the decades in remarkable condition, without serious modification or accidents. In 1987, it was purchased by a boat restoration company but the restoration project was never finished, when the former Liberty engine started making unpleasant sounds on the test stand, the restoration company decided they had poured enough money into the boat, and it was literally shelved in 1989 and stuck in a corner of a warehouse. This is what it looked like before the beginning of the restoration project and prior to 2008. And now "Evangeline" has been brought back to life by Tim & Brian Robinson at Robinson Restoration in California. I took these photos below in 2014 or 2015 at the Wooden Boat Show at Lake Tahoe. Hope you enjoy them...
An auction was held in Monterey, CA, August 17-19, by Mecum Auctions. Cars, boats, etc.. "Evangeline" was on the list. My bid of $3K was not accepted, the best guess was that it would go for between $1.25 to $1.75 mill. I have not heard any results.
That is one beautiful piece of craftsmanship.Thanks for posting.There were a few of those boats around the area of Florida where I grew up(mid East coast). Good luck.Have fun.Be safe. Leo
I'm going to upload some more photos, hope nobody minds. Most of these will be photos of vintage race boats but I will be careful to include only race boats that have "speed boat" hulls (I do not want to piss off the management). In fact, some of these boats did serve as both race boats and family speed boats. Most of these have standard shallow V hulls but some have the V hulls along with a "step" or "shingles" (multiple steps). There is just something magnificent about wooden boats. Someone once said that if God had wanted boats to be built out of fiberglass, he would have created plastic trees...
The start of the President's Cup Race, in 1926. The boat in front, the light colored boat, is the "Mercury". Here is the "Mercury" up close and personal, running on Lake Tahoe, Ca. Okay, it's not wood, it's aluminum. I know, if God wanted boats to be made out of aluminum he would have created metal trees. This boat was built many, many years ago (1926 I think) by Gordon Hamersley and eventually found a home with Stanley Dollar and also as some point with my old boss, Henry J. Kaiser. He thought that people needed to know that he owned an aluminum company (Kaiser Aluminum). It's built from plans drawn up for a mahogany race boat. The original engine was some kind of an old aircraft engine (Curtiss if I recall), but when I was with this boat, it was powered by a stock Allison engine. Yes, I have ridden in it several times. It was eventually donated to the State (CA) and is on permanent exhibit in the boathouse at the old Hellman-Ehrman Mansion, a state park on the West shore of Lake Tahoe. Every now and then someone takes it out on the lake, typically to one of the boat shows. The Allison engine has been removed at some point and the boat is now powered by a 454 BB Chevy. These are some photos of a few gentlemen (wealthy gentlemen) playing with their toys and having some fun. Fortunately, they have the resources ($$) to keep these old boats alive and kicking so younger people today can see what they missed. They do not collect the latest iPhones, they collect the oldest race boats...
Some thought is needed for this one. At first glance, it looks like a well restored 1920's race boat (or a copy of a race boat). But either the riding mechanic has a very wide ass, or this thing is set up to take a couple of passengers on a thrilling ride. In any case, having the engine compartment sharing the space with the driver and passengers is a bit risky, in my opinion...
How about a nice big speed boat? 54-feet, and dual 750 HP diesels. It moves right along. An old John Hacker design... Her name is "Posh". This is a lot of mahogany...
Wont win any races but its mine. Just picked it up in Tenn. Always wanted a Lone Star. 1958 Cruisemaster, 21ft,40 hp outboard and I cant be happier with it being all aluminum and full of rivets. The upper windshield may come off,and it looks chopped without it.
The interior is just a walk way up the middle with plywood covers along the sides. Pull out table in the front.Has two cabinets and a toilet.Very basic. The interior skins ,ceiling too will be aluminum panels with tapered holes and brass hardware.As well as the open area out back. Brass lights and a custom porthole on the door.I am going to use the old boat steering wheel off my tub I sold on it too.I like that cause it will be sort of like driving it again. Brass railings up top and brass lights. Window frame polished.Have not decided on a color yet.Maybe some varnished wood places too. Working on prepping for the winter storage and spring cant come soon enough!!!
The Jalopy Journal
