What a great picture. I sat in the Miss Bardahl seat for many an evening. You see, I owned the boat from 1976 till 1983 when I donated it to the Unlimited Gold Cup Hall of Fame and Museum. We never got to race the boat, and I placed it up in the rafters of my shop for around five years. Some nights I would sit in the drivers seat as the late great Ron Mussen did and watch Johnny Carson on a small TV. I raced limited hydroplanes from 1972-1988. Owning the Unlimited Miss Bardahl and racing it was a dream that all out team had hoped to do. The politics involved with the Unlimited people became to much so we stored the boat. When a gentleman named Bob Williams, (no relation to Dave Williams the head of the race boat museum) was attempting to start the Unlimited Gold Cup Hall of Fame and Museum they had no boats. All the muckety mucks that had old Unlimited hydroplanes just laughed at him. At the time Bob had memorabilia from most of the old famous hydroplanes, but no boats. I donated the Miss Bardahl to Bob and the museum for 1$ in 1983. From there the museum grew and all the so called muckety mucks started donating equipment. As the boat count grew to I think six or seven Bob go sick, and he relinquished the rights to the boats to the Race Boat Museum. I was told that a former crew member of the Bardahl team owns the boat today. It's been completely rebuilt and they do what's called fly by's with the boat at different events. Today I still have the original steering and rudder from the Miss Bardahl. Along with some of the nuts, bolts and one gas cap from the gas tanks. One of your Hambers has the other gas cap. I gave it to him last year for his hydroplane. Check out my picture albums for more pictures of the Miss Bardahl back in the days when I owned it. One things for sure. They did a great job restoring the old boat, and there having one great time driving it at different events. Thanks for reading, Johnny Sweet
Great read Johnny! What a place to watch Johnny Carson from... I guess you could say those were the best seats in the house Awesome pictures, you guys! Now,how to apply these great boat's styling cues to my land rides!?!
Johnny, don't forget the original Bardahl vent's that came with the gas cap! Hope you had a great Christmas and will be calling!
Hi Lon, I had forgotten about the vents. There going to look great on your hydroplane. I still have one gas cap left and the hydroplane museum in Madison Indiana is going to get it. The steering and rudder still needs a good home. When the latest owners acquired the boat I offered it to them when they where rebuilding the hull. They never even gave me a reply. So is life! Later, Johnny Sweet
Phil Spruit's restored "MoonShine Baby", 427 Ford and a mile deep old time Varnish job! http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f317/hondachop/moonshinebabytop.jpg
Wow Johnny great story! Miss Bardahl was (and still is) my favorite boat, my dad was a huge hydroplane fan, and we followed the circuit all over the West Coast....
The Miss Bardahl and the history was a big part of my life for many years. I was in Washington DC in 1966 the day that Ron Musson was killed in the Jones cab over hydroplane. I never thought that ten years later I would own the boat that made him famous The 1963-65 Gold Cup Champion. It was my intent on running the boat, but the Unlimited muckety mucks had a different idea. At the time in 1976 we new the guys from the Red Barron racing team from Reno (Airplanes) and they had installed a Griffin Rolls engine in there P51 air racer. They had picked up the engines in England for 200 lbs. Around $500 per engine. Remember that was 1976 money. They where WWII engines crated in cosmelean. I ordered ten engines and where ready to rebuild the Miss Bardahl. When the unlimited people found out that I was sponsoring the boat myself they had a bird. The boat at the time was ten years old, but it was so fast that it still held some records. And with me planing on installing the Griffin engine it was to much for some of them to take. We had everything but a transmission. In 1966 there was a gentlemen named Bill Harrah from Lake Tahoe who owned a race boat called the Tahoe Mist. In 1966 they won the world Championship. Years later the boat, engines, and equipment was sold to a fellow named Fender from Ohio. I was told that there where 23 transmissions that went with the deal. I called Fender to see if I could purchase one transmission, and was told that he had sold all the equipment to Berny Little a few weeks earlier. The late Berny Little was the owner of the Miss Budweiser hydroplane. They where planning on having Ron Jones build a new boat with the Griffin engines. Come to find out the transmissions wouldn't work. But do you think that Berny would sell me one transmission, No way. What would you exspect from a car salesmen! So without a transmission we couldn't run the boat. I licked my wounds, and got on with my life. At the time I was racing what was called Grand Prix hydroplanes, and had been doing so for some time. I placed the boat up in the rafters of my shop and people would walk in under neath the hull and never notice it. I backed out some of the screws from the bottom and hung florescent lights under it. It was always funny when someone would ask where the Miss Budweiser was. We would always say " It's the Miss Bardahl not the Miss Budweiser". Berny would get under my skin even when the Miss Bardahl was in storage. O, we would point up and when they looked up they would always jump back, like the boat was going to fall on them. In 1982 I got a call from a guy from Washington state asking about the boat. He informed me that the Miss Bardahl was missing. I informed him that it wasn't, and that I see it every day. That's how the deal in time took place, and I donated it to the Unlimited Gold Cup Hall of Fame and Museum. Thanks for reading, Johnny Sweet
Thanks for the history, Johnny...it's always great to hear it straight up. What a cool piece of history!! Whatcha got cookin there, Lon???
Ever since I was a little kid sitting on my grandpa's knee watching the Hydro's race in Seattle back in the day, I always wanted a Hydro. I would build little wood hydroplanes, tie them to a string and pull behind my bike. Long story short I started a smaller class, Inj. 265 class shovel nose hydro to run vintage. I joined the Vintage Hydroplane forum for info and insight from the fast "growing older" vintage guy's only to find that I wasn't really welcomed or at least that's how I took it. They say they want new blood to keep the spirit alive but if you weren't part of it back than they don't have much to say. Out of the hole group maybe 4 guys took me under their wing with advice and info. Hell one guy wanted me to pay him $150 just to ask him questions! Johnny was one of the first to send me a PM saying if I needed anything, anything at all just ask. That's how our long distant relationship started. I have hundreds of how to articles, E-Mails, etc. about how to set up my hydro, set up a magneto, run Hilborn, a wealth of info. Wish he was my neighbor and I wish I could write like him! Stay healthy my friend and you will see some Bardahl parts making left turns again. Wish I had something big enough to accommodate those steering parts...........................
Miss Canada IV was moved to the museum in Gravenhurst, Ontario in July of this year. Had previously been in St Thomas, Ontario. It was raced at one point as one of the Miss Supertest series of boats.
The baddest boat of it's day, the Hawaii Kai III owned by Henry Kaiser and driven by Jack Regas.....( he later drove the Bardahl.)
What a great picture!!!!! Perfect timing,that is some serious shit right here.Thanks for posting the pic.
Man you're making me go back....if memory serves, that Hawaii Kai hull was borrowed from Stanley Sayres and was the original Slo-MO IV or V. It's all pretty fuzzy, I was about 12 yrs.old then. Jack Regas & Mira Slovak....2 balls to the wall drivers.
I wasnt much of a boat guy till I went through 21 pages of this thread. Now I want a FREAKIN' BOAT!!!! Thanks a lot!
This would be 1965 possibly at lake Washington. Miss Bardahl is the boat in the center. Ron sure has his leg in it! A little history and information: Those that use NOS in there cars can thank the Miss Bardahl team for the developments they did in this time in history. They where the first to play with NOS after WWII. The Germans being the first to develop it in some of there aircraft during the war. It wasn't used until the early 1965 when Jerry Zuvich, and Leo Vanden Berg developed a new Nos system. Other boats to use NOS at that time was the Exide. Jerry Zuvich was one hell of a wrench, and with Leo's tutelage they ran something like 100 heats without a break down. I could be wrong about the number of heats, but it was large. Later in the early 70's NOS systems developed systems for cars. I had some of the first units hidden in my hydroplanes running Chevy engines. I myself also worked with Land and Sea on there units for outboards in the mid 70's A point of interest: The Packard Rolls -9 engines used in the Miss Bardahl from 63-65 where run hard. When an engine lost some of it's power they just removed it and replaced it with another surplus engine with the necessary improvements. When I got the Miss Bardahl it had a Packard Rolls -9 display engine in it. Years later when I donated it to Bob Williams and the Unlimited Gold Cup Hall of Fame and Museum. Bob transported the Boat and trailer with the display engine back to Washington State. He arrived at the races just as they where going on at Tri State. He pulled the Miss Bardahl in the pits and some of the guys that where still running the Packard Rolls -9 engines offered him enough money for the display block that it paid for his trip to New Hampshire, and back home. My engine that had been in my shop stored for years was in better condition than anything they where running at the time. All the old engines where worn out. Johnny Sweet
When ever Bill Harrah decided to get involved in an activity, he would go "all in"....his boats, crews & equipment were top dollar. Tahoe Miss....(on Lake Tahoe.) Support equipment, chrome wheels & wide whitewalls....
Pic's Stolen from my Very Rare "Unlimiteds Incorporated" book from the '60z ............................
The Jalopy Journal
