Mercury Dealership Treasures [Archive] - Scream And Fly Powerboat and High Performance Powerboating Discussion Forums

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 10:01 PM

In the mid 1950's Mercury Outboards Founder Carl Kiekhaefer became interested in Nascar racing, called the Grand National Series. This was before Winston Cup or Nextel Cup but was the same level of compitition. Keikhaefer dominated the series as a car owner for two or three years, and I believe has the highest winning percentage of all time, winning around seventy percent of the races. He had many inovations, including the first multi car teams, the first enclosed haulers, the first pit crew that was in uniforms and coordinated pit stops.
He used the Chrylser 300 which some consider this car to be the first muscle car.
Frank "Rebel" Mundy, Tim and Fonty Flock, Buck Baker and others drove for Mr Kiekhaefer.
In 1959 The Corps of Engineers was nearing completion of a 56,000 acre lake bordering Anderson South Carolina. Lake Hartwell has nearly 1,000 miles of shoreline.
Mr Mundy was apparently in the area looking to plant a Mercury dealer. My Father Ed Cooley had a used car lot in Anderson and had a white Chrysler 300 on the lot and Mr Mundy stopped to take a look. Ed already owned a Loy Craft boat with a Mercury Mark 75 outboard. The conversation sooned turned to the real reason for Mr Mundy being in Anderson and...well, the rest is history...and all because of a Chrysler 300... Corrections are welcome here as it has been five years since I last read "The Iron Fist" because I loaned it to a Johnson dealer and he never returned it.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-11.jpg

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 10:03 PM

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-12.jpg

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 10:16 PM

I was about nine years old and remember being in the boathouse that morning as dad adjusted the carbs on the twin towers of power. Mom and Dad had recently returned from the Merc dealer meeting in the Bahama Islands.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-10.jpg

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 10:19 PM

Here is the ski boat in action. Broadway Lake, Anderson SC. Notice about a dozen Chris Crafts and Centurys on the shore, and the Mercs were called to duty.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-9.jpg

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 10:26 PM

Thought I would repost this photo on this thread. This is Carl Kiekhaefer on left and my father, Ed Cooley right, at a dealer meeting in 1967. More info on the Lake X thread.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/DadandCarl.jpg

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 10:28 PM

Cocktail hour at the dealer meeting. Dad on left, unknowns on right.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-6.jpg

Scream And Fly

08-03-2007, 10:34 PM

Absolutely awesome! Thank you for posting those and please post more!

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 10:40 PM

Lots of Carlson owners on this site. This one needs two 1000 E's. Or a sportmaster or speedmaster. WOO HOO!

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-7.jpg

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 10:43 PM

Absolutely awesome! Thank you for posting those and please post more!

Thank you Greg. It's nice to hear it from you. More to post later. You watching the X Games? AWESOME!!!

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 10:57 PM

Does anyone know who this is and the significance of the boat? It was sent to us by Merc in the 60's. Steve, maybe you know?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-8.jpg

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 11:04 PM

Promo shot from the Flipper TV series. We were a Thunderbird dealer, tough old boats. There are those white outdrives again. Where the heck is Flipper?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-13.jpg

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 11:06 PM

T-Bird factory. Anybody here ever work there?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-14.jpg

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 11:09 PM

Is this a Mercury dealer meeting or T Bird. Looks like a lot of those 1967 Mercuriser jackets present.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-17.jpg

warrior74z

08-03-2007, 11:32 PM

Reposting Mr Kiekhaefer's tribute to this thread. Look closely at the drawing. Lots of significant history in an artist depiction. Read "The Iron Fist" to learn it all.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-5.jpg

BUSHWACKER

08-03-2007, 11:40 PM

warrior74z

08-04-2007, 08:16 AM

Enjoyed the posts and PICS alot. :) I had a 60hp & an 80hp DOCK CRASHER only ran the 80hp
Had it on my '18 1966 Duo, got the motor used, the guy gave me the wrong rotation prop, need I say more :o other than we didn't notice till it was in the water, tied to the dock and fired it :D

Those darn Duos.
When I was about 15 years old, in 1969, I was to the age that Dad would let me pick from "selected" used boats for my personal use and to keep at the dock for the summer. We were a Duo dealer at the time and had a 17 or 18' I/O with a four cylinder Mercruiser trade in on the used lot, so that was my pick for the summer. So, on a hot August day my best friend and I were just easing down the lake at about 10 mph with not a care in the world, and I stood up and said "I'm going to jump out of the boat". And Jeff said "No, I'm going to jump out of the boat" Well being 15 and with all the knowledge in the world, WE BOTH JUMPED AT THE SAME TIME! :o I remember surfacing and reaching for the boat as it idled away. We watched as it turned slightly left and about a quarter of mile later missed a boathouse by three feet and continued onto the rip rap at a bridge. We swam the hundred yards to shore and ran to the bridge to find the old Mercuriser still chugging away with the boat grinding against the rip rap.
Dad never found out about that one...:D

gofish7070

08-04-2007, 12:43 PM

That photo is definitely Mercury dealer meeting ,at the Pioneer in Oshkosh Wis.......... Signifigance of the T-Bird houseboat was that was the vessel which cam from Fla. to worlds Fair in Montreal,"Expo 67" During this entire trip they were pulling female water skiers the entire way,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, It was actually on its return to Fl. and stopped at the meeting,in August in Oshkosh,following the meeting with Doug Janisch,Cotton Sims a photographer and a couple other guys the boat than left to come back to Fl. via the Mississippi river while in the gulf I think I remember someone was swept overboard,,,,,,,,,,and fortunatly found, Maybe someone else can update us their,,,,,,,,,,, Thanks for the kind words Baron This thread and you have inspired me to write on,,

lilabner

08-04-2007, 01:42 PM

I really love the old pictures..thanks for posting them..
The boat driver is probably Bulldog Mussett Drummond..he was pretty colorful..The old T-Bird Factory is still there, and full of boat builders and riggers..it's divided up into different rental warehouses..

Powercat

08-04-2007, 04:52 PM

Is this the one ??

Classic Stuff,,,,, very cooooool Back in late '50's (yeah I'm that old) While attending stock outboard races through Wisconsin, At the time My Dad was the announcer,,,,,Merc had a twin engine Raveau,powered by twin Mark 55 H"s used to show up at the races, Rode in it several times,, It was the coolest boat around, at that time very few twin engine rigs existed, Remember a guy named Buddy Boyle and Wild Bill Hatfield were usually driving it,, They were both Champion water skiers,,,,,,,,,,,

lilabner

08-04-2007, 06:51 PM

"anyone know who is driving the Raveau in the Boathouse Bulletin?"
**********************************************************
I think maybe that fellow makes propellers or something.

It's my co driver in the 6 hr Race in Kissimmee in 60 or 61..the guy with all the stitches who loves catfish and beer..he also drove with Richie Baiz..we had 2 boats and no help, but Marcel said he had a driver coming..little did I know it would be my idol..we drove 4 hours each and won both classes in a not so smooth race..set 4 world records, and Mr. K came over to us and congratulated us..A new Merc like the one you ran was first place prize..an unforgettable weekend.

warrior74z

08-04-2007, 09:20 PM

This is the building that became our first dealership. My Grandfather J. D. Cooley built this building right after the war in 1945 or 46. He is standing in the doorway and my uncle, Terrell Cooley is beside him. It was a country store and hangout for all the old codgers. Had the potbelly stove to gather round and talk politics as was popular in the day. I remember going there when I was five and sliding a chocolate soldier drink out of the drink box that had the drinks sitting in cold water.
The next post shows the building as Outboard Marine Sales and Service.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-27.jpg

warrior74z

08-04-2007, 09:28 PM

1960... Dad on left presenting Skeets Davidson the keys to a new ski tow boat with twin Merc 70 horsepower dock busters. The Ski Bugs club bought the boat and one engine from us and we supplied the second engine for our sponsership. The building had been enlarged previously by my grandfather.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-21.jpg

warrior74z

08-04-2007, 09:53 PM

List prices on the Mercs. Yeah and gas was 35 cents a gallon

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-18.jpg

warrior74z

08-04-2007, 10:02 PM

Local newspaper ad. White 85 HP and under. Black 100 HP. Most powerful outboard. I remember hearing, "What in the world do they need a hundred horsepower for?"

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-22.jpg

warrior74z

08-04-2007, 10:09 PM

The annual Dealer Meeting. Exciting times. Travel to exotic places, see the next years Mercury engines, lots of food and drink, visit new and old friends, and all on Mercury's tab. Notice the Lake X visit.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-26.jpg

The Big Al

08-04-2007, 10:14 PM

Cocktail hour at the dealer meeting. Dad on left, unknowns on right.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-6.jpg

I believe the guy on the right is Bob Fairbanks
Mr Fairbanks and my father Earl Smith were Glassmaster boat dealer in Chas SC. Bob was a full time Air Force officer and pilot. He was killed in 1970 in a plane crash in Oklahoma. The Glassmaster franchise was then sold to Ben Robertson, Dorchester Marine Chas SC. Ben's son is the former Boat racer Bennie Robertson Jr. who now works for Reggie Fountain.
Bennie and I went to school together.

Small world

Great Thread!

warrior74z

08-04-2007, 10:17 PM

I always liked the looks of the 1964 Mercs. Last of the ultra slim sixes. And just something about the racing flag on the faceplate...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-23.jpg

warrior74z

08-04-2007, 10:20 PM

Grand Opening

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-19.jpg

The Big Al

08-04-2007, 10:25 PM

O remember those white out drives very much!

I also remember a 4 cyc Mercruiser they had that was a Renault engine!
They put them in 14ft Glassmaster!

My Dad still has his 18ft Glassmaster Tarpon 1973 Model And is almost mint condition!

(slow as crap but a nice boat)

warrior74z

08-04-2007, 10:31 PM

Mid '60's dealer meeting, Dad on right. Who's on left?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-4-1.jpg

fkboatman

08-05-2007, 12:29 AM

that is cool keep it up guys, great history

BUSHWACKER

08-05-2007, 12:49 AM

that is cool keep it up guys, great history
WE can't, we're old :o , email us some Viagra :D after ya fill out your profile, see Racemanz post? :eek: :p
Were enjoying all of it too, :)
OOOPz they just turned out the lights here at the nursing home :rolleyes:

warrior74z

08-05-2007, 09:10 PM

February 9, 1968... Dad with a new 1250 and '66 fishin motor in hand. This is inside the white brick building. I can see a clean white Merc peeping from behind the 125, and a Sea King in front. Mighty flat looking prop on there though...come on Dad, get some pitch on that monster!

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-20.jpg

warrior74z

08-05-2007, 09:27 PM

1969...Letter from Mercury about the change in management. If you read the "Iron Fist" you know that Brunswick bought Kiekhaefer Mercury from Mr K in 1961. Well Mr K continued running the company as he saw fit and did not get along with the Brunswick brass. Mr K would not even let them in any of the plants or give Brunswick executives keys to their own company. Mr K locked them out and would not take their phone calls. This went on for years. They were all afraid of Mr K except maybe Jack Hanigan. They finally wore Mr K down and now eight years after the buyout Brunswick gets one of their own in charge.
Letter in next post. Hey GoFish7070 look who signed this!

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-24.jpg

warrior74z

08-05-2007, 09:29 PM

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-25.jpg

Scream And Fly

08-05-2007, 09:33 PM

This has to be the best thread in a long time. :)

warrior74z

08-05-2007, 09:34 PM

1979 Some top brass at Mercury dealer meeting. I remember the gent on the right ended up president, but can't recall his name. Can someone name all these guys? Is one of them Ham Hamburger?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-15.jpg

150aintenuff

08-05-2007, 09:35 PM

O remember those white out drives very much!

I also remember a 4 cyc Mercruiser they had that was a Renault engine!

yep... they used the 11ish" diameter 11 spliine props that the 400's and 500's used.... it was dubbed the merc 0 drive.... only ever seen 1 and it was less engine and transom... i bought the prop off it..

warrior74z

08-05-2007, 09:46 PM

This has to be the best thread in a long time. :)
Thank You VERY much, Greg. I have admired these photos and clippings for years, bringing them out every year or two to enjoy. Now it is really a pleasure to share them with people that appriciate this type of material. I'll keep digging, but it may have to go to the 80's material soon.
Thanks again.
Barron

warrior74z

08-05-2007, 09:54 PM

yep... they used the 11ish" diameter 11 spliine props that the 400's and 500's used.... it was dubbed the merc 0 drive.... only ever seen 1 and it was less engine and transom... i bought the prop off it..
I had a 1965, I think, Glastron, maybe a model 154, with the Mercruiser/Renalt 60 hp. You had to prime a little lever on the fuel pump the get it to start, first run of the day. I was about 14 and it was a beautiful red and white v hull closed bow. It was kinda pointed in the rear that the engine cover actually stuck out over the outdrive some. Real neat ride, when you're 14! Later Mercuriser had an 80 hp version with a little better O/D.

BUSHWACKER

08-05-2007, 09:54 PM

150aintenuff

08-05-2007, 09:58 PM

I'l bet that skinny belt stung like hell, got any welts left? :eek: Bet if he knew you 2 jumped outta that runnin boat with it in gear and had to swim for it, ya would :D
I wonder if some of the younger readers know about the early, bigger motors "dock crashers" NO nuetral started in gear only. Starter button in shift handle. Push it, when you got straight up pray it would start as you pulled back into reverse. Correct me if I'm wrong some didn't even have a reverse?

the motor started the oposite direction.... they were direct drive motors the controll box was essentially a relay to reverse the starter direction of the motor..

150aintenuff

08-05-2007, 09:59 PM

warrior74z

08-05-2007, 10:24 PM

I'l bet that skinny belt stung like hell, got any welts left? :eek: Bet if he knew you 2 jumped outta that runnin boat with it in gear and had to swim for it, ya would :D
I wonder if some of the younger readers know about the early, bigger motors "dock crashers" NO nuetral started in gear only. Starter button in shift handle. Push it, when you got straight up pray it would start as you pulled back into reverse. Correct me if I'm wrong some didn't even have a reverse?
Look back at the post of the ski boat in front of the old boat store. TWO DOCKBUSTERS. You can tell by the left rotation prop. Talk about a handfull to drive. and picking up skiiers, WOO HOO!! They all had reverse, just no running neutral. The speedmasters had forward only.

gofish7070

08-06-2007, 09:41 AM

Wow Warrior 74Z,,,,,,, You have unearthed a real time capsule,,,,,, Fellow shaking hands with your Dad is Lou Harvey, at the time National Sales Mgr. for Merc,,,,,,,,,, at the dinner table I recognize Charlie Alexander far right,at the time VP of Engineering,later went on to become Prez of Merc. I think is retired down in Texas,,,,,,,,,, Loved your Frank Mundy photos,,,,,,,, Worked with Frank in early,worked with Frank in early '70's when we both were out of the Atlanta Branch,I lived in Memphis and Frank was out of Atlanta Andrew L. ( Chic) Morris was the branch manager and very few people knew Chic was the tire change during Mercury Auto racing days,,,,,,,,, Also FYI Mr.K hired Frank to drive his cars while he was working for a barnstorming Auto Thrill Show named Lucky Teeters, ( what a name),,,,,,,,, will ad more later

gofish7070

08-06-2007, 02:22 PM

Thanks powercat, Thats the Raveau,,,,,,, pretty snappy for late 50's,,,,,,,,,,, With regards to post#49 Remember the day Dad wrote that release, as I was living in FdL at the time,,,,,,,,,,, He was torn up as he felt he was betraying his friend and co-worker, remember ECK actually understanding and helping him through it, While being Zone Sales Mgr. for Merc working out of Memphis,,,,, Remember receiving release from Brunswick announcing Jack Reichert as new vice-president of Marketing for Mercury, this was just a short time later,,,,,,, Of course I called my Father to get his thoughts on this,,,,,,,,,, and he was unaware that they had even released the announcement,,,,,,,,,, Left Merc in late "70's as their was distinction from incoming regime and "Carls Boys" Big Companies havent worked for one since,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Scream And Fly

08-06-2007, 02:32 PM

Excellent thread - I pinned it so it's easier to find for everyone :)

seeroy

08-06-2007, 02:46 PM

Barron and Jim - Greg said "Excellent Thread"...I say "OUTSTANDING THREAD" - Steve

warrior74z

08-06-2007, 09:47 PM

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-31.jpgOctober 1963...Dealer Meeting, Dad with Don Graves and 1964 Merc. I remember how exciting it was to see the new lineup every year. I always had to stay at the shop while Dad went to the Dealer meetings, but a few weeks after he came back, a delivery truck would pull up to the front of the shop and my uncle , brother and usually a part time guy and I would go out to unload about five or so engines. Back then the boxes stood upright with the engine positioned like it would be on a boat. No forklift or loading dock here, just muscled that big six off the truck. Then my brother would lean the box over so I could reach underneath and pull the box flaps out. Then Dad and whoever was hanging around would wait in anticipation as we lifted the outer box up and off to reveal the gleaming phantom black beauty with an all new decal theme. We would marvel at it for awhile, then uncowl it and start looking for changes on the powerhead from the previous year model. It was a contest between us to see who could spot the changes first...ahhh, the good old days...

warrior74z

08-06-2007, 10:01 PM

Another view of Mercury Outboard Sales and Service. 1960...This was a few years before Lake Hartwell was filled and the only boating in Anderson was relatively small Broadway Lake. I remember when we had rigged the bigger Larson, the one on sawhorses, and pulled it straight through downtown on the way to the lake. It might as well been a moon rocketship, the way people stopped in their tracks to turn and look at this red and white beauty with the tall white 80 horsepower in line six Merc. This was the biggest boat ever seen around at that time. I was in the back of the shop truck (yes we rode in the back and lived to tell about it) and can see the faces of the people to this day...and it was only eighteen feet long...We did put a trailer under it though...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-29.jpg

warrior74z

08-06-2007, 10:22 PM

January 1968...Dad looking over a new Thunderbird. T-Bird came out with the "Cathedral Hull" few years earlier, and is what became commonly known as the tri hull. Notice the area in front of the windshield was not seating but just a recessed area to walk or sit. Three years later and about every manufactuer around had a tri-hull walk through with seating in the front. I never did like tri hulls. Too much like a station wagon (some young readers might not know what that is). I liked a closed bow v hull then and I still do today. Notice the T-Bird a few boats over, with the top set up is a little more blunt nose. Probably a 1966. I said it before, tough old boat. Thunderbird had an ad campaign around this time that showed a T Bird being dropped 220 feet from a helicopter into the ocean. Then they took it to the shop rigged it and drove away. How did they come up with 220 feet? Because the one they dropped from 230 didn't make it...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-34.jpg

warrior74z

08-06-2007, 10:31 PM

September 1979...Three Hundred horsepower outboard...What in the world do they need a three hundred horsepower outboard for? Actor Jerry Reed did some ads for Merc I believe

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-32.jpg

BUSHWACKER

08-06-2007, 10:31 PM

Where's the picture of a Caravelle (?) with the sliding hardtop for the kids to see :eek: you had to have a "square" Dad if he bought one of those :D But it was still a boat :p

warrior74z

08-06-2007, 10:44 PM

Where's the picture of a Caravelle (?) with the sliding hardtop for the kids to see :eek: you had to have a "square" Dad if he bought one of those :D But it was still a boat :p
The Aristo Craft had a sliding hardtop, out of Atlant GA. Son still builds the woody Aristo Crafts just like the old days.

warrior74z

08-06-2007, 10:54 PM

Brand new rig. Just add water...$1099. Wonder why people looked so little in the old ads...put three Big Mac modern super sized today's people in a little 14' and they would look Paul Bunyons.:D :eek:

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-35.jpg

warrior74z

08-06-2007, 11:05 PM

Barron and Jim - Greg said "Excellent Thread"...I say "OUTSTANDING THREAD" - Steve
Thanks Steve.
You old factory guys need to throw some comments in here and there, ya know?

gofish7070

08-07-2007, 02:11 PM

Ditto on the thanks, Glad anybody remembers all that old stuff,,,,,,,,,,, Couple of random thoughts,,, Frank Mundy, Upon retiring from Mercury still kickin,,,,,,, Frank went on to work for Roger Penske with regards to the Indy 500 projects,,,,,,, Good to see photo of Don Graves very polished salesmen loved to ride his bycycle all over FdL,,,,,, Also with Charlie Alexander in a previous photo,to the far left is John Hull who went on to become product manager for the ill-fated snowmobile project,,,,,,,, Barron in a thread you had asked of Ham Hamberger,now retired living in Palm Springs, One of his best friends lives here in Tequesta with me,,,,,,,,,,,, John Korb who explains that his wife talks about how much he likes retirment and loves to take his svelte 300 lb body into the pool to talk to the girls,,,,,, Random Info

gofish7070

08-07-2007, 02:51 PM

A DIFFERENT SLANT ON E.C. KIEKHAEFER As we approach Mercury"s 70th year (since 1939) We all have written and read many stories and books with regards to Mr.K, most of which were true but always entertaining, He was Truly the epitome of a Type A personality,,,,,,,,,,, But I shall never forget this,,,,, Way back to the year 1955 Days of wide ties, 2-tone shoes aviator wide sunglasses, and double martini lunches, After the wars, and the economy and Mercury was starting to rock, Anyway I was the ripe old age of 8,,,,,,,, Had a older brother who was born deaf,,,,,, while attending special school for the deaf in Milwaukee, Unfortunately at age 13 suffered a cerebral hemmorrage,and passed away in his sleep,,,,,,,,, This happened in November of '55 As we all can imagine losing a son or daughter is very devastating,,,,,,,, Really tore up my Father, Winter comes early in the mid-west and on the day of his funeral The state was engulffed in abitter cold,powerful snow storm, While we were in the church for final services We realized the weather was getting worse and really only family members would dare venture out on such a day,,,,, After Final prayers we all turned to exit ,,,, and in the back of the church,,bundled up like Eskimos standing tall were Charlie Strang and Carl Kiekhaefer , Will never forget Charlie walking up to my Dad and unable to say anything,but looking at him and saying "tough",from their Carl taking the time to talk to my siblings and myself to assure us everthing will be good,,,,,,,,,, Upon walking outside from the church, I will never forget seeing the biggest snow-plow in my life,,,,,,,,, It seems these characters had somehow rented the biggest plow they could find to safely traverse the 40 miles to Hartford Wis. to attend the service and support their co-worker,,,,, Only recognizing them as friends of my Father I asked my Mother who they were,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Simply she put,,,, They are men............. RIP Carl Hope we did you proud,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

willabee

08-07-2007, 03:44 PM

Is this a Mercury dealer meeting or T Bird. Looks like a lot of those 1967 Mercuriser jackets present.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-17.jpg

That sure looks like the dealer meeting in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.....1967 would be right. The large building on the right would be the Pioneer Lodge, that's where the guys stayed. It was pretty new back then, was built at the mouth of the river on Lake Winnebago.

The guys in the photo are facing the lake and if you followed that walkway they are on to their left, you came to it's end and a left turn down the river. All of the new model demonstrator boats were staged there, out of sight. When signaled, one by one they came out of the river, made a right turn onto the lake.....went past all of the people lined up where you see them in the photo and then made a complete turn to come back to the seawall. The show started with the smallest outboard and continued through the largest sterndrive. After all of the boats had made their run and were tied to the seawall, the dealers were allowed to take whatever boat(s) that caught their interest for a ride. The Merc employee that had driven the boat in the show had to stay in their boat during these rides.

I found out that the boat you wanted to be driving for this event was one of the small engine fishing outboards because not many people wanted to take them for a spin. They all wanted to drive the faster, big engine stuff and some of those guys might have been hot salesmen, but they sure weren't hot drivers.....some were downright scary! There was another of the boat pictured that didn't have the big cabin and was powered by six inline 6 clyinder Mercrusiers, all under glass bubbles.....it was very neat :cool:.

Very interesting stuff you've put together here (brought back some buried memories :) ).....thanks for sharing.

rock

08-07-2007, 04:04 PM

warrior74z

08-07-2007, 04:47 PM

Thanks for the history Barron. Must of been cool growing up with the company. Noticed those first few pics that stated top speed also gave the tilt pin location. One add showed a Larson with the 80. I had one of those to start my boating resume with. I know they ran both directions but didn't they have a starter for each direction? Thanks for sharing the pictures. Enjoyed them alot. Here's one for you that's not as old but I thought you might enjoy it.
Rock
Thanks for the compliments Rock. The direct reverse Merc engines ran clockwise and counterclockwise, but had only one starter. It had a double bendix, one above and one below the flywheel. The engine had two solenoids and depending on which position the throttle lever was in when the starter switch was pressed, the correct solenoid was activated to spin the starter the desired direction and the cooresponding bendix spun up or down to engage the flywheel.

I like the shirt. Do you remember which race you purchased it at?

To clarify, I worked at the family Mercury dealership, but not The Mercury company.

Barron

rock

08-07-2007, 05:27 PM

I knew there were 2 of something. I won't discuss how many years ago that was. I also knew you worked at a dealership but you still came up with the company. Awesome opportunity to see the developments over the years. I could be wrong, again, alot of years, but I think I bought the shirt at the Pekin race. We are trying to get that race back on the map. It's been many years since the last one. I'll bet I have had that shirt since 1979 or so and I could have gotten it any number of places. It don't fit quite as well as it used to. Good to know you are doing well and thanks again for the pictures.
Rock

warrior74z

08-07-2007, 09:49 PM

I had a 1965, I think, Glastron, maybe a model 154, with the Mercruiser/Renalt 60 hp. You had to prime a little lever on the fuel pump the get it to start, first run of the day. I was about 14 and it was a beautiful red and white v hull closed bow. It was kinda pointed in the rear that the engine cover actually stuck out over the outdrive some. Real neat ride, when you're 14! Later Mercuriser had an 80 hp version with a little better O/D.
Found this information on the Glastron. It was a Futura V164, not a 154. I'm almost certain mine was a year earlier though, because the 1965 doesn't show the 60 hp engine as an option, and I am 100% sure that mine had the 60. Also it was solid red and white, not metalflake. Also remember that there was no power trim, or tilt. There was a crank handle about three feet long, that you inserted into the inner transom bracket and wound the drive up or down.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-41.jpg

warrior74z

08-07-2007, 10:17 PM

This is probably the most interesting and important item, in my opinion, that came out of our files.
First let me explain that to understand the importance of some of these papers require that you either:
A. Worked for Kiekhaefer Mercury in the 60's or before.
B. Read "The Iron Fist"

To read how Mr Kiekhaefer started in the outboard business by accident, in 1939, to being one of the largest and most sucessful outboard businesses by 1960 is an amazing read. The title says it all. A company could not be sucessful today the way they were operated in the 50's and 60's. Mr K controlled everything. One of his tactics was to hire you and pay you twice what you were making in your last job, then make you earn it.
Anyway this company was his baby and he wrestled with the decision to sell for years and had even walked out at the closing of the sale before with many lawyers and executives present. But when he finally sold Mercury, this was the actual news release sent to us.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-40.jpg

warrior74z

08-07-2007, 10:30 PM

Racing News...October 1973

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-45.jpg

warrior74z

08-07-2007, 10:34 PM

Lots of names we use around here.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-46.jpg

outboard-rob

08-08-2007, 12:03 PM

Awesome thread,thank you for sharing that stuff..........Rob:)

mercboat

08-08-2007, 07:54 PM

This is a Commando U2 , as the BHB description says. A 2 seat, 3 point hydroplane. They were built from 1958-61. I own a 1961 U2. There are around 15 that have been found.
For more info on this really cool boat, go to Google, and put in "Commando U2."
I've looked at this photo since I was a kid and thought it was the coolest looking boat. And the driver just says 1960. Has anyone seen one of these boats recently? Any history about these boats? Anyone know the driver or just a model? Boat looks like it has about 303 pounds of metal trim hanging on it.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-2.jpg

warrior74z

08-08-2007, 08:52 PM

Merc dealer meeting 1978 or 79. How about a two hole Seebold? I did not go to this meeting, somewhere near Atlanta, probably Lake Lanier Islands. Dad told me they gave rides to the dealers, and ran a simulated lap, and came straight in toward the dock around 100 MPH and just when you thought it was too late and a collision was inevitable, a g-induced left turn saved the day! Fun fun fun.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-57.jpg

warrior74z

08-08-2007, 08:59 PM

Willabee, here is the boat you mentioned that was at the 1967 meeting. You can clearly see the glass bubbles over the engines, which I had never noticed until you pointed it out. Thanks Willabee

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-53.jpg

warrior74z

08-08-2007, 09:55 PM

Thought this was a cool ad. I like the automotive type showroom,
searchlights in the sky and the people milling around and the big finned car and oh yeah, the white tower of power, dock buster edition.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-49.jpg

fastcat300

08-08-2007, 10:15 PM

cool photos and a great read..............................

warrior74z

08-09-2007, 09:28 AM

1979 Dealer meeting. Old Merc display. Steve and Mike, do you think this is part of the Lake X collection, which is now in Fondulac? Or is it from a private collector?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-55.jpg

mbd29

08-09-2007, 12:08 PM

Warrior: I was not in the Exhibits dept. but I'm sure the engines are from the Lake. We probably pulled them from the there and then sent them back after the meeting. We put the KG9 on display at Racing a few years after this photo.

I was at that Dealer Meeting inthe Pioneer which is now gone.

moparbarn

08-09-2007, 06:02 PM

Flat bottom Allison with Mercruiser four banger. Bet your neighbor doesn't have one of these. How many of you remember white MCR outdrives?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-5-1.jpg
i water skied behind a few. we had a 140 in a 23' V-King for a long time. finally went black with a 160, bought and installed at skyway marine.

warrior74z

08-09-2007, 06:41 PM

1962... The first black Mercury outboard engine was the '62 Merc 1000. The worlds first production 100 horse power outboard. But, there is a very interesting reason why it was painted black. Carl Kiekhaefer's chief engineer and right hand man was Charlie Strang. Strang had a brilliant mind and was a graduate of MIT. Many, many of Mr K's inventions, inovations and patents were Strang's ideas, but Mr K took all the credit. Mr Strang was single and was very close to his mother. She would even come looking for him at the plant if he was too late getting off work.
With the new styling of the Merc 1000 it looked mighty big when they painted it white. Strang and Mr K were at the factory late one night trying to decide what to do about the obvious size of the engine. Well, in came Mrs Strang looking for Charlie, so they told her of their delima. Mrs Strang said, "Well, when a lady wants to appear a few sizes smaller, she wears a black dress". The next day they showed Mr K the new Phantom Black Merc 1000, and the rest is history. A side note though, the 1000 was the only black engine in the '62 line up. The rest were white.

For the complete story read "The Iron Fist"

Any corrections to this story are welcome.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-48.jpg

moparbarn

08-10-2007, 07:08 AM

warrior, VERY cool posts and pics. i grew up in this era in miami. if you lived on the water, you generally had a boat before you had a car-or driver's license. i lived not too far south of t-bird factory, i remember when t-bird and formula were 2 separate companies. one of my neighbors had an 18" t-bird tri hull with a 75 hp (?) evinrude they "raced" in the goldcoast marathon a few years. there was a class for everybody in that race. wings, sk's, ib hydros, service runabouts, and all sorts of family/pleasure boats sharing the course at once. made for some interesting starts. used to line them up across the bay, and turn them loose, 'shotgun style':eek: . fun to watch the race to the first bridge,about 3 miles away:D . about flipper- ivan tors studios was about 10 or 12 blocks north of my house. we would ride our bicycles up there, through the gate, and watch filming, or just "check it out". no issues, no problems. as long as we behaved, we were welcome. used to go to donzi and magnum, except by boat. same deal. can you imagine any company letting kids just check it out/hang out-today:eek: ? a wonderful time to grow up, and many thanks for bringing some of it back to life:) !

2us70

08-10-2007, 11:57 AM

Fish

08-10-2007, 12:03 PM

thanks agaain for sharing this treasure chest with us Warrior; Great thread!!!!!

warrior74z

08-10-2007, 08:21 PM

Were the results posted in #80 the actual final results from the 73 Nationals? I ran in both SG and SE at that event and I recall one of those named getting caught with a seriously under weight boat with a very creative water ballast tank hidden under the seat. The driver, who shall remain nameless. in question was not Doug Perl.
I interpret it to show several records set during the course of the race, and where it is listed OPC National Champions '73, to be the champions for the 1973 season. Not sure though. I was not there. Anyone else care to offer help?

warrior74z

08-10-2007, 09:17 PM

1961...The Mercury zone sales manager
would come by each year before the new models came out to project sales for the coming year. This projection chart shows that Dad ordered 26 engines for the 1960 season, his first in the boat business. Projected sales for 1961 is 46 units. This is the first year for the new black Merc 100 horsepower, and feelings must have been good, as Dad ordered eleven long shaft and two short shaft engines. It shows the first one arriving in September 61 and I had just entered the second grade in school, so I don't remember the event, but as I witnessed in the later years, I'll bet it sure was exciting to pull that box off the shiney black monster.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-56.jpg

warrior74z

08-10-2007, 09:24 PM

October 1961 A new Hydrodyne with a '61 Merc 850 sits in front of the store. Some Hydrodynes had a step bottom and bench seat with coil or some sort of spings and shock absorbers. Cool for '61.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-77.jpg

warrior74z

08-10-2007, 09:31 PM

Remember that 100 Merc that arrived in September? Well, here it is! Its October and its rigged on the Dyne. I do remember this boat, it was Dad's demo for a couple of years. I guess Mrs Strang was right, black sure looks good. This photo was taken at our house, and I can tell by the dew on the windshield, that it was early morning. Come on Dad, lets go to the lake!
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-68.jpg

warrior74z

08-10-2007, 09:36 PM

1965 And Billy Seebold is still running B runabout. I'm sure some of you will recognize some of the other names.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-66.jpg

warrior74z

08-10-2007, 09:40 PM

De Silva sure had some cool boats. There is a twin engine hydro shown. Anyone ever remember it running? Think thats a 55H with the streamline cowling?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-67.jpg

warrior74z

08-10-2007, 09:44 PM

Where do you think Hi Performance boating would be today without this Man?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-79_edited-1.jpg

Mark75H

08-11-2007, 07:58 AM

Bill Holland's motor with the streamline cowling is a McCulloch 630 racing motor.

The twin engine hydro was also run using McCulloch racing motors. The driver was probably Jack Oxley. I've never heard anything about it running, so I'd guess it was a flop. There are some pictures of it from Science and Mechanics Magazine. I'll post later today

Mark75H

08-11-2007, 09:12 AM

17 foot dual cockpit hydro from Science and Mechanics. There were no side views of the boat in the article, only these 2 back views.

The motors were set fixed straight ahead and it was steered by a rudder (you can see part of the bracket just in front of his nose). Kies is holding a prop; in the article it says they were thinking props and gear ratio were the keys to speed. Kies is holding a prop by Warren Litton with more area than the one on the motor. These motors had interchangeable gear ratios from 2:1 to 1:2 in approx 10% increments. I just bought one with 25% gears, as it is it is set for 25% overdrive; I will be changing it to run 25% reduction.Back views of the 17 foot dual cockpit hydro

warrior74z

08-11-2007, 12:56 PM

1974...I always thought the '74 and '75 Merc 1500's were the best looking and best running of the consumer in-lines. (Except of course the XS) In a couple of years the 1750 V6 would over shadow it and by 1978 it would be a 1400. No longer the king of the outboards. Also thought this brochure was the best, because, of course, it had a tunnel on it. OK guys, is that a Moly? Who's the pilot?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-78.jpg

2us70

08-11-2007, 04:16 PM

The tunnel boat is a McCall but I can't make out the driver but it kind of looks like Olegator to me

warrior74z

08-11-2007, 09:31 PM

1977...Racing News

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-43.jpg

warrior74z

08-11-2007, 10:04 PM

1968...Modern facility at Fon du Lac. When this plant had the ground breaking ceremony, in 1964, Mr K mounted a large earth mover, I think called a pan, and came across in front of all the dignataries and news people and company executives, and made a swipe of earth about six or eight inches deep, a hundred feet long, or so. Now it's not easy to operate one of these machines that smoothly, so everyone was really shocked when Mr K came around for a second swipe and made it just as evenly and smoothly as the first. Mr K was always prepared.

Reminds me of another story about Mr K. Grading for one of his distribution centers was supposed to have already started when Mr K arrived but not a stone had been turned, so Mr K bought a new bulldozer, had it delivered to the site and started the grading himself. I believe this was the Atlanta branch. As always, corrections to these posts are welcome.

Kiekhaefer Mercury main plant

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-81.jpg

warrior74z

08-11-2007, 10:21 PM

Well, it was 105 degrees here in South Carolina yesterday, so I thought I'd show that it does snow here also. And when it does, even one inch, the whole town shuts down. If it is even in the forcast the day before, all the milk and bread will be wiped out of the grocery stores! I never understood why people think that humans cannot survive for twenty four hours without bread and milk. And we all know the snow will melt by the next day. Notice Christmas trees, leaning on the side of the building, for sale.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-74.jpg

warrior74z

08-12-2007, 01:44 PM

1960...Sixty horsepower with six cylinders. Lets see thats only...sixty divided by six..yeah, ten horsepower per cylinder! Compare that with todays modern outboard at fifty per cylinder.
Ok, how about a ski belt for only $1.79?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-52.jpg

warrior74z

08-12-2007, 08:29 PM

1964...Glastron Jetflite with 100 HP Merc. Glastron was one of the first small pleasure boats to use the deep v hull. Most pleasure boats in the early 60's were flat bottom with rounded chines. The deep v hull improved ride and handling and increased speed. It allowed the small boats to handle the new "large" outboards. The Jetflite was to the early 60's what the Hydrostreams and Allisons were to the 70's. I always thought it was very cool and I wonder why I have not seen any restored Jetflites. This photo is from a Glastron ad.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-39.jpg

warrior74z

08-12-2007, 08:40 PM

LIQUID NIRVANA

08-12-2007, 08:48 PM

Superb Heritage. I agree this is magnificent stuff. Should be more of it shared around, not hidden in boxes somewhere. C'mon guys dig it all out before we all die & it is LOST FOREVER.

BUSHWACKER

08-13-2007, 12:42 AM

Look familiar? That's me. Well the little guy is. My brother's Jetflite in 1966. This was my first "fast boat" experience. Seems like it ran in the low 50 MPH range. It would handle anything on the lake. We loved to put it to the Chris Crafts and Correct Crafts. My brother would make me crouch down in the very back of the boat when racing someone. Good for an extra mile an hour or two.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-73.jpg
I came upon 2 guys racing in 2 new brand Larsons w/ brand new 150 Mercs, I had to get 2 of my 3 passengers to go sit on the gas tank of my 66 Duo, 150PT Merc to catch & beat them, really did hurt their feelings I had redecaled to 115 hp, but I also was running 1 of the very first semi-cup props. Would have gave money to hear what they said to their dealer on Monday:D

warrior74z

08-13-2007, 02:17 PM

1964...Inside the store. Dad always put as much product under the roof as possible. See the white Mercs that were only a couple of years old? They could even be new left over models. Far to the right is what appears to be a 1957 Mark 55. On the upper rack nearest, could be an Elgin and maybe a Scott Attwater. Quicksilver lube and storage oil, quarts of Formula 2 outboard oil, which went to five gallons of gas. Poulan chain saws to help in the off season. Underneath the engine rack are trailer hitches. The customer would back their car slightly into the garage type door on the side of the building and I would crawl under the car with a large Craftsman drill and a 1/2 inch bit and drill through those thick car frames of the 60's cars. I can still feel the hot metal chips going down my shirt.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-70.jpg

warrior74z

08-13-2007, 02:26 PM

In this view you can see new Mercs on the heavy cast iron stands. On the wall behind the engines, are waterskis. My first job at eight years old was, first thing in the morning, sweep the floors, empty trash, pick up debris in the boat yard, then wash boats the rest of the day. If I was lucky, Dad would take me on a lake test. Woo Hoo!
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-71.jpg

warrior74z

08-13-2007, 09:55 PM

1970-71...Scat Craft with 1350 Merc. This photo was made after it was sold to a customer, but for the summer of '71, as a rising senior in high school, this was my demo. It was my first boat that would exceed fifty miles per hour. Notice the spacer on the transom to elevate the Merc. We had just learned about "jacking up the engine" to gain speed, and this was the first application, be it conservative. Also this is the first high rake propeller we had used. It is a Quicksilver 14x22. This was before they had a name for every prop, and by the way, I still have that propeller. This rig would run fifty eight miles per hour, and I don't remember being out run with it.
I had the boat out all saturday afternoon the first time in the water. Had a blast, a very fun boat at the time. Sunday afternoon, I invited a good friend out with me, and we were probably on our third or fourth tank of fuel. (When your Dads a Mercury dealer it is pretty much wide open throttle all the time) Any way, I remember coming by the house WOT and about a mile past the dock, all of a sudden the steering felt real loose. It would not turn the engine. My reaction was to jerk the throttle back to idle. When I did the boat took an immediate hard left turn. The g forces threw my buddy into me and my head hit the windshield railing and knocked me out for a couple of minutes. When we gathered ourselfs and looked around, surprise! The tower of power was nowhere to be seen. I went to the back of the boat and I could see the engine under water, hanging on by the control cables. Then I realized I had blood running down my face from a nasty gash above my eye. Soon a boat came by and the driver ask us if we were out of gas! I explained to him that a new 135 horsepower engine was hanging under the boat, so he pulled us to an island and we lifted the Merc back onto the transom and he pulled us to the dock.
Monday morning back at the shop we figured out that the steering cable nut that attaches to the tilt tube of the engine had never been tightened and came off, causing the loss of steering. From that day on, until we sold our dealership in the '90's that nut was known as the Barron nut. Also up until this point, we had always used only the bottom two mounting holes on the engine to bolt through the transom. From that point on, we used all four mounting holes. This was before we used power trim very much and their additional mounting bolts. This lesson lived with me throughout my racing career, as before every pass in the unlimited outboard hydro's I drove, the last thing before we launched, I would personally check the steering system from front to back, never trusting anyone else to do this for me.
For two months after this incident, I had severe headaches. Walking up the stairs at school was killing me every day, but I never told anyone until the headaches finally went away. Can you say concussion?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-89_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

08-13-2007, 09:56 PM

1971 Scat Craft with Merc 1350

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-90_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

08-13-2007, 10:17 PM

1976...Reggie's championship ride. I think Dad took this photo at the Jacksonville FL Dealer show.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-94.jpg

warrior74z

08-14-2007, 10:09 PM

1976...The red Hydrostream Viper with XS 1500. This photo was taken after we sold it, but for a couple of months in '76 this was my bad ride. When I rigged it, basic was the theme. No power trim, no foot throttle, no jack plate, no built in tank, no kill switch, no life jacket, no brain. Two six gallon tanks a tach and speedo was all it needed. The Chopper propeller had recently been introduced, and I believe this was the first application at our dealership. A 14x24 propelled this rig to an honest 83 mph on a Merc speedo. Covered about anything on the lake. One weekend after I had run out of competitors to pounce on, I was told there was a group of fast boats near Clemson about fifteen miles up the lake, so there I go. The fastest guy there had a Brandt? boat with an inline 1500. There were a few V 6 1750's but they were on heavier boats and already knew the Brandt was the fastest. So out goes my girlfriend and And I put the remaining six gallon tank in the middle of the floor for better handling. It was a Sunday afternoon and the water was rough and we made several passes and I had him by five or so boat lenghts each time. Mr brandt complained about the rough water, so we found a channel with smooth water just off the main channel. As we ran in the smooth water he had a jump on me from the start and I couldn't pass him. the boats were about equal in smooth water. After maybe a mile run and him one boat length in front, I began to pass over some rollers from a houseboat that had been in the main channel. These were very low rollers, really just a rise and fall of six or eight inches about every thirty feet. As I topped one them the bow stood straight up at eighty plus mph. It was like a parachute catching the air, just poof and the boat was vertical. I grabbed the throttle and the Viper came down on it's side and coasted to a safe stop. I was VERY shaken but ok. Those witnessing us race could not believe it did not go over. Remember, no life vest or kill switch!!
Monday morning one of those spectators was in our shop and purchased the Viper on the spot. He was Don Stegall, and he would play a big roll in my racing in the future...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-99_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

08-14-2007, 10:24 PM

That is Don in the drivers seat. He added power trim and some junk, including his not so slim buddy here. Probably never was as fast as when I had it.:D Here he is about to put it on an Allison with big OMC. At least they learned to wear ski vests.
Sorry about the bad pics, only ones I have.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-98_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

08-15-2007, 09:49 PM

1976...Time for a new modern facility. Same location, just added some property for expansion. Now we had a showroom with room for a dozen boats, indoor shop for four boats and open shop for four more boats plus wash rack. Full parts and accessories department, and an office for Dad.
And, get this restrooms! The old white store that we used from '59 to '75 had no indoor plumbing! We just used "the bushes" or woods about fifty yards behind the shop. If you had serious business to do you went home, and returned.
The gravel part of the parking lot where the two blue cars are parked is where the old store had been. This photo is from '78 or '79 as I see some Hydrostream Vikings out front.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-91_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

08-15-2007, 09:52 PM

Another view with a blue Hydrostream by the sign post.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-92.jpg

warrior74z

08-15-2007, 09:58 PM

Grand Opening Ad

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-61.jpg

blkmtrfan

08-16-2007, 10:03 AM

Once again awesome thread :cool: :cool:

This stuff is great.

You guys sure had a pretty full line up in the late 70's, great looking shop http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gifhttp://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

moparbarn

08-16-2007, 10:37 AM

ditto on this thread. GREAT pics and history. i said it before, and every new post by you (warrior) just makes me want to thank you again:) :) .

gofish7070

08-16-2007, 10:49 AM

Went fishing for a few days (350lb blue marlin & 66lb yellowfin tuna),,,,but this thread like fine wine gets better everyday

seeroy

08-16-2007, 06:44 PM

Barron - It's like I told you! Just let it all hang out and folks will truly appreciate and enjoy it. You are doing a superb job. Best Regards - Steve Sirois

warrior74z

08-16-2007, 08:59 PM

Thank you everyone that has sent compliments and comments on this material. The generous showing of your appreciation is more than I could have ever hoped for. The Scream and Fly site truly has opened the world to my little treasures. Sharing these special moments of time during our years in the marine business is my pleasure, and I would like it to be a tribute to my father Edwin L Cooley 1926-2003
Thanks, Barron
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-122_edited-2.jpg

warrior74z

08-16-2007, 09:43 PM

I started going to some boat races as a spectator in 1973, and fell in love the the small Allisoncrafts. I thought they were the coolest looking boats, and I still do today. I knew boats, and the quality of Allison's fiberglass work was the best I had ever seen. The styling seems to past all tests of time. And their performance was superior to anything on the market. We were dealers for Glastron and Carlson, and Challenger, and had rigged some to run in the upper 60 MPH range. When Dad and I went to the Jacksonville Marine Trade show in 1975 and he signed up with Hydrostream, I was shocked, surprised and pleased. Dad followed Nascar and attended the Daytona 500 every year from 1959 (the first one) until 2003, but he tried to keep me out of the boat racing business, so I couldn't believe he ordered a load of Hydrostreams. We sold many loads of them in the late 70's and early 80's when Vipers and V-kings ruled. We were now running in the mid eighty mile per hour range. When he signed with Allison in 1979 I thought I was in heaven. I had a RS 16 that went through a 1500, a T-1, 1750 and a 200. Grey and burgandy. Beautiful boat, and even though we never sold many Allisons, they always will have a special place in my heart.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-117.jpg

warrior74z

08-16-2007, 10:06 PM

The timing of Mercury's release of the new Chopper prop could not have been better. New Hydrostream Viper on the floor, 1500XS still in the box and a 14x24 Chopper sittin' on my desk...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-116.jpg

warrior74z

08-17-2007, 06:27 PM

1983...Allison Specifications

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-119-1.jpg

warrior74z

08-17-2007, 09:04 PM

1970...Aerial view of the old store. It was four miles out, as the old newspaper ads read. Look at the next post and scroll back to this one and see how much it changed.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-87_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

08-17-2007, 09:08 PM

2005...Aerial from about the same view. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. In 1994 Dad sold the land to a Ford dealership. He was an avid Ford supporter on the Nascar circuit, so it was appropriate. Now Wal Mart is 1/4 mile away and K Mart is across the street.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-88_edited-1-1.jpg

WARLOCK

08-18-2007, 09:42 AM

AWESOME THREAD!!!! This reminds me of working for Jim Umbarger of Hustler boats in McHenry Il in high school. Jim Jr and I would go upstairs during lunch and look at all the old pictures of when Sr used to work with Paul allison and the Switzer bros.. And then later when Sr built his own race and pleasure boats. When we were little, Jim sr used to have a few Chysler stackers in his showroom that he used to race with. I believe he was sponsered by Chrysler for a while. Later, Dave

warrior74z

08-18-2007, 08:53 PM

1969...One day I came home from school and when I got to work, I saw two of the wierdest looking contraptions I had ever seen. They were solid yellow and looked like a cross between a boat, and a motorcycle. There was no propeller, just a nozzle out the back. I took the seat off, and there was a air cooled engine that looked like it came from motorcycle. Well of course we had to try them out after closing time. One of them had about twenty five horsepower. I had to stand and lean forward just to get it to plane. Once it did plane out, it was a blast. I remember just following the contour of the shoreline about ten feet from land, for miles. It would run planed out in about a foot of water. We used these things all summer in an attempt to sell some. But they just didn't catch on with the public. Dad decided not to order any more. Just another flop of an idea...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-95-1.jpg

It was about fifteen years later before they caught on...the infamous...SEA DOO

msm

08-19-2007, 12:40 PM

A 1969 Sea-Doo?!?

Talk about being ahead of your time...

Prior to seeing your post above, I would have thought sit-down "jet skis" were "invented" in the late 1980's. :D

Very interesting info here, Thanks! :)

warrior74z

08-19-2007, 08:32 PM

1960...Ya gotta love those fins...boat motor and trailer for $999...pair of skis, ski belt and ski rope for $18.99.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-100.jpg

warrior74z

08-19-2007, 08:59 PM

1983...From the Land and Sea Performance Center catalog. I always found this page interesting. I think Land & Sea's dyno numbers would put Merc and OMC on a level playing field. So, without the factory influence, I trust these numbers to be at least fair. Some interesting figures here. Also on another thread there is much debate about the output of the OMC racing V8. Here it comes in at 385 for the 1983-84 version. I don't pay much attention to the modified numbers, as they are L & S's work that they are trying to sell, but the stock numbers are fun to look at. The notes are various modifications by L&S. It is also noted that the asterick explains that all readings were taken at the crankshaft with open exhaust, thereby decreasing the advantage of the factory race engines' open exhaust as all engines were tested the same, stating that through the lower unit exhaust takes away 15 to 25 horsepower.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-121.jpg

warrior74z

08-20-2007, 09:01 PM

Another interesting page from the 1982-83 Land & Sea catalog. At the bottom of this page is a list of some pretty interesting boat motor combinations and the speeds with and without nitrous. Look and enjoy...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-120.jpg

warrior74z

08-20-2007, 09:58 PM

1961..Crosby...The Golden Fleet...I guess they were called that, because, every one that I remember was a two tone gold and tan combination. Had a 15' Crosby with Merc 45 when I was thirteen. The first boat that was "mine for the summer" that had a steering wheel. Crosby was thought of as a luxury brand in the early '60's. Would be considered bare bones by todays standards. I remember tooling up the lake one afternoon and my brother was testing a boat from the shop. I was following him in formation whe he made a 180 degree turn in a rather narrow part of the lake. Of course I was going to do just like big brother and when I whipped the Crosby around I realized it did not turn as sharp as his boat and before I could say "rookie" I was on the shore. Brother came back and tied his boat to it and pulled me off...Dad never knew about that one either. Before I forget about it another one of my "deals". My friend had built one of those ten foot hydroplanes that you used to see in Popular Mechanics magazine. He had a twenty Merc on it, this was about 1969 or '70 and I had just started driving cars. So one day after the boat store closed, we went in and got a used thirty or thirty five horse Merc. Might have been a Mark 55, 40 Hp. Anyway, we rigged that thing on his hydro and I was going to give it the first test. I started from his boathouse and nailed it wide open, and it went about two hundred yards and started darting left and right and before I knew it, the occilations escaladed to the extent that the engine left the scene and went to davy jones locker...thats ANOTHER ONE that Dad didn't find out about..out of a 1000 mile shoreline lake, that engine is still out there only 1/2 mile from where I live now...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-51.jpg

warrior74z

08-21-2007, 09:08 PM

1966...September...Jekyl Island, Georgia. Larson dealer meeting. Well I had to get Mom in here somewhere. Dad took all four of us on this trip. Larson had been good for us for six years now, and the new styling was very nice. I remember it was the first time I saw a snowmobile. I don't remember what brand it was, but they were running it on the beach. At the awards banquet, Dad went up to accept an award for the most Larson sales in South Carolina. It was my first taste of how you get "wined and dined" at these dealer meetings and how much fun it was...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-75.jpg

warrior74z

08-22-2007, 09:37 PM

1958...One year before Dad would open a Mercury dealership. I'm the one in the front with Dad, left hand drive you know, dock buster. A dock buster is Mercury direct reverse engine. There is no neutral. So to dock it, you approached in forward gear, and when close to the dock, you shifted out of forward, which cut the engine off. You then shifted into reverse, while coasting, and hit the starter switch, which was on the shifter handle for easy access. If the engine was in proper tune (points wear out) it started in reverse and you slowed to a stop beside the dock. If it did not start...well...dock buster...This boat was called a Loy Craft boat. It was moulded plywood and was shipped hull only. No transom, interior, or deck at all. They were stacked like paper cups in a stack. Then local craftsman? finished the boats with deck, transom ect. I believe he bought the Mark 75 from the Western Auto dealer.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-72.jpg

gofish7070

08-23-2007, 08:40 AM

While living on Lake Winnebago in FdL in the mid 50's went through the same issues that you did ironically,I believe it was also with a Crosby boat through the 60's while at the Oshkosh boat house,,,,,,,,,The majority of their test boats were the old Crosbys,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,All set up with quik disconnects as you coluld change and test engines rapidly,,,,,,,,,,,,, During lunch hour their all the guys would roll out this huge table top throw it on a 55 gallon drum of oil,,,,,,and play Sheep Head (Wis. Card Game) for lunch,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hey Seeroy remember trying to teach Bill the fine points of that looney card game

willabee

08-23-2007, 10:16 AM

,,,,,,,,,,,, During lunch hour their all the guys would roll out this huge table top throw it on a 55 gallon drum of oil,,,,,,and play Sheep Head (Wis. Card Game) for lunch,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I wasn't in the boathouse, I was in the "blueroom" at that time, but sometimes I'd wander over there and play with those guys.....Kubasta, Welton, Warhurst, Felix, Frank? (a crabby older guy that took care of the fuel on the endurance docks), Don Hillman? (nice guy, big man, played on our Twister softball team), Shrimp Loyd.....they were some of the regulars on that table. I remember that when I first got into the game, those boys got upset if you didn't play at their pace and if you made a dumb move.....WOW, it was like they wanted to take your first born!

seeroy

08-23-2007, 12:34 PM

Jim - I never played "Sheephead", but we did play alot of Cribbage at the Lake. There was a time when we spent lots of "company" time making custom cribbage boards. I remember that Mike Ramsey made the most eloquent one out of plexiglass. There were times when we "worked hard", and other times when we "hardly worked".:D -Steve

warrior74z

08-23-2007, 08:57 PM

Mid 70's...Can you find the Wing? In the mid 70's we had just moved into our new facility, and we were mighty proud of it. During the summer, I would order these movies from Mercury. You just returned them after watching them. No charge. I would set up chairs in the showroom, and eight or ten guys would show up and we would watch offshore or whatever film I had ordered that week. We had a 16mm projector, like the kind you had in high school in the 60's and 70's. Lots of fun. Before VHS tapes or DVD's, so it was a real treat to see boat racing on the screen. Not as convenient as today. And you know, that just made it a little more special...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-123.jpg
ffice:office" /><O:p></O:p>

warrior74z

08-23-2007, 10:20 PM

Early Glastron. This is before we became a Glastron dealer. They got a lot cooler looking by '64. A Mark 78A "Dock Buster" would have been a better engine choice, don't ya think?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-124.jpg

150aintenuff

08-23-2007, 11:39 PM

if ya notice the speed didnt drop much between loads..... tells ya that more HP wouldnt really made any difference on it..... the merc 400's were a sleeper to begin with.... but the test is very accurate, Ive got a very similar boat and engine combo and with a 13P 2 blade bronze prop that had had cup added to it I get 30 mph alone or 29.4 with 3 people... its all the hulls would do to go 30... the motor had about 1000 more RPM but it gains no speed beyond 30 mph....

Raceman

08-24-2007, 07:42 AM

... its all the hulls would do to go 30... the motor had about 1000 more RPM but it gains no speed beyond 30 mph....

So where'd the extra 1000 RPM's go?:confused: :confused: :confused:

warrior74z

08-24-2007, 07:47 AM

Mark75H

08-24-2007, 02:53 PM

2us70

08-24-2007, 07:19 PM

We used to call that a power hook.

Mark Poole ModVP

08-26-2007, 12:45 PM

We used to call that Dangerous!

warrior74z

08-26-2007, 02:16 PM

I have found in a few cases such as this, that the boat bottom is soft and concaves as more power is applied. Old hulls such as these seemed to be minimal on stringer strength, even when new. Just my thoughts, not that they are necessarily correct.:)

To explain further, as more power is applied, the bottom becomes less straight or concave, and the more power that is applied the worse it becomes. This condition causes a tremendous amount of drag, thus there is no increase in speed, and in some cases, more speed is obtained with less throttle.

warrior74z

08-26-2007, 09:21 PM

1976...Hydrostream Viper with 1500XS. Same rig as in post 119 and 120, but this is in the showroom before it was sold. Notice engine is flat on the transom and has no power trim. It would run eighty plus. This was very impressive for 99 cubic inches on a four passenger pleasure boat. This rig was special. All red metal flake, with the coolest of all consumer inline sixes the 1500XS. In all my years in the business, if I could have one rig back today in new showroom condition, it would be this Viper.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-130_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

08-27-2007, 09:17 PM

1960...Look at the article about the outboard turbine. Anyone out there remember hearing about this?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-133.jpg

smirnoff

08-28-2007, 06:53 PM

Hmmm......in 1976 I bought a new Hydrostream 17' Vector (identical red metalflake) with a horsepower maximum of 150HP, if my memory is correct, the Viper horsepower rating maxed-out at 140HP? Up in Michigan, no insurance company would write a policy if you went over the HP limit.

Back in the 70's when big-block jet boats were popular, many jaws dropped when a Vector 150HP "tower of power" outboard (2-blade prop) beat them hands-down!!!

Checkmates, Baja's, Chrysler's & Glastron's were no match at all......played leap-frog with all those dudes!

GREAT POST - KEEP FEEDING!

Dd24skater

08-28-2007, 07:30 PM

warrior74z

08-28-2007, 08:49 PM

1975...Our dealership has always been divided into two eras, the old store, which was made from my grandfather's country store, in 1959, and the new 75' by 150' modern facility, built in 1975. I always think of times during the dealership years as in one era or the other. Kind of a before and after. So the following photograph is just a slice of time, maybe a week or so that we had moved into the new facility and just before the old store was torn down, it stood silent and empty. There in the foreground, is the old reliable soldier, from which so many of my childhood memories were made. And there in the background is the new, the shiny, the place we could be proud of, with the memories yet to be made...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-129_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

08-28-2007, 09:04 PM

Skater, our very first shipment of Hydrostreams arrived about a week before we moved into the new building, and we rolled two of those stars and stripes Vipers into the showroom. The first two boats to go in there. We sold both of them rather quickly though, and one was with an 1150 which I think went out of state, and I never saw it again. The other one was rigged with the customer's own engine, a chrysler 85...for crying out loud...

warrior74z

08-29-2007, 11:25 AM

1960...Competitors ad. Many of you are too young to remember, but at one time Scott was the speed king on many lakes.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-134.jpg

mk30h

08-29-2007, 11:51 AM

I love this post!
My dad and unlce were Mercury dealers in Toronto Canada during the fifties and early 60's. I too have great memories of their shop and showroom, maybe a little bigger than your original shop but not much. Thier location was in one of the oldest buildings in TO, built in the 1840 an old hotel. Located on the busiest street in Toronto - Younge St. Dad was one of the first Merc dealers in Canada. They recieved the first Mk75 in Canada in 1956 and ran it on a little lake north of the city in October- which was captured on 8mm film have to post it one of these days.

Picture of the shop with a sidewalk display.

warrior74z

08-29-2007, 09:54 PM

Thanks for the photo Mk30H. I love the old dealerships that had character! If you or anyone else has more photos that fit this era, please post them.
Barron

warrior74z

08-29-2007, 10:14 PM

1979...Hydrostream in foreground. Carlson in background. See through the window, that building across the street? It was the Johnson dealer. They built it new about a year after Dad opened the old store, 1961. It was an impressive facility about 75' by 100' with a full basement. Of all the places they could have built, they chose right across the street from us. We battled sales with them for about twelve years when they closed up. And we were still operating out of that little country store with no showroom and no bathroom...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-58.jpg

warrior74z

08-29-2007, 10:33 PM

warrior74z

08-30-2007, 10:35 PM

1976...After outrunning everything on the lake that Sunday in '76, Don Stegall was in the store Monday morning with a check, and took home that Red Viper and 1500XS. This started a long and meaningful relationship with Don and myself. I had various combinations of Allison and Hydrostream rides and we would gather about ten or fifteen of our buddies with hot boats and search the lake from South Carolina to Georgia for competitors. We did this for years and Don bought several Hydrostreams during that time. I had a reputation for outrunning people who had more horsepower than me. I took pride in this. So Don began to notice my driving talent. Don bought a Broughton tunnel and added nitrous to a Merc 2.4 with 12" mid and SSM. He had a driver severly injured when it blew over running 1/4 mile drags with it. So Don had bought a Speedcraft drag hydro during the winter of '83. His driver refused to drive it. So at the regional boat show in February '84 Don ask me to come down to the speedboat club's booth to look at this hydro. It wasn't rigged but I remember getting in there and just sitting in it and imagining making a pass in it. Well he ask if I would drive it in some races for him and being young and foolish, I said sure. A friend and I rigged it in our shop after hours one week, and took it to an American Drag Boat Association race in Oak Ridge TN. The record for the Unlimited Outboard class was 126 in the quarter, held by Larry Boyd from Texas, in a Ron Jones hydro. During qualifying on Saturday, Blake Justice set a new record and backed it up at 128 MPH. Both of their boats were beautiful, imaculate professional set ups. Our hydro, called "In a Hurry" was a round nose kneel down hydro built in 1968, and modified in 1976 to a sit down pickle fork design. It was rigged quickly and it showed. On Sunday I got by my first round competitor easily. In the semi finals I came up against Justice, with his day old record and full of confidence. I jumped him so bad off the start that he gave up at half track and let off the throttle as I cruised to the win. In the final it was me and Boyd in the beautiful Ron Jones. Again, I jumped out to a big lead and ran a record ET of 8.06 at 120.32 MPH to win a National event in my first try...That was the last race of the season and Don had made an offer for the 1985 season that I couldn't refuse...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-141_edited-1.jpg

Fish

08-30-2007, 10:39 PM

Barron, thanks for taking the time to scan, post and fill in some historical info. This is one of the best threads I have seen in a very long time. Thanks,

fish

warrior74z

08-30-2007, 11:02 PM

My pleasure fish.:)

Scream And Fly

08-30-2007, 11:04 PM

This thread wins the "best of 2007" award! We all appreciate it!

Mark75H

08-31-2007, 06:37 AM

Barron, when I ask someone for a biography for the Who's Who I don't usually get this much detail :)

warrior74z

08-31-2007, 09:42 PM

1985...After that win at Oak Ridge, we tried to run a couple of area races. After a qualifying run in which I hit some rollers at the finish line we realized the wood on the sponsons was coming loose as the wood was rotting and just wasn't solid enough to keep the screws in. I called the shot and refused to drive it anymore. The "In a Hurry" was history. So Don made the decision to have a new hydro built if I would agree to drive it. He commissioned Tommy Drodz, of Lake Dallas Boat Company in Denton Texas, to build it. We had been so pleased with the "In a Hurry" that we took it to Texas to have Tommy copy it. In March I drove out to pick it up. I'll never forget walking into Tommy's shop and there it was. A finely crafted work of art. It had lines that just flowed. It was silver and charcoal. It was just absolutly beautiful. It was 15'4" long and weighed 175 pounds. Wow! And it was going to have over four hundred horses of nitrous oxide injected 2.4 litre Mercury V6 with a 12" mid and SSM lower. And just like Charlie Strang's Mother's inflluence on the early Mercury color black, Don's wife pinned the new hydro... "The Toy"...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-96_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

09-02-2007, 10:52 AM

1985..."The Toy" was impressive, but it was not a copy of "In a Hurry". Tommy Drodz, and I'm not sure of the spelling of his name, had changed the sponson design to a 'wedge' surface. As the sponson bottom came from the tip to the end, the last 18" or so it changed a few degrees downward to produce 'tips' for the hull to rise up on at high speeds. I understood the idea was to reduce the wetted area therefore reduce drag. So we brought The Toy home and got her all rigged up, and went to Lake Hartwell just for testing. As I was feeling it out I noticed that when transitioning from seventy to eighty MPH the front of the hull 'sucked' down onto the water before it released and ran free, on the sponson tips, at speeds above eighty. After several easy runs into the low hundred MPH range, when decelerating through the 80 to 70 area, the front of the boat 'sucked' down hard, and the front of the sponsons submerged and the boat submarined at about 75 and there I was under water, underneath an upside down boat. The entire top cowling of the boat, which went from tip to stern, had broken up and was gone. I was scratched up pretty good on my hands and arms, from the cowling breaking up around me. We towed the boat back to the ramp and got her out dried the engine out and pondered our situation. After analizing the situation we came to the conclusion that the sponson design, with the wedge, when at about 70 MPH the entire sponson was in the water and became a concave surface. The concave caused a negative pressure area 'sucking' the hull downward. We decided to remove the engine and take the boat back to Tommy in Texas and have him put a conventional sponson design on it. Here is a photo of "The Toy " with the missing cowling, and ironically, "In a Hurry" with a replacement cowling after the original had blown off during a race.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-144.jpg

warrior74z

09-03-2007, 01:52 PM

Tommy did a fast job of reconfiguring the sponsons. So I drove from South Carolina to Texas for the third time to pick up the Toy. Tommy helped us with the rigging and we towed south to Liberty Texas, near Houston for the first race. I don't remember much about that race except that I did just enough to win. I was having some problems adapting to The Toy. For one thing the boat cowling came up higher in the front, restricting my view of the sponson tips. Driving "In a Hurry" I viewed the sponson tips, during racing for situational awareness. In "The Toy" all I could see out front was water. Drag hydros are set up loose and on the ragged edge. They will not tolerate any rough water, so I always liked a reference as a guage of my relation to the water surface. Also the Mercury 'breakaway' steering was giving me trouble. The steering wheel shaft is not supported near the wheel, but near the floor, so there is a lot of flex in the shaft, and the wheel would move up and down a few inches. This took away the feeling of holding on to something solid, while racing. Not making any excuses, its just that it took awhile to feel somewhat comfortable in The Toy. It probably had the highest horsepower to weight ratio of any outboard in history at that time. In other words, it was a hand full. We added fifty pounds of lead shot in the front of the left sponson and that settled it down somewhat. But we kept working at the setup and different combinations and slowly I became more comfortable in it. We won the first three races, but I had only been pushing it hard enough to stay ahead of the other guy...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-113_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

09-04-2007, 09:58 PM

1985...Canada, London Ontario. A long tow from South Carolina. One of my memories from this trip, is crossing into Canada from Detriot. As soon as we got over the bridge, the land became beautiful and pristine. It was like we entered a different world. Not a speck of trash on the roadsides. Never did figure out how fast to drive though, with those kph speed limit signs. The police were very nice too.I had been cruising the motels looking for racing friends, and in a parking lot I put the truck in reverse to back up and speak to someone and didn't realize someone had pulled up behind me...crunch!! I had been having an adult beverage at the time, but the nice police officer let me leave the scene and drive to my motel to retrieve my drivers license, and retrun to the scene of the fender bender. Also it was the only race in my career that when you went though registration for the race, they gave you two cases of Molson Beer!!! Here is a nice shot of the pits...Oh and I won!!!

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-143.jpg

warrior74z

09-06-2007, 09:53 PM

September 13-14, 1985...St Louis Mo. I had become fairly comfortable in The Toy now and was making full track passes. At least most of the time. Probably one out of four passes I would abort the run if boat did not 'take a set' and settle down. Especially in qualifying, I would not take a chance, if the boat did not feel right. You have to realize this was a lot of horse power (400) for this small (15'4") and light (175 lbs boat only). And we wanted to set the record, so it was always set up on the loose side. Funny the things you remember after twenty two years, but when we arrived at the motel Thursday night, and was unloading luggage, I accidentally slammed Don's finger in the truck door. Had to open the door to get it out. We always stayed at the motel that was race headquarters and had lots of fun in the parking lot the night of arrival, visiting with friends, looking over all the race boats and having a few adult beverages. Saturday morning was always an exciting time as you drove to the race course and got the first look. My biggest concern was always how was the wind and waves affecting the course. Water conditions for the unlimited outboard hydros was very critical. The officials usually gave us the same considerations as the Top Fuel Hydro, (back then called blown fuel hydro) guys which ran 220 Mph in the quarter mile. They would wait extra time for the water to settle before giving us the ok. After all we were the top outboard class. A lot of the top fuel teams would tell me that they would stop their prep to watch the unlimited outboard guys. Anyway, I liked the look of the St Louis course. It was a small lake near the downtown area called Creve Couer. It was like a recreational park. It was hot as blue blazes, but if you walked through the woods just a little way, there was a cold waterfall to get under and cool off. I hear the call for Unlimited Outboard to 'put heat in your engines, and stand by'. This was when the butterflies start. We tow to the 'in ramp' and launch and motor down to the hold rope. And wait for our turn. The flashing amber lights up, two minutes to go. I put on my goggles, tighten my helmet strap and check that my parachute line is hooked up. The amber turns solid, thirty seconds to go. I hit the fuel pump switch and purge the nitrous. The twenty second clock starts. At three seconds to go I hit the start button and one second later go to full throttle and activate the nitrous switch. The boat leaps out of the water and takes a good set. It carries the left sponson up until half track. I'm doing over 100 MPH after five seconds. I nudge it ever so gently to keep it in the middle of the track. Eight and a half seconds and its all over. Bring it back down slowly, slowly. Let off the throttle all at once and the tail would drop and the front end would chase the sky. But this time I nurse it down to stop, and my friend in the rescue boat is holding up his fingers to indicate that I ran over a hundred and thirty one mph. A leg on the world record. I idle to the waiting trailer and load the boat and get out. Don pushes me into the lake to celebrate. I climb back out and sit on the trailer fender as he pulls me through the pits, and all the racers are congratulating me. It feels good to hear them, some of them that I didn't even know. We get back to our pit area and Don tells me he took the weight ballast that I had in the left sponson out, before we left South Carolina, without telling me.:eek: I was very upset that he did this, but we had a leg on the record to show for it, so I was too happy to worry about him taking my 'training wheels' off...Later that Saturday I made my second qualifying run, and ran within the required three percent of the first leg to set the record at 133.92 MPH...and then on Sunday chalked up another win...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-145.jpg

warrior74z

09-06-2007, 09:56 PM

Getting some ink in Hot Boat is rare for outboard drag boats

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-146.jpg

warrior74z

09-06-2007, 09:58 PM

Ink inside too:) Notice that the outboard record is faster than a blown jet (1200 horsepower) record

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-147.jpg

warrior74z

09-09-2007, 03:52 PM

1985...Phoenix Arizona The Saint Louis race was sanctioned by The American Drag Boat Association which ruled the eastern half of the U.S. The Southern Drag Boat Association, based in Texas joined The ADBA for a couple of races this season to form The ADBA/SDBA National Challenge Series. So setting the record in Saint Louis covered the compitition for most of the country. But then there was that west coast association, the International Hot Boat Association, in California and Arizona. This organization did not even have an outboard class. Soooo, Don calls the head of the IHBA and sells him on letting us run by invitation to establish an Unlimited Outboard record. So we get ready for the long haul to Phoenix. We had a trailer hitch reciever installed on The Toy trailer and hooked a friends River Race Hydro rig behind The Toy. Two boats and the dually truck was over 65 feet long. We never asked anyone if it was legal or not and got a lot of comments on the CB about that. We made it all the way to the Arizona line and had to go through a weigh station and cargo check and were told we could not pull through Arizona with a double rig. It was about three AM at the time. We left the friend's hydro at the check station and went to the next exit, pulled off the Interstate and unhooked The Toy in a vacant lot and I stood there in the middle of nowhere with a .357 Magnum in my hand, guarding The Toy, while the guys went back to the weigh station, hooked up the other boat, came back to me. We hooked the boats back up together and struck out for Pheonix, and never looked back.
Firebird Raceway is an amazing place. The lake is man made, and is rectangular shaped with a slim island running down the middle. The island allows circle track boat races and the Island dissipates the wave action. I'm guessing each straight is about a half of a mile long, allowing drag racing on one side of the lake. They have permanant grandstand type seating with a roof. The in-ramp is at the starting line and you make your pass and drive around the other side of the island to the out-ramp. This keeps the down time for launching and retrieving boats and waiting for the water to settle to a minimum. Two boats make a pass about every minute or so, all day long. This facility also has the NHRA Drag strip, a sports car road race track, a motocross track and maybe an asphalt circle track. Really nice place. They start qualifying on Saturday at eight thirty AM, and my river race hydro friend was supposed to be there at the launch ramp at eight thirty, but we were about five minutes late. They had launched about two boats in the next class onto the hold rope and would not allow my friend to launch and qualify, after towing two thousand miles. He was not happy and so he marched up to the officials office and confronted the head dude, and proceded to nail him right between the eyes and knocked him out cold. My friend, Johnny, took off running and stripped out of his red windbreaker thinking maybe he could blend into the crowd. What Johnny forgot was that his driving suit under his jacket was also red and they spotted and arrested him. We bailed him out later, and at the motel restaurant that night all the racers were congratulating him and buying him drinks because they all hated the way the IHBA was run by this guy. More on Pheonix later...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-149_edited-1.jpg

RBT

09-10-2007, 08:45 AM

This is the best post in a long time, I was in London in 85, somewhere I have pictures, I will try and dig them up.

RT

warrior74z

09-10-2007, 02:15 PM

Thanks RBT. I think I have another pic from Canada, that I'll post tonight. And all of you who have sent compliments, thank you. I was begining to wonder if I was boring and putting everyone to sleep. Please send a note if you like this post and want me to continue.
Barron

robert j garner

09-10-2007, 02:31 PM

Great post more please.:)

Rob

blkmtrfan

09-10-2007, 02:38 PM

Please send a note if you like this post and want me to continue.
Barron

Yes, please do http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

The Big Al

09-10-2007, 02:48 PM

RBT is correct!

This thread is AWESOME!!!!!!

fastone

09-10-2007, 04:19 PM

I just found this thread today and it is fantastic. This may have already been answered and I missed it but the 16' Raveau on the first page is being driven by Craig Dewald (of Dewald Props) with Janice Dewald riding.

warrior74z

09-10-2007, 08:14 PM

RBT, here is another photo from Canada. I remember that you had to pull down in front of the race fans and they would usually cheer at the Top Fuel Hydro guys, and when I rode by them they cheered for me too! This shot is after I passed most of the crowd and Don is making the turn to line up with the launch ramp. Maybe you are in this shot?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-152.jpg

warrior74z

09-10-2007, 09:43 PM

Back to Phoenix...In November of every year, even today, the IHBA holds the last race of the season at Firebird Raceway, called the World Finals. There were more boats there than I had ever seen at a drag race...and I was the only outboard. I don't remember how many boats, but I do remember that there were over 800 passes made during the weekend. Being that they did not have an outboard class they had a hard time finding time for us to run. The one pass on Saturday was a good clean pass and I ran 129.87 MPH. Then on Sunday they were a little more willing to let the crowd see the outboard run, because they were impressed with the speed. I have a VHS tape and you can hear the announcer on the first pass on Sunday introducing us and saying, "They call it The Toy. This thing flys. It is impressive. He needs a 125.45 to back the record up." Remember when I told you about Don taking the ballast weight out of the sponson in Saint Louis? Well he never told me, but I believe he was not satisfied with the 129.87 run on Saturday and he adjusted the engine trim angle sometime between Saturday and Sunday. The Toy did not have power trim, but you could adjust a jack screw on the boat that changed the motor angle. Anyway, when I made my first pass on Sunday, the boat never took a set. It was sponson walking and acting like it was possessed. I was not able to obtain a speed of over 110 MPH. If you look back at post #173 that is Pheonix. I looked over the set up and thought I could see a little difference in the motor angle, but Don would not let me move it. Second pass same deal. Don would still not let me change anything on the boat. I had one more chance to back the record up within the required percentage. Sooo, I got a friend of mine to sneek out and set the thrust block two turns in, while I occupied Don by watching some racing. Then...we waited, and waited, and waited. They never called us back to the ramp, even with Don bugging the officials. The last run of the day, the Blown Fuel Hydro class was called to the ramp, and it looked like we had towed two thousand miles and would not be able to set the record. I still had my driving suit on and everything was ready, as it had been all afternoon. Then the fuelers thunder down for the last pass of the day...then we hear the announcer call for The Toy for a backup attempt on the record. So we launch an I start my run with the new secretly adjusted engine angle, and ran a picture perfect 128.38. Good enough to back up the 129.87 and establish it as the International Hot Boat Association Unlimited Outboard record. Following is a poor quality print as it is out of a newspaper type National Boat News, December 1985. I think Don (forgot) to tell them that Barron Cooley was driving The Toy, but I was. :D

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-151.jpg

Freddie Webb

09-11-2007, 08:17 AM

Barron, thank you very much for all of your information. It is very educational and entertaining. Please, keep it going. I hope to meet you in person one day.

robert j garner

09-11-2007, 02:52 PM

Wow i was impressed before but now i read you had no trim FANTASTIC.

Rob

warrior74z

09-11-2007, 10:32 PM

1985...So, this is how the racing season ended up.

Liberty (Houston) Texas, 1st Place
Gadsen Alabama, 1st Place
Knoxville Tennessee 1st Place
St Louis Missouri 1st Place
Dayton Ohio 1st Place
Morristown Tennessee 1st Place
High Point N. Carolina 1st Place
St Louis Missouri 1st Place Two races there
Flint Michigan 1st Place
London Ontario Canada 1st Place
Phoenix Arizona 1st Place

So it was an undefeated season and The Toy set records in four racing associations.

Following is a photo of the filming of a TV show called PM Magazine. The format of the show was to have one local segment and it would tie in with two more national segments. In other words NBC stations around the country would have their local feature and two national features would be shown to complete a thirty minute show. In early February of '86 I was the local segment to our Greenville SC station. In late February my segment made the national feature and was shown on seventy five percent of the NBC stations nationwide. I had friends call from Miami and St Louis to say I was on there. Also it was the first segment that our local station had to go national.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-63.jpg

Scream And Fly

09-12-2007, 01:03 AM

This is one of the all-time greatest posts this site has ever seen. We really are very appreciative of your work! I check this post every day, multiple times.

Scream And Fly

09-12-2007, 01:04 AM

Greg, you might like this. Look in the above post at the 1976 20 HP Merc just above the bass boat front fishing seat. Well, I still have that engine and it has never been on a boat or been in a lake. It has been on a stand inside and only started on the hose and fogged in ocasionally. It is a '76 Model 200. As in 200 years of the United States, with the red white and blue trim. Next time I'm out at the shop I'll get some current photos. Oh, and still not for sale...

I can't believe I missed that post. I would love to see a photo of it, and that's a great image. The windshield on that Hydrostream looks non-standard though, was it custom? Thanks again for an amazing thread.

warrior74z

09-12-2007, 07:06 AM

Greg, THANK YOU so much for the compliment. My wife, Sherry just called me to tell me to read your comment, and said it gave her chills. She also appreciates it. Looks like she's hooked on S & F too. The Hydrostream with the odd windshield is a Ventura and it is the w/s it was shipped with.
Thanks again Greg, its my pleasure to be able to post on YOUR site.:)
Barron

Raceman

09-12-2007, 07:48 AM

I agree with Greg. Whenever I log on now I go straight to this thread and see if there's anything new. I'm probably in to old stuff about as much as anybody around here, so I've REALLY enjoyed it.:)

Mark75H

09-12-2007, 08:19 AM

Every time I get an email about a new post on this thread I check to see who the person making the post is ... if it's Barron, I drop whatever else I'm doing and jump to his latest post. I don't know how you do it, but it keeps getting better. :)

Barron, thanks for all the details. Absolutely amazing, I don't know how you have managed to keep it all in such good chronological order and such good perspective - from the start of your dad's shop to your amazing wins :):):)

warrior74z

09-12-2007, 08:38 AM

:) Thanks guys. You two are among the most respected on the site, in my opinion, so it means a great deal to hear it from you!:)
Barron

RabidGatorFan

09-12-2007, 08:35 PM

Barron,

My dad was a Merc dealer from about '76 - 91 and your later experiences you are sharing, I remember as a kid growing up as well. I don't know if we still have the kind of photos you have, but I will check with my dad and post them. I remember them all, Hydrostreams, Sterlings (Laser copy), Tunnels, Mod-VP's, XS engines, 2.4's, Orlando boat shows, learning how to work on a Merc.

Man, I remember when the 225 V6 (7 Petal Front Half) came out in early 80 (or 81?) and we rigged it on a brand new VKing bruiser (any respectable Hydrostream afficionado knows what a bruiser is) demo with a T&H Jack Plate. We would have runs up the Suwannee River often and as I was only about 7 or 8 years old, it used to scare the ever living daylights out of me especially when we would pass by a water plow house boat with a ten foot high wave behind it.

We all appreciate this thread. Keep it going if you still have more pics and stories to tell.

99fxst99

09-13-2007, 01:51 PM

This trhead need to go back TO THE TOP! Barron, thanks for all the great info!!

warrior74z

09-13-2007, 09:26 PM

1986...Well, actually sometime in 1985 a truckload of boats showed up in front of the dealership, and this was the first time we had ever seen this...there were engines and trailers inlcluded for each boat. Not only that, but they were white engines...YIKES! And not only that, but they looked just like Chrysler engines...double YIKES! But they were labeled "Force!" Now, what the heck is that all about? "Hey Dad, this truck must have stopped at the wrong dealership!" "No Son, we are now Bayliner and Force dealers."
I could not believe it. When you grew up in a Mercury dealership back in the '60s and '70s you became very prejudice. Carl Kiekhaefer called any of the competition "The Enemy." This is the way we viewed other brands also. We would probably have fought for our Mercury name, rather than see it slandered or trashed. It was a very strong feeling, and I was just as protective of Mercury as I was of my family or the Cooley name. So the intrusion of these white motors and "entry level" boats did not sit well with me at first. But you know what, after a few lake tests I began to discover that these rigs were not so bad. The hulls were a little on the light weight side, making them nimble performers. Of course they were not high performance boats and they did not feel near as solid as our staple brand, Glastron. But for the money, they were a lot better boats than any of the less expensive brands that we had tried through the years. The Force engines were lacking on top speed, but low and midrange power was better than we were familiar with, except with the Merc V6. And they would start with much less of a procedure than the Mercs, and idle well and chunk in gear with out much rpm loss. The I/O's had the Volvo engines and drives and while not as sophisticated as the Mercruiser, they were bullet proof. Bayliner actually had a good product, back then it was just kinda of a, how do I say it, a McBoat. It was the Mcdonalds of boats.
Not bad for the money, lots of resources in the parent company, lots of research and developement, great marketing, good profit margin, well you get the idea. And they put you through sales courses and just got you so jacked up about the product and company that you started to believe in them and well we began to sell more Bayliners than any other brand. It was at a time when boating was expanding beyond real "boating people." We began to sell rigs to lots and lots of people that had never owned a boat before. Bayliner's marketing technique was paying off.
Our business was growing and in 1986 Dad needed me at the dealership more, so Don sold The Toy. We had set every record and won every race in 1985. There was nothing else to prove. So I concentrated on selling boats. Dad and I were the only full time salesman we had in 1986 and he was handling the business end also so I was the primary salesman. The picture below is from the '87 dealer meeting with Dad recieving an award for ordering over a million dollars worth of Bayliner, US Marine product in 1986. Not bad for a true Mom and Pop dealership, and also considering we were still selling lots of Mercurys and our other boat brands too. Also our best seller was the 17 and 19 foot Capri runabouts, so it took a lot of selling to get to that level.
But there was still more racing to come...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-155.jpg

warrior74z

09-14-2007, 10:20 PM

1987...Back to racing. Don and a partner had started the United States Drag Boat Association to run primarily in the Southeast. His partner was Gaither Jenkins and Gaither was a great promoter. 1987 was the first year they started running Augusta Georgia which has become the best drag racing to this day east of the Mississippi. It is no longer a USDBA race but is was, for many years. Don had bought an all fiberglass Outboard hydro and, of course, ask me to drive it. A little background on Don with other drivers. While I was working selling boats in 1986, Don aquired a driver for the Toy and went to Saint Louis for the first race. The driver, his father and brother got in such a disagreement with Don about the set up on the boat that, on Sunday at the race site, Don threw all of their luggage out of the back of the truck and onto the ground in the pits and left them all stranded in Saint Louis. So anyway he knew we could always get along, so he talked me into racing for the '87 season. At least it was a regional series instead of a national one, so the travel was not near as extensive. The "Sting" was built more like a tradional inboard hydro, and not near as light weight as The Toy. It was not as fast, running consistantly in the mid 120's in the quarter in the low to mid 8 seconds. But I was able to make more consistant passes every time I lined it up. Most of the races were in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. For some reason (53 years of them) I can't remember the brand of boat the Sting was. I do know it was an original design and in the late '80's someone started building the exact same boat but under a different name. If anyone knows either brand please post it. The Sting won the USDBA championship in 1987 with me doing the driving chores. This photo is from Augusta, after a run and coming back to the outramp in the maze of ropes they have at Augusta.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-97_edited-1.jpg

150aintenuff

09-14-2007, 11:15 PM

nice history lesson....

little story about the 1986-1987 Capri's and cobras.... Id rather be in a bayliner cobra at 50 mph in 2' chop than my valero thats 2 feet longer and has ALOT more power to stay on top... thy arent so flighty that they gallop on ya... for a beginer they are probably the best boat $$ could buy at that time... simple, semi bullet proof and with the given factory power not so fast that people could hurt them selves.. good idea for longevity..

warrior74z

09-15-2007, 12:09 PM

Augusta... at speed. I ran "The Sting" from 1987 to 1990, so I'm not sure what year these photo's are from. Notice finish line timing light at lower left. I attended Augusta 2007 and noticed houses across the river now.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-114_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

09-17-2007, 09:55 PM

Another Augusta shot. The white hydro was a copy of, or at least a different brand name of The Sting. If anyone knows the brands of either of these boats, please share the info. I know it sounds stupid to not know what kind of boat I drove for four racing seasons, but I was just the "meat in the seat" and did not own it. The white boat is driven by Scott Merriott. He never beat The Sting. It's hard to tell that the tail is up and flying on these boats, because there is an air dam running from the sponson to the transom on each side of the boat, about two inches deep and one inch wide. This would be where the chine is. It is in a true three point attitude in this photo. This shot was taken at about one quarter track. One reason these hydros are so quick, compared to tunnels or v hulls, is that from the rear of the sponsons to the transom is basically about a four by eight foot flat surface. It planes and accelerates instantly. Also the center of gravity on a hydro is much closer to the middle of the boat so it is not stern heavy like you would set up a v hull or tunnel. I never ran power trim on unlimited outboard hydros. I never felt safe playing with trim buttons while on low eight second runs. We would just set the thrust block to change the engine angle, in the pits, depending on if we had headwind, tailwind or flat water. If conditions changed between leaving the pits and actual run time (sometimes an hour) you just gritted your teeth and held on...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-111_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

09-18-2007, 11:00 PM

1987-1990...Spring City Tennesee. The number 77 boat is Jay Fisher. He started racing Unlimited Outboard a year or two before this and took awhile to come up to speed, but eventually became the first outboard that I was aware of, to run the quarter mile in less than eight seconds. I believe it was '89 that he ran a 7.95 ET. Jay was a young engineer with OMC at the time. I believe his father, Jim Fisher, was a retired engineer from OMC, so they had access to all the goodies. The boat was named "Miss Lori" after Jay's beautiful wife Lori. This was a family racing team, with Jim as owner and crew chief, and Jay the driver, with both Mrs Fishers always present. They all were a class act, and a pleasure to compete with. They were the first Unlimited Outboard in my era to have an enclosed trailer for the boat, they had radio communications from driver to crew chief, and would come out with inovations such as running a two blade prop on the big OMC V6. The the big racing V8 was available and easily within the means of the Fishers, but they felt the light weight V6 was better suited for drags. If any factory OMC guys remember Jim or Jay Fisher, how about some info? My last year in drags, 1990, Miss Lori won the points championship over The Sting by less than five points.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-110_edited-1.jpg

gstorr

09-19-2007, 08:06 PM

Have many more coming....

warrior74z

09-19-2007, 09:39 PM

1990...Don buys The Toy back! As much as I enjoyed driving The Sting, I always longed to get The Toy back. Although it was lighter and faster, I felt safer in it. Maybe because of the break away steering and thin boat cowling, I felt I would come out of The Toy if an accident occured, with out much harm, then let my Lifeline parachute jacket, neck and head restraint and ballistic pants keep me safe. When we set records with The Toy in 1985, it was with a carbureted 2.4 with a big nitrous boost, producing around 400 horsepower. Now it had injected and highly modified 2.5 that had dyno printouts at 501 horsepower. About 101 horsepower too many! The boat design was for about what we had in 1985 and in an effort to handle the extra ponies, the previous owner had modified the hull, with an air dam underneath the leading edge, raised the boat cowling, and in my opinion, ruining the looks and handling of The Toy. It had two stages of nitrous, and during trying to dial it in during a partial season, I never touched the second nitrous switch. It was just to violent. I ran The Sting in unlimited outboard, and The Toy in bracket classes for three or four races that season. But just never got a handle on The Toy that year. The following photo is from Florence Alabama, and the boat looks like it is on a perfect pass.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-104_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

09-21-2007, 10:45 PM

1986...Another shot from the filming of the PM Magazine TV show. It was a very cold January day and I remember that I sure did not want to do anything stupid and end up in that cold water. The local NBC affliliate brought several camera men and even hired a helicopter (this was before all stations had their own chopper) to film from. The caravan of Television station vans, local newpaper van, The Toy rig, chase boat, rescue squad, and assorted friends and co-workers going down the highway, attracted even more rubber neckers down to the boat ramp. I had chosen a rather protected area of the lake with a secluded launch ramp to avoid the brisk January winds, but with the arrival of the helicopter, even more of the folks that lived on and around the lake showed up. They wired me for sound and really spent a lot of time producing this event as it was for a TV show and not just a news report. This photo was on the front page of the paper and it was reported as an ADBA record, but there was no surveyed course or timing equipment, just Don with a radar gun. Of course I had set the official record during the racing season in St Louis. Anyway I made a few passes and couldn't get the boat to stabilize as, once again my boat owner wanted it set up loose to try for a big number. Finally I did get a good pass in and was clocked at 134 on the radar. The rest of the time I just tooled around at about 110 MPH making passes with the Chopper following me overhead. So most of the photos and the TV footage show the boat running about 110 even though there is about a second of footage at the 134 speed. Afterward they interviewed me at the boat shop. I was a little nervous though, as like most people I do not especially like seeing and hearing myself on TV. The night it was broadcast we all gathered at a local watering hole and they promoted it as "Barron Cooley Night". I was actually right proud of it though, and it educated a lot of local folks about my racing that they might not ever have experienced. Seems like the total time on TV was seven or eight minutes. As I reported in an earlier post, I had friends from Miami and St Louis call me when the saw it on their home stations our local station told us it was broadcast over 75% of the United States.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-105_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

09-24-2007, 10:11 PM

1988...The USDBA voted to eliminate the Unlimited Outboard class this year, saying there had not been enough competitors from the past season to make it a pro class. So we had to run the eight second ET class, which put us with the inboards. Of course all outboard drivers know that nothing makes your day better than putting it on an inboard. It takes about 800 to 1000 horsepower in an inboard hydro to run in the eight second range. In a inboard jet boat its more like 1200 horsepower. I can only imagine what some of these proud inboard drivers told the folks back home. You know the local guy with a 120 MPH boat back then was thought of as unbeatable to the locals. I'm sure some people just didn't tell them the story. Maybe even some lies were in order to protect their image. This arrangement only lasted one season though, as the paying spectators demanded to see the outboards square off with each other for the '89 season.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-112_edited-1.jpg

Freddie Webb

09-25-2007, 01:51 PM

Barron, do you have any more pictures of "Miss Lori"?

warrior74z

09-27-2007, 10:12 PM

Back, back, back...to about 1980. This is Blake Justice in his kneel down drag hydro, named, "Lickity Split." This is the old High Point NC track, that was across from the golf course. It was funny to watch the golfers try to play, when a nitro methane burning top fuel hydro would thunder down the track at 200 MPH. Later in the day you would see the golfers just ganging up in their golf cars and give up on the game, and just watch the races. This was before I started racing, and let me tell you, I did not know it at the time, but the High Point race was the party race to beat all. It had the most rowdy crowd of any about any place in the country. I went to several of these races as a spectator before I started racing, and I have yet to see a crowd have as much fun as the folks at High Point.

Blake was the top dog on the east coast in the late 70's and early '80's. He ran a 122 cubic inch Merc without juice to a record 128.38 MPH. Dick O'dea, is that the way you spell it? Dick did Blakes engines and they would really run some big MPH numbers back then. Then we came along with the "In a Hurry" hydro with nitrous and started outrunning Blake, but he would still out MPH us. Give them credit for some good set ups to run those numbers on the motor only. I never drove a kneeler but I kneeled in Lickity Split on the trailer once and, no way would I have driven that thing! Any one out there remember Blake?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-154_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

09-30-2007, 03:32 PM

1985...Dayton Ohio. Another pic of Blake Justice. Notice the difference in his boat now. Instead of just hanging off the front, he has built a cowling and windscreen deal. His head is popped out of the entrance hole, and he will still kneel, and his head will be up in the windshield area. We had hurt an engine at the previous race and went to Dayton with a less powerful back up engine. We did not expect Blake to show at this race, as he was running a limited schedule that year. He showed up and now had nitrous oxide injection, as we had, and it looked like I would have some real competition now. This is the race that the photo was made that was in the back of the Land and Sea high performance catalog for years. I had three or four people show me photos at different places on the track and the boat was out of the water in every photo. Guess we had it set up a little too loose.:D Oh yea, we still won...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-159_edited-1.jpg

warrior74z

10-02-2007, 07:57 PM

The Shop Truck...When I was a kid I built lots of model cars. The AMT brand that was 1/25 or 1/24 scale. Every weekend my grandparents would give me one dollar and off we would go to buy a model car. I think I remember them being 77 cents at the discount store called Kresge. I built all kinds but always liked the service station pickup that had the flashing light on top and the name of the station written on the door. Or the Fire Chief's red pickup that was so cool. So when Dad got a new truck and had "Mercury Outboard Sales and Service" painted on the door, well that as close as it would get to those models I had built. It was so cool to ride with Dad feeling like a hot shot in those trucks. Just being the Mercury Dealer in town was cool in itself. Seems like this is a '63 model so its about four years old and its ironic that the red band Mercs were just starting. The first shop truck we had was a '54 International painted white with lots of lettering on it. It had a trailer hitch on the front that we used to shuffle boats around the yard. This was before trailers had jacks on the front and the outboard boats, without an engine on the back to offset the weight, were very heavy. Usually a couple of times a week, around closing time, dad would fire up old "Iny" and want to move boats to have them ready for the next days work. Guess who was usually standing around waiting for quitting time, and would be volunteered to lift those heavy tounges of the boats and trailers. To this day I have a stocky build and a thick chest, which I know is from lifting all that weight at an early age...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-158_edited-1.jpg

Mark75H

10-02-2007, 09:10 PM

Kresge's was the forerunner of KMart ;) ... that's what the K stands for

tinker060

10-03-2007, 07:23 AM

Barron, I am not sure but I think Larry Ford has Blake's boat and is now called the "Other Woman". If so, it has been highly modified and has a normal seat. He ran the boat in the old USDBA with a stock 2.5 and N20. My best recollection is that his best run with the boat was a 7:96 back in '91. Hull is not raceable due to age and water damage. Larry was going to have a C/F copy made but not sure what happened to the project. He may be waiting for his daughter to get old enough to drive the boat. That would be in about four more years.

Larry's boat has a unique hull design....not a true Hydro so to speak. I think Blake called it a "sled" ("sled" as in design...slow is was not!!!!!). Would that fit with what you remember about Blake's boat?

Great thread! Thanks for getting it going. What's interesting is that some of the times posted back in the "OLD DAYS" would be competitive today.

Jon Wright

warrior74z

10-08-2007, 09:59 PM

1990-92 Toward the middle of the '90 racing season I made the decision to make it my last one. Capsules were not required in the Unlimited Outboard class yet, and somewhere down deep, I had the feeling that I was walking on thin ice. I felt the law of averages said that I could only race for a certain number of races, before an accident would happen. I had the feeling that a broken prop shaft, engine lockdown, breakage of a steering component or something of that nature would result in a serious injury or worse. So without telling anyone, about mid season I had my mind made up. The last race of that year, in the USDBA, was near Charlotte NC. I drove both the Toy and the Sting at that race. After making my last qualifying pass on Saturday I rounded the bend in the lake and was out of site of the race course, and the racer behind me stopped by my boat after his run as I was waiting my turn to trailer the boat. He said "I don't think that guy made it." I questioned him and learned that there had been a bad accident. But I was unaware of it because, instead of near the finish line, as most accidents are, it was at the starting line. In drag racing at most courses you have to launch your boat, and drive to the starting area, and position yourself on the hold rope, which is a 5/8 or 3/4 inch rope strung across the cove behind the starting line. It is drawn tight with come alongs and is very tight, as twelve to twenty boats will hold on to it lined up abreast, and move toward the center as each pair of boats run down the track while waiting your turn. So when the hold rope is empty, boats launch and drive to the rope to 'load it up'. Lots of guys, me included, would stab the throttle hard for a couple of seconds to clear the engine good, and just 'cause it was fun. Well as I was waiting to trailer my boat, they sent some boats to the rope and one racer in a 165mph pro gas inboard hydro stabbed his throttle and the throttle stuck wide open. As he accelerated toward the hold rope, I guess he froze and hit the hold rope at about 150 mph and the rope cut his torso completly in half. Then the boat impacted the shore at the end of the cove and the V-8 automotive engine slammed his lower body into the earth and well...really all they recovered was his helment and head. He was a very popular driver with his Mom and Dad on the crew and his new bride in attendence. I remember his father demanding to go to the accident site, so officials took him down there in a jon boat, and when he came back I was standing nearby as he motioned to his wife and announced that there was "nothing left." Very sad indeed. Anyway that was my last race as a driver, and lots of friends and racers thought that accident was the reason for my quitting, but my mind had been made up long before.
So my boat owner, Don sat out the '91 season and most of the '92 season, but he wanted to race at Augusta, which by then had become the largest and best drag boat race on the east coast. So Don talked Tom Kunzeman of St Louis into coming down and driving the boats. Tom had a boat exactly like The Sting and he had set records well into the seven second bracket with his rig, so experienced, he was. He qualified both boats well and had made it to the finals of Unlimited Outboard class, and was paired with our own, Jon Wright (tinker060) in "Doo Dad". As Tom entered the finishline timing lights we saw the boat swap ends as the result of a broken skeg on the engine and it crashed hard and ended Tom's life. Very sad indeed. A real gentleman and a class act. I was standing there and witnessed the entire event.
So after seven years of organized boat racing, I had decided to quit at exactly the correct time. One more race and it would have been 'times up' for me...

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-162_edited-1.jpg

blkmtrfan

10-09-2007, 10:15 AM

Wow Barron that post made my heart sink

Very sad indeed :(

However, this is still one of the best threads ever posted http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

velox

10-09-2007, 12:45 PM

I only went close to 100 in an outboard powered boat once.
It was a twin engine speedmaster Powercat Hydro.
The bow was pointed and only cleared the water by about 12 inches.
I felt like if it nosedived, I would either die or lose my legs.
I got out and never drove it again.
Crashing on the water at 100 is like crashing at 200 in a car.
I lost it in a Corvette once at a buck fifty and slid for about 1/2 mile.
I kept it on the pavement and drove away unscaved. No way in a boat.
I felt I was bullet proof in my early twenties, but I don't think I would have had the cahones to drive one of these drag hydros!!!!

seeroy

10-10-2007, 10:40 AM

Barron - Don't let Charlie (Velox) fool you about no cahones.....He has done it all on land, sea AND in the air!!!. He also builds oustanding aerobatic aircraft. Charlie - I came across another air and sea guy recently. Name is Alan Campbell. I flew fighters with him in FANG for many years and he also flew his own Pitts. He put on a pretty good show for us a few times. Now he is racing in the OSS Offshore series as owner and throttleman of "Screamin Eagle". Best Regards - Steve Sirois

gofish7070

10-12-2007, 08:56 AM

Ocne again Barron, Awwwwwwwwwesome Thread..... Having kept everything in order and great literary skills,,,,are great,,,,,,,,,,,
As most of the senior group who reads this forum are older than Dirt, One thing we all remember. which is simply the fastest we have ever gone...........Whether on water, land or air Lets see whats out their.
My rather anemic numbers to todays standards are on water 91.5 while working with Merc in a triple-engined Power-Cat drag boat, being driven by Ken Kitson,,,,, On land I talked a friend of mine to let me take his AA gas dragster down the course at Kaukauna top speed 208 lots left in the car,, ahd to change shorts on that one,,,,, Keep in mind this was the late "60's
With regards to air I must defer to Seeroy or velox, I can harly wait to see how fast those guys have ever gone...........

seeroy

10-12-2007, 08:15 PM

Land........140mph in a Chevy that GM built for Mr K.
Water......118mph with Bill in 50', 4 engine, Popeye Cougar Cat.
Air...........Mach2+ in an F106A. That's approx 1,500mph.
-Steve :p

warrior74z

10-12-2007, 08:49 PM

velox

10-13-2007, 09:26 AM

I think you are going to win the overall Steve!
The Toy was faster than either of my planes.
Water...134 in quarter
Land...140 Petty Experience at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Air...120 level...150 downhill:) Don't you wish you could do that in a boat?

I feel honored and humbled to be included in this group.
Both you guys have had amazing experiences.
I have a 930 Turbo Porsche and a Z06 Vette, but have not really aired them out. I am so old I am afraid to get "cop caught"
I only went over 100 in a boat once.
Steve has gone 1500 MPH!!!
I have only gone about 300MPH, but it was pointed straight at the ground at about about 2000 feet. That's when you don't want your controls to fail.
Believe it or not you get used to doing it so the feal factor is not really there.
The real question is what has really scared the crap out of you?
I have had two instances that scared me so bad that after they were over my legs shook so bad I could hardly walk for a minue or two.
One was in a car and the other in a plane. The car was 40 years ago and the plane 2 years ago.

gofish7070

10-13-2007, 10:23 AM

Mach2+ 1500 MPH I bow to Seeroy,,,,,,,,,,,,, 137 MPH on water and in a drag boat,,,,,,,, Equal Bows,,,,,,,,, Velox a few years ago a friend took me up in a Bellanca and showed me a little of what you do,,,,,,,, My Cahones are still hiding,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Powerful group of old guys,,,,Anybody else remember going for it?????????????

velox

10-13-2007, 11:57 AM

velox

10-13-2007, 12:06 PM

BTW, my scariest moments have not been doing aerobatics.
Its pretty scary designing and building a plane and then being the first to fly the never flown before design.
Usually it turns out you were very clever or completely stupid, no in between!!!!
After I got my first design built I taxied it for about 2 weeks trying to decide if I had a propeller driven go cart or an airplane.
My Youngest son was taxiing it very fast one day and hit a bump on the runway , launching him about 50 feet in the air.
I was scared beyond belief watching him fly completely around to make a landing. Everything went great and I flew it next. After that I have made first flight on about 5 new planes and some after major modifications.

seeroy

10-13-2007, 03:06 PM

There is one element here that has not yet been addressed, and that is the fastest in a hovercraft on ICE. I think Jim (Gofish7070) has a pretty good story to tell about that. -Steve

gofish7070

10-16-2007, 02:37 PM

Thanks for reminding me of the famous Hovercraft episode,,,,,,,,,,,Unofficial speed,,60-70 MPH on ice,( Thats a Frozen Lake to my friends in the South) Unoffical speed when Hovercraft hits ressistance of loose snow,,1 MPH, Occupant ejection time, Immediate,, Still recall looking at the execs who were standing on the ice checking this project out,,,, Looked liked Russian Bears from Siberia,,,,,,,,, As I flew past trying to figure out how to slow the thing down,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

warrior74z

10-16-2007, 09:43 PM

2004...The In a Hurry hydro that ran an 8.06 at Oak Ridge Tennessee ADBA race in 1984. This win convinced boat owner Don Stegall to have "The Toy" built for the '85 season. "In a Hurry was a 1968 boat with "Race Craft" boats written on it. I think it came from Texas. Anyone ever hear of Race Craft? In 1976 it was converted from a kneel down canvas covered round bow to this configuration. Some of round track guys on here could tell us maybe what class this would have ran in its original form. It's really amazing that this boat won over the current and previous record holders at the time. It was pretty ratty then, but as you can see, it was not saved, and another one bites the dust.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-157.jpg

warrior74z

10-16-2007, 09:44 PM

"In a Hurry" 1984

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-141_edited-1.jpg

tminnigan

10-19-2007, 08:36 PM

Tom Parks of the AOMC brings his Commando to Mays Landing meet. Has a 75hp Evinrude on it.

warrior74z

10-19-2007, 09:26 PM

Found another photo of the two hole Seebold, at the Merc dealer meeting in the late '70s. Anyone know of any other race tunnels with two holes? Anyone see or ride in this one?
How do you like the 50 MPH impact vest being put on the next rider?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-160_edited-1.jpg

Raceman

10-19-2007, 10:03 PM

Anyone know of any other race tunnels with two holes?

I know of at least 2 more. One has been at LakeX, (and now at X-Site) for years. I tried to buy it in the 90's. It is a passenger behind driver capsule boat. The other one is a side by side capsule, but I haven't seen it in years. I believe that Seebold built all three. These were not REALLY race tunnels per se', but rather boats commissioned by Merc for PR purposes. It may be that the two front/rear seat ones were converted from old F1 or Mod U boats, but I'd think the side by side was purpose built from the beginning.

gstorr

10-20-2007, 07:59 PM

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc94/gstorr/BoatHouseBulliten001.jpg
(http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc94/gstorr/th_BoatHouseBulliten001.jpg)

RabidGatorFan

10-20-2007, 08:28 PM

Norris, the side-by-side tunnel is in the "speed machines" video somewhere on this board. I remember the passenger screaming like a little girl in the video. Bill Seebold was driving. haha.

Mark75H

10-20-2007, 08:42 PM

"In a Hurry was a 1968 boat with "Race Craft" boats written on it. I think it came from Texas. Anyone ever hear of Race Craft?

I'll ask some of my Texas contacts. As a guess I'd say a kneel down that big, that late was probably an "R" class boat

warrior74z

10-20-2007, 08:48 PM

When I just read Mark 75H's comment, it hit me. I think it said SPEED CRAFT on the In A Hurry hydro. Maybe this rings a bell with someone.
Barron

boatless

10-23-2007, 11:09 AM

Great thread guys. I love all the pictures and the info. Keep it coming!!

2us70

10-24-2007, 09:54 AM

Could have been a converted F Outboard Hydro. F Hydros were running 100+ with 60ci motors a long time before drag boats.

Mark75H

10-24-2007, 05:23 PM

I think it is way too big for an F Outboard Hydro. I've never seen one over 13 feet and the construction is usually much lighter, since there is no weight restriction

warrior74z

10-25-2007, 07:25 AM

1979...A couple of new V-Kings sit on the lot. Look at those nice solid virgin transoms.
So here's the product line up after thirty five years.

Mercury, Mercruiser, Homelite, Force, Volvo, OMC, Larson, Starcraft, Lone Star, Boston Whaler, Glastron, Owens, Hydrodyne, Crosby, Richline, Ouachita, Lowes, Riviera Cruiser, Glasstream, Bayliner, Viking Deck boats, Kayot, Correct Craft, Hammond, Nitro, Skeeter, Cutter, Skippercraft, Fabuglas, Silverline, Smoker Craft, HYDROSTEAM, Supra, Feathercraft, Borum, Sea Doo, Wellcraft, Thunderbird, Formula, Aristocraft, Duracraft, Bomber, Stamas, Challenger, Delquay, Scatcraft, Yellow Jacket, Sportmaster, STERLING, Duo, Cacci craft, Cajun, Eldocraft, Aloha, Mark Twain, Tom Sawer, Mackie, Monarch, Cubcraft, Mono go carts, Poulan chain saws, Sachs mo peds, Apache campers, ALLISON CRAFT, Appleby, Imperial, Barretta, Success, GLASTRON CARLSON, Supercraft, Pelican, Sun Dopphin, Lund, Alumacraft, Sunbird, Renken, Cobia, Duraglass, Basshawk, Mckee, Reinell, Rhyancraft, Drifter, Cathedral, Phantom, Manatee, Citation Lucraft.

Probably a dozen or more independent brands of trailers, and who knows what else. My Dad had compiled this list after his retirement in 1994.
Barron

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x258/warrior74z/Image1-135.jpg