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View Full Version : The Wizard Of OZ.........



Jeff Lytle
11-19-2002, 07:32 AM
Jimbo McConnell in his glory days right after taking the Merc. Factory Team to the cleaners. Taken in Picton Ontario Canada in the late 70's. Any word from Jimbo?

brianT2
11-20-2002, 12:53 AM
would love to hear from him too jeff. he was a great driver and a super person to know. heres a OMC poster i had a photo of.

brianT2
11-20-2002, 12:54 AM
jimbo driving a rotary, had this one in another thread.

brianT2
11-20-2002, 12:56 AM
took this after the races at lakeland, fl.

brianT2
11-20-2002, 12:59 AM
mom dug this one out of some old photos. thats my sister jimbos holding and my moms hat hes wearing. just shows the good natured side of a tough competitor.:D

omc-v4
11-20-2002, 07:53 AM
Yall know he had a boat wreck that ended his boat racing. Johnny Sanders was the other motors guy.

Jeff Lytle
11-22-2002, 07:05 PM
Last I remember reading of him, was in a Powerboat Mag article that had an interview with him at his home in Needles Ca. One of his arms is mostly paralized now. He was spending his time building and flying RC airplanes. Any of you guys still have that writeup you can scan and post?

brianT2
11-26-2002, 12:45 AM
this is a postcard from the '72 APBA annual meeting showing johnny sanders running a early V-6 in the other paint scheme.:D

Raceman
11-26-2002, 08:33 AM
Bryan, I don't know the when or what on that picture, but I don't believe OMC wasn't even rumoring V6's in 72, let alone showing or runnin' em.

BarryStrawn
11-26-2002, 09:05 AM
I don't know about that picture or if it was '72 but I remember reports of OMC running a prototype V6 well before the production xflows came out in '76. Seems like it was a small displacement looper.

Mark75H
11-26-2002, 05:51 PM
The prototype "Stinger GP V-6" s were run in 1974. Barry is correct, they were 2 liter loopers, unrelated to any motor ever produced. They were used in a lot of ads, and touted all over the press (Popular Mechanics, etc).

E-tec1
11-27-2002, 07:58 PM
They were called 727's

brianT2
12-25-2002, 03:17 AM
some of you guys were asking about the year on this one. i scanned the back of the postcard and attached it to the original.

helmetguru
01-03-2003, 09:46 PM
jimbo was the man in the 70's, a crying shame that he had the wreck he had when the technology was there to minimize the injuries he had....he was in one of the fewboats that day without a safety cell....there's a bunch of shots of him on my site.

helmetgraphics.com

Ron Hill
01-03-2003, 10:21 PM
As of last summer, Jimbo and Kathy were living in Needles. They had just built a new home across the street from water front homes. The house in near the Needles Golf course, where Kathy GOLFS a lot.

Jimbo's right arm can pull things but not push. Laser surgeries on his throat keep him breathing pretty well, his feet seem to be working. The one foot improved a lot when they pulled 6" of Kevlar out of it..

Jimbo came to Lauglin, four years ago, but once you've been "JIMBO McCONNELL".....it isn't easy to watch races...

Of note, Jimbo lived at my parents house for Jimbo's first and only year of college. My dad is the one who convinced OMC to hire him full time as Mercury was offering him numerous jobs.

Jimbo served two years in the U.S. Army and spent time in Vietnam driving truck.

I don't think Jimbo ever met a person he didn't like and I don't know a person who didn't like Jimbo.

His mom, Sue, a full blooded Navajo Indain was his biggest supporter. She ran the "Shamrock Cafe" in Needles. Jimbo's dad was 100 percent Irish....

I'd love to get with Jimbo and post some of his pictures.....

James Ronald McConnell will be 59 this April...if you go to www.Babbittdesign.com you can see Jimbo's Senior in high school picture....

Jimbo has a brother Buba, who used to have a "T" Roadster... we used to "BORROW" it and crusie Garden Grove Blvd.....1962,
we, Jimbo and me were in Modesto, California for boat race....at the same time someone was developing a movie idea called American Graffitti.....We cruised Modesto with our race boats in tow....

Jimbo came from the Ted May, Russ Hill, Jr. driving school....Start first and better your position.... When OMC needed a Single engine driver, in 1967, my dad and I told Jack Leek...Jimbo!!!!!

Charlie Strang had read my articles in the Southern California Outboard Assn paper for years, he knew Jimbo was what OMC needed!!!

Ron Hill
01-03-2003, 10:26 PM
In that picture of Jimbo with the rotary, who was number 9??? (Ron Hill)...

helmetguru
01-03-2003, 10:26 PM
yep jimbo is the man..

actual website address: www.babbittdesign.com

two T's Ron Hil

helmetguru
01-03-2003, 10:29 PM
cool Scotti's Ron Hil

Ron Hill
01-04-2003, 01:59 PM
Here is a picture of Jimbo and Me, Winternationals, Topock, AZ, March 1968...Also known as Golden Shores, AZ...Now the Winter Nationals are two words...When I first promoted the WINTERNATIONALS it was one word...I told APBA George Winter and Clide Natioanls had put up the money for a race...Called the Winternationals...It was the weekend before Spring Break...for students and teachers..

Ron Hill
01-04-2003, 02:07 PM
When JImbo got home from Vietnam, he took out a loan a bought a new Sid Craft DSH...Before the year was over he had three new Hill runabouts, a B, C and D and two more Sid Crafts...B and C.. His trailer held 6 boats...

He was working for my friend that owned a "POP" Plant in Needles...

Here is a picture of Jimbo in his BSR...in Powerboat Magazine's back cover...along with 44-C Joe Schulte, a retired TWA Captain who later died in his P-51 Mustang...A little irony in this ad, Joe and Jimbo didn't get along too well on the course or off...

Joe ran a Rinker in C Runabout with a three blade prop when no one had three blades...

Jimbo used to ride deck in F Runabout with a man named George May......George May used to be Referee at Havasu and Parker....His son, Brett May, announces Formula One on ESPN 2 for Hydro-Prop.

helmetguru
01-04-2003, 03:17 PM
here's a shot of jimbo after the finish of the 1980 Parker Enduro, putting the cockpit cover on one of the Team Johnson boats..

BB