Life at Lake X in the '60s

[Fish]

hey brownie, good to see you over here on S&F.

fish

[Mark75H]

Brownie, there is a rumor that the Missle tunnel was a very rare boat. Do you remember about how many were made?

[Mark75H]

Bernie's Lake X tower picture

[moparbarn]

i don't know how many were made, but i remember a bunch more in private hands used for fun, than were being raced. i can remember going to magnum, and donzi next door, just to hang out. can you imagine a group opf 13 & 14 year olds pulling up to the dock, and just being allowed to wander around today!? i can recall seeing like 25 or more sitting on dollies and trailers at one time, complete, some rigged with motors, most not. there were already a bunch on the water by then. not common, but i don't think rare; at least not in n. miami. i can also remember riding my bicycle to ivan tors studios (about 10 blocks north of me), riding in the gate, wave to the gaurd, and enjoy! behave and be quiet, and nobody had an issue. man growing up in miami was great! hey mark 70, i'm in n. va. shoot me an e-mail at execchefal@juno, if you want. i also know where 2 mccalls might still be sitting in n. fla., west of tallahassee. a d or e runabout and a f or h tunnel, i think. anyone interested, e-mail me and i'll relay what i can recall about location. don't know ANYTHING about them, just that they were sitting, and definately mccalls.

AIRWALK

[lilabner]

Hi Steve..I'm bringing Dave Craig and his wife to Mt Dora in March, and we are meeting Carl and Jeanne Moesly there also..
Now if somebody could get Johnny B and Odell there, we could have a real Legends get together..try to make it..

Butch

[Bob Zipps]

Mark 75H asked, "..... there is a rumor that the Missle tunnel was a very rare boat. Do you remember about how many were made?"

According to the History Section of the Magnum Marine Website, approximately 30 Sixteen Foot Maltese Magnum Missiles were made. Although, it would seem that this number is on the low side.

I remember seeing at least 5 back in the old days on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. There used to be waterski races on Winnipesaukee back them, and the Magnum Tunnels were the favorite tow boat.

Hope that this helps.

[Mark75H]

Thanks, Bob. I really wish we heard from you a little more often.

If there really are only 30 Missles we must be seeing the same ones selling over and over. I know of at least 4 in Maryland. That's more than 10% of all of them if there are only 30.

Who else knows where a Magnum Missle is?

[2us70]

I can count at least 3 that were raced in twin engine U class.

[moparbarn]

as i posted earlier, i saw quite a few at once at magnum's plant. it's been a loooong time ago (40 years), but it sure seems like more than 10 or 15. later, when i worked at bob brown's biscayne marine-70 or 71- we had 2 in dry storage and 2 more that came in for service. one more was on davits in keystone heights and another on the east side of bicaye bay just south of 125 st. what colors were available? i only remember black and maroon. mark 75h, there is one at lake holiday, a residential community on 522 north of winchester, va. . saw it about 3 weeks ago, was at a friends running r/c boats at that lake. was on a lift in a boat house. my friend daid he has seen it run this past summer. black one with a 135 merc v motor, not inline.

[Bob Zipps]

Regarding the Magnum Missile, moparbarn asked, "what colors were available?"

From what I have been able to dig up:

The fiberglass hull colors available were: White, Tangerine, Burgandy, and Black.

The Wooden Insets were Walnut.

The Carpeting was either Black or Gold.

The 4 place, back to back Bucket Seats were either Black or Gold.

Hope that this helps.

[BUIZILLA]

I know Ted Swing had a single engine Missile, and Craig Tokarsky had a twin engine, Craig raced his and flipped it over backwards in the stadium one Sunday, Ted never raced his if my memory is right, BUT we did stand it up over by Indian Creek Island and it threw me out one day, pretty funny thinking back on it, both I believe were white...

[2us70]

Tokarsky was lucky to have survived his attempts at boat racing.

[Fish]

don't forget that randy rabe bought the misssle molds from Arronow and began building them as the rabco hustler. They looked very similar; could be some of the misssles being seen are hustlers. Just a thought.

[Mark75H]

don't forget that randy rabe bought the misssle molds from Arronow and began building them as the rabco hustler. They looked very similar; could be some of the misssles being seen are hustlers. Just a thought.

Yep

But I see the Magnum emblems very often, and Rabe did not copy the emblems. The 4 boats I currently know of in MD have the Magnum emblems and are not Rabcos. The ones we often see on eBay have Magnum emblems. If there are only 30 they sure do change hands often

[Bob Zipps]

Regarding the Magnum Missile, Fish said, "don't forget that randy rabe bought the misssle molds from Arronow and began building them as the rabco hustler. They looked very similar; could be some of the misssles being seen are hustlers. Just a thought."

Following up on that thought, while I am not 100% sure, it is my understanding that the Rabco Hustlers did not have the wood insets on the front deck and on both sides at the rear as the Magnum Missile did. If that turns out to be correct, then that would be an easy way of telling them apart.

On the Magnum Missile, the fiberglass deck and the fiberglass sides are recessed where the wood insets are located so that the outer surfaces of the wood insets are flush with the fiberglass around them. So removing the wood insets on the Magnum Missle would leave the open recesses, which would still make it different from a Hustler.

Hope that this helps.