I love the Budweiser theme song being played in the background the entire time. I’m heading to Owensboro in 2 weeks. It’s been 40 years since they hosted.
Man, this is good film. The boats and drivers, and the mystique of that era in hydroplane racing will never be matched again. There's a book out about Mira Slovak called "A Race to Freedom" by David D. Williams, and another about Bill Muncey by Stephen A. Garey that capture the awesome feel of this era of racing. Good stuff.
My early childhood was spent in Detroit. I remember them racing on the Detroit River. I also remember hearing the engines whine 2 miles away as they practiced on Lake St. Clair.
Same here in Seattle. My dad loved them so much he ended up buying one and running it for a couple of years with the Oh Boy! Oberto sponsorship. I race a limited 2.5 liter boat. There is a group on Detroit that is restoring the twin Allison powered Such Crust IV that is currently looking for volunteers and donations if you wanna get involved in resurrecting one of these beauties. I can put you in touch with that group if you would like.
The bud was the boat ,Little was the force, rooster tail was what you kissed. I always rooted for the underdogs though, but always bought a BUD to injoy. Long live "Thunder Boats" Bring back piston power Gold Cup Unlimiteds should have stayed piston powered the "Unlimited Jet" could have been created for real " Unlimited" which wouldn't require a prop in the water. Even nuclear?
Good old Miss Timex, takes a licking and keeps on ticking. I remember the old Timex commercial where they strapped one of their watches to the hull. Love them Miss Budweiser's though. That was the team back then, I sure do miss them. I'm building a 1/10th 1980 Griffon Bud and I'm definitely doing one of these next. I like the 66's, that vertical tail fin was very cool. Thanks for posting these videos and keep them coming!
Yea the old boats were somethin...lucky to have seen em.thedrivers were true daredevils I was 14 in 65 grew up in Seattle my favorite was Miss Excide..Bill Brow lived near us..that guy was wild..the lead footed milkman .
I was in high school when these boats raced and I always like the Atlas Van Lines boat in blue and white. They inspired me to built a small hydro boat around 11 feet long from Clark Craft Boat Plans. The older hydro boats always looked and sounded better than modern day boats.
Scott M It’s a “Turbine” not a jet. And how exactly do you anticipate they would have continued with less and less V-12 engines every year? That issue aside, fans want speed. Turbines are much more capable. The way unlimited hydroplane racing was managed killed the sport, not turbines. Look back on the 80’s and 90’s. Crowds were huge and turbines dominated. Your comment is akin to saying horse drawn carriages were so much better than a modern suburban. Um no. Historically these boats are facilitating and nothing sends a shiver down your spine like a roaring Allison/Merlin V-12. But they weren’t sustainable. And like with the piston engines the open canopy also exited (first canopy was on the Budweiser in 85, but it was plexiglass(brittle), Ron Jones employed the F-16 canopy in 86 which is credited with saving countless lives). Too many good drivers killed.
