Looks like it went through all its gas idling for 30 seconds! "OK! Rides over". If he gives it any throttle at all, it has to be within the 1st 10sec, or there won't be enough fuel to complete the Rev. (I'm guessing) Don't get me wrong, it's bad ass! (Just an observation)
Wonderful perspective! But for me, I’d love to see it, and especially hear it, make a full throttle run! It’s amazing, considering it’s over 100 years old.
Whoever engineered this masterpiece had courage and foresight. Imagine sitting behind that wheel, breathing those exhaust fumes at wide open throttle. What would the experience, and adrenaline level be like? Thanks for posting this video.
Thanks for all the comments and views. I did a photo shoot with this boat years ago at the Coeur d'Alene Antique and Classic Boat Show. It was amazing to see running and with a bow rudder it ran very flat. Here is the full story: MISS DETROIT III Winner of the 1918 APBA Gold Cup Owner: Dr. Ken Muscatel, Seattle, WA Hull: 20’ reproduction built in 2005 by Mike Michaud Power: Curtiss-Smith V-12 restored in 2012 by Robert Mishko, Rocky Summit Performance, TN Miss Detroit III, owned and driven by Gar Wood, won the 1918 APBA Gold Cup race held in Detroit. During the 1918 season, Miss Detroit III was powered by Gar Wood’s one-and-only “Curtiss - Smith V-12”, a much-modified 1916 Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company prototype airplane engine. For the 1919 racing season, Miss Detroit III was repowered with a WWI surplus “Liberty” V-12, along with Gar Wood’s new boat, Miss Detroit IV, and the Curtiss- Smith V-12 placed in storage. Miss Detroit III was not raced after 1919, and reportedly stripped of its running gear and destroyed after 1920. The Gold-Cup-winning Curtiss-Smith V-12, however, remained in Gar Wood’s collection of successful race boats until 1955. It was then was placed on display at the Museum Of Speed in Mount Dora, Florida. Dr. Ken Muscatel acquired the historic, Gold-Cup-winning motor through Gar Wood family heirs in 1989. The Hull: Miss Detroit III is a refined version of a Chris Smith-Jack Beebe single step, hard chine race boat, pioneered in 1914. Designed to accommodate the more than six foot long, 1200 lb. Curtiss, the 20 ft. long Miss Detroit III was Gar Wood’s first “power packed” race boat - a style which culminated with the 1932, four-engine Miss America X, packing nearly 8000 hp into an open-deck, dry-stack 38-foot. hull. In his 1939 book , Speed Boat Kings, J. Lee Barrett reported: “The thing they created was a masterpiece. The Miss Detroit III was made out of seven different kinds of wood, the finest speedboat ever shaped by human hands up to that time.” By 1918, the Beebe brothers were building boats for others, and the detail design and construction of Miss Detroit III was a collaborative effort by Chris Smith, Gar Wood, and Nap Lisee. The current hull is an exacting reproduction built in 2005 by Mike Michaud as a personal project, based on a detailed study of period photographs. Dr. Muscatel acquired the hull in 2010, intending to reunite the original Curtiss-Smith V-12 with the reconstructed Miss Detroit III hull. On August 10, 2013 it happened-95 years after its historic Gold Cup success-Miss Detroit III, powered by its original Curtiss-Smith V-12, roared across Lake Tapps, all systems a “go”. The Engine: The Curtiss-Smith V-12 that powers Miss Detroit III is based on a prototype Curtiss Model V-4 1650-cid, V-12 airplane engine, four of which were built in Buffalo, New York during March, 1916. The full story of the engine is convoluted, involving a secret British war munitions contract while the US was still a neutral; bribes, extortion and payoffs to a British Naval officer; a failed attempt to increase the power of existing Curtiss large displacement V-8’s; and the rejection in Britain of delivered Curtiss aircraft engines during 1916. That story will be told elsewhere, but the result was that at the end of 1916, the Curtiss Company had in hand four obsolete-but-operational, heavy, V-12 aircraft engines rated at 250-hp. No airplanes then in production in the US were large enough to utilize the huge V-12’s, and the huge Curtiss “flying boat” battlewagon for which the engines were originally intended had been shipped to England sans motors for completion and experiments with British sourced engines. Correctly, Glen Curtiss saw no future market for the obsolete “Model V-4”, and working with Charles Kirkham commenced design work during late 1916 on a new, compact, fully enclosed aluminum V-12 to be rated at 400 HP (later called the K-12). Glen Curtiss did see, however, an opportunity for a good boat ride, and during 1917 had one of the Model V-4 engines shipped to the Curtiss training base near Miami where it was installed in an air propeller driven boat he named Miss Miami. With a reported top speed of over 55 mph, Curtiss’s airboat was soon considered one of the fastest recreational boats in the country. By the fall of 1917, the US was fully involved in the war effort, and all strategic materials and equipment were under the control of the US government. Never the less, when Gar Wood learned that A. L. Judson, president of the American Power Boat Association, was planning an attack on the Gold Cup for 1918 with a new, 70-mph boat, Gar Wood went looking for more power. Of course, war production engines such as the newly designed V-12 Liberty were off limits, but the obsolete and surplus Curtiss Model V-4 was a possibility. Glen Curtiss was contacted, and was agreeable. As reported at the time, he provided Gar Wood with the actual Model V-4 powering his airboat Miss Miami, and encouragement to go defend the Gold Cup in 1918. As configured for the intended aircraft use-and as used in Miss Miami,-the Model V-4 used a single, central carburetor and short, individual, side-exit exhaust stubs. For use in Miss Detroit III, Gar Wood (or, more likely, Jay Smith) reversed the intake / exhaust locations, constructed center / vertical exhaust stacks, and constructed four outside intake manifolds for use with available large, updraft carburetors. The original Curtiss specs were listed as 1650 cid; 250 hp @ 1400 rpm; max rpm 1650; weight 1320 lbs. After modifications, Gar Wood claimed 1650 cid; 400 hp @ max rpm 2,000; weight 1250 lbs. Although based on the Curtiss Model V-4, the extensive modifications justify the new name applied by Gar Wood, the “Curtiss-Smith V-12”. When acquired by Dr. Muscatel in 1989, the Curtiss-Smith V-12 was complete and undamaged, except for missing its four carburetors and two magnetos. The engine was restored to running condition by Robert Mishko at Rocky Summit Performance in Tennessee during 2011 - 2012, and today is a beautiful piece of mechanical art. It starts with the push of a button.
This was very long ,but as a old gear head I liked the all of the details of what was put in here. To start I did not see what caption was under the boat I just saw the motor and had to CLICK on it . Thanks for the history on it.
What a beautiful piece of Machinery in history if you've never been by the hydro plane races on the Detroit River you haven't lived should be on your bucket list
I grew up in Detroit and been to the races many times. Back in the 60's and 70's the boats used the fighter aircraft engines from World War ll. By the 90's they used the Turbines from Chinook Helicopters.You cannot beat the sound of the piston powered boats as they came roaring by at 200 MPH!
Someone put a lot of love into that old boat. Starts right up and sounds great. I wish they would have panned back so we could see the rest of the restoration.
She starts up nice. I don't recall ever seeing the Miss Detroit run at SeaFair but I have very fond memories of miss Pay N Oak, miss Madison, miss Thriftway and so many others. And we cannot forget the Miss Budweiser who made quite a statement during the latter years of thunder on the water. Long live Bill Muncy and the many others who risked their lives for a rush of adrenaline and the ability to handle the fastest boats on the water. They weren't skippers or race boat drivers, they were pilots.
It's so hard to believe that V12 motor is over 110 years old when it was built the petrol engine was in its infancy its way ahead of time but what a glorious sound it makes, would've loved to hear it at full chat skimming across the water, brilliant video let's have some more of the same but a bit more in depth information would be nice. Thanking you for your excellent video 😃💯👍💯👌
Can't believe no one has seen this video. That, is freaking awesome and I'm not even into fast boats. What I wouldn't give to sit in that cockpit with that engine grumbling...and make them roar....
So you are saying they will always be at full throttle? constantly? nah they just did not know what we know about deadly fumes when that was built. You cant ride behind a motor like that and not suck some fumes.
When the boat is an accessory to the engine.... One badazz thumper! 1650 cid = 27 Liters...! 400 HP at a redline of 2,000 rpm but no mention of TORQUE. I'd love to see the prop they bolted onto it. I bet if they harnessed that mechanical monster to the equator it could slow the earth's rotation!
