Miss America X

Gar Wood built Miss America X to challenge England’s Kaye Don’s Miss England III, in 1932 to keep the Harmsworth Trophy for America.

            Since the rules required that competitors use only products built in their own country, Gar Wood used V-12 Packard engines. Since he needed more power, he used 4 of them, modified to produce 1,600 HP each.

            Placed in two rows of two, with each pair of engines (fore and aft) using a common gear box, two 24 cylinder engines were created, the engines combining to produce 6,400 HP for the 1932 race. The big boat, weighing nearly 8 tons, defeated the challenger handily, keeping the Harmsworth Trophy in American hands.

            Later in 1932, Wood took the Miss America X to the St. Clair River, near his Algonac home and the Gar Wood Marysville Boat Works, to attempt to set a new world straightaway record. With the Packard engines now running a blend of benzol, alcohol and gasoline, Wood increased the supercharged pressure and cranked the engines up to 1,850 HP apiece…..7,600 HP in total.

            The result was a new world record of 124.712 mph, a record that would stand for years.

            For 1933, England sent over a new challenger, Miss Britain III. Powered by a Napier Lion Aircraft engine. Once again, the British challenger was no match for the mighty TEN and this Miss America was retired, the undefeated heavy weight champion of the world.

            Painstakingly restored by the Mayea Boat and Aeroplane Works of Fair Haven, Miss America X is owned by Detroit boating enthusiast and historian, Mr. Henry Mistele.

The APBA Gold Cup, The Crown Jewel or Motorsports

            Originally crafted in 1903 by famed New York jewelers Tiffany & Co., the APBA Gold Cup is the world’s oldest motorsports trophy still being contested.

            Older than the Indianapolis 500. Older than Daytona. Older than the LeMans or Monaco.

            Commissioned by the American Power Boat Association, the proper name of the trophy is the American Power Boat Association Challenge Cup.

            There are 99 names on the Cup, the first being Mr. Carl Riotte, in the Standard, won in 1903 on the Hudson River. Each name is engraved in individual plaques made of gold-plated sliver. The base is made of mahogany, and over the years, more rings or layers have been added to accommodate all of the winner’s names.

            This year, July 10^th through the 12^th, the 100^th Gold Cup Race will be held on the Detroit River to see whose name will be next to appear.

            Ask any unlimited Hydroplane driver which race he most wants to win and the answer is “….the Gold Cup.”

What The Heck Are Boats Doing at a Car Show?

Fair Question. The answer is actually quite simple. First and foremost, early carmakers like David Dunbar Buick, Gottlieb Daimler, Henry Ford & Ransom E. Olds were building internal combustion engines for boats long before they started building cars.

America’s first automobile was built in 1894 by Ellwood Hayes…and powered by a Sintz marine engine.

In 1987, Ransom E. Olds, founded what was to become Olds Motor Works. Its primary business was industrial and marine engines.

David Buick was an avid yachtsman. He founded the Buick Auto Trim & Power Company to “manufacture stationary and marine engines.” His company eventually became Buick Motor Company and their earliest brochures promoted industrial and marine engines, including some with overhead valve design, but no automobile.

There is one more very visible, direct linkage between cars and boats to be seen at this year’s Sloan Auto Fair, actually there are four.

The four enormous, supercharged 12-cylinder engines found in Miss America X were built by the Packard Motor Company.