Wood deck covering

[pparker]

I am restoring an 18 foot 1965 Donzi Thuderbird. Where can I find the"wood" deck covering used on early Donzi boats?

[olredalert]

pparker.....Im sure you are right about the wood deck covering,since Donzi did so many custom jobs over the years,yet Ive never seen or heard of one.I worked with donzi in the early 70s and was a quasi-dealer in 72-74 timeframe and saw alot but not that.Is it possible that it was attached after the fact?Just asking.Is it a veneer or some such thing,or the whole deck?Sounds like a really interesting project.Im probobly of base as I have been out of touch for quite awhile.Please dont take offence at my questioning your boats authenticity........just....ol red

[GeneD]

I've never even heard of a Donzi Thunderbird.
But...I have seen a Magnum 27 with teak decks. Pretty funky looking let me tell you. I didn't like it at all.
Now that I think of it, I didn't think Donzi made an 18 ft. boat in 1965!?!?!?
What gives?

------------------
GeneD
007
Melbourne, Florida

[pparker]

My boat apparently was a prototype Donzi manufactured by Thunderbird/Formula before Aronow sold Formula. It measures 17 1/2' and has the remains of a veneer-like teak; not the real thing.

[BERTRAM BOY]

PParker,
Got any pics?
BERTRAM BOY

[Tony]

Haven't we seen pictures of a wooden decked Donzi look-alike, somewhat recently? Anybody remember...where was that link?

[CDMA]

There is a wood deck Cigarette on Sean O's thunderboatalley.com

Chris

That might be it

[Owen]

n 1963 Don Aronow started the Formula Marine company in Miami
on 188th street. The company consisted of Aronow, Jim Wynne, Walt
Walters, race mechanic Stirrat and builders Buddy Smith and Jake
Trotter. Three important boats were created here: The Formula 27, the
233 and the Formula Jr. The Jr was a Jim Wynne design and was first
created to win the Paris Endurance race of 1963. It is not known if
Aronow's Formula company ever made any production Formula Jrs. In 1964
orders for the Formula 233 were piling up and Aronow was getting offers
to sell the company. He sold Formula to the Thunderbird Marine Company
in 64. What he sold was the name "Formula", two hull molds - The 233 and
the Formula Jr - and the original plant on 188th street. Regretting the
sale of the Jr mold, Aronow used the original wood model of the jr hull
form to make a shorter version of the Jr. The Jr was a difficult boat
to make because it required a two piece hull mold to make the tumblehome
on the rear hull. Once shortened by 8 inches this tumblehome was
eliminated and you only needed a single hull mold form. This boat became
the Donzi sport/ski 16. Aronow even had the brass to build the Donzi
Plant right next door to his old Formula Plant. After a few months all
his old employees just walked across the street to work for him.
Thunderbird was more interested in the 233 so very few 65 Jrs were
made. Your boat was one of these few Thunderbird/Formula Jrs. There
should be a plastic tag on the inner Port Transom wall stating it was
made in Miami. You should also have production numbers written in
marker on the back of the starboard dash board. The Jr is more true
to Wynne's design than the Donzi 16. The most common configuration was
a Volvo Straight 6 with a Eaton/Volvo drive. The 66's and later tended
to have Ford 289 V8s. Production went from 65 to 1969. Many of these
boats were used as tenders for large yachts due to the lifting rings.
The hull has a rated speed of about 48 but responds well to the addition
of trim tabs and a stable ride at 65 is possible. The 65 and 66 had
chrome plated zinc badges that said Formula Jr by Thunderbird and the
Thunderbird badge. The later badges were plastic.

[PaulO]

Owen,
I am in awe of your historic knowledge. Are you a boating history buff, just Aronow stuff, or living off a trust fund and have too much free time? Anyhow, it is appreciated. One question for you; what did the paris endurance race consist of? The formula Jr seems to bave been a small boat and I am curious as to what type of race this could have been developed for.
PaulO

[Owen]

Wynne was/is still sorta, the on paper inventor of the sterndrive. Wynne's friend Strang was the actual inventor but thats another discussion. Wynne was always involved with the shake and bake tests on the volvos since he was hired on as a consultant. The Paris race was a run down the Seine to the mouth and back. So the Jr was really a river boat with some of the course in the english channel.

I was an Aronow Fan. Now I'm a Jim Wynne, Ray Hunt fan. What is interesting about the old boats is they didn't hold anything back - before the days of product liability and such, so an early racing design was just that: An over powered, tricky handling craft that required some skill to master. Modern boats are much better designed and go faster in a safe manner - but whats the fun in that?