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gcarter
08-09-2004, 06:57 AM
http://www.chron.com/CDA/umstory.mpl/metropolitan/2725762
Wow, I thought this guy would live forever!
He just about invented oil well fire fighting. A real mans man.
Some of you may remember they made a movie about him starring John Wayne in the '60's.
Another facet of his life not so well known is also in the '60's, he owned a race boat team. This was about the same time John Mecom Jr was also active, they were both Houstonians. I'm sorry I don't remember what brand of boats these were, I bet Brownie knows, I was more interested in blow boats at that time. Of course they were painted red.

Fish boy
08-09-2004, 07:31 AM
definitely a guy who was larger than life, may he rest in peace.

Fish

Dax McDavid
08-13-2004, 10:33 AM
GCARTER,
WHO WAS JOHN MECOM JR.???
i AM AT WORK LOOKING AT SOME WELLS DRILLED BY A JOHN MECOM CO. IS IT THE SAME GUY??
HATS OFF TO RED
THANKS,
DAX

txtaz
08-13-2004, 10:57 AM
Dax,
If it's the same person: We had a John Mecom who had an account with us at the marina and had a house on Key Allegro. He was in the oil and gas industry but I don't remember what town he was from. I'm thinking Houston but don't hold me to it. I also think he took a big hit in the 80's oil bust. He was a really big coin collector and used to tell me about it. In one ear and out the other. I had no clue what it was about back then. Don't know what he's up to these days. Dad night know and I'll ask.
Wes
P.S. RP was great. Can't believe how it has grown since we moved away. Fulton...who would have believed, I should have bought land years ago.

gcarter
08-13-2004, 12:25 PM
Wes, didn't everybody in the business in the '80's take a hit?
Jr. was the son (obviously) of John Mecom. Who in his day was a HUGE player in oil production. The Mecom Fountain out on S. Main St. in Houston was named after the father ( when I was in High school in the early '60's, we would throw tablets of laundry soap in it as we drove by, we were really stupid kids).
Jr walked in his fathers foot steps and apparently did very well. He was quite a sportsman, and among other things, owned a boat racing team (AB has mentioned him here in reference to the banana boats), and a sports car racing team. His car stable was located on the South side of the Hobby Airport property, just about three miles from my parents house. In '62, after running two (I think) Ferari 250 GTO's in Le Mans, he and his manager had gone to lunch in one of them. I happened to drive by just then, and almost twisted my head off trying to look at this car. After a quick U-turn, I was able to take a close look at it.
Later, in '65 I think, he sold one of them, and advertised it in Road & Track for (brace yourself) $5,500.00! Talk about opportunities missed.
Jr also had a close relationship with King Hussein of Jordan. In fact he built a sports racing car in '64 that was named "Hussein I". It was rear engined and was powered by a NASCAR 426 Hemi. It was unsuccessful, a real handfull I have read.
He was a local hero in the sporting world, but I don't know much about his business success.

txtaz
08-13-2004, 12:57 PM
Wow George, Great story. Imagine a Ferari 250 GT for $5,500 in '65. Mom and Dad bought a '68 Firebird new for $3900. I still have it but is no where near the value of the Ferari today. We have a Ducati dealership here and he has a '67 AC Shelby Cobra sitting on the floor. One of the original GT race cars for Shelby. Talk about some bucks. Chaaaching.
Sounds like you are a classic car kinda guy. We have the '68 fully restored and Mom and Dad just got a '67 convertible Mecedes with some heritage. Last of the hand built AND it has fuel injection. Mechanicle of coarse but works well.
Thanks again for the info, if I find out what John Mecom is up to, I will post it.
Wes

rayjay
08-13-2004, 02:39 PM
...In fact he built a sports racing car in '64 that was named "Hussein I". It was rear engined and was powered by a NASCAR 426 Hemi. It was unsuccessful, a real handfull I have read...

Mecom built and raced Scarabs, both front and mid engined. The front engined cars looked like the Lister Jags and the early Chaparral's that the other Texan, Jim Hall, built. The mid engined cars were really beautiful. Picture (http://zoompics.com/1964.htm) Hussein only ran a few times with (if I remember correctly) AJ at the wheel as Lance was either hurt or had just died. One of the first 'BIG" engined sports racers. Saw it at the Bridge in the 60's. Scary to watch, but oh that sound!! They were running the drag race 2 x 4 cross ram manifolds and god only knows what type of cam cause it sounded (and smelt) more like a fueler than an S/S car. A delight to the eyes and ears of a teen. That sucker was better at lighting up its tires than even the "flopper" 427 prototype Cobra that Miles drove. Road & Track said it best when they wrote that the direction it was pointed and the direction it was going usually had nothing to do with one another. Back then the tires were referred to as slicks, even when they had treads (lol). :rlol:

rayjay

gcarter
08-14-2004, 06:06 PM
Rayjay, they had a terrible time making Hussein I run. If I remember correctly, they started out w/four 55mm downdraft Weber carbs. It ran terribly lean. They went to 4 bbl's of several different configurations and it would die in the corners. I think they ended up with EIGHT 55 mm Webers!!! Anyway, it was a car ahead of its time.
Back to Red Adair.
By the late '60's Red was probably in his early 50's, and EVERYBODY knew who he was. I was a young mechanical designer @ NASA and worked and lived in the Clear Lake area. I think he had some weekend property in the area as he was around there a lot. He always drove a new Eldorado, red of course, with company logos on the doors. Donzigo would have loved his taste. He was short, built like a fire plug (but not heavy, just stocky), and yes he had red hair.
As I mentioned previously, he had a raceboat team of at least two boats, painted bright red. About '67 a race was held on Clear Lake. The marina at an apartment complex was taken over as the pits. As the pits were only about 1/2 mile from where I lived, I went to watch a practice session. Red's mechanics were there warming up and tuning the engines on one of the boats. After about 15 or 20 minutes of this, Red drove up in his red Eldorado, got out wearing a red jump suit with a company logo on the back. He sauntered over to where the warmed up boat floated in the marina, and after two or three minutes of talking to the mechanics he jumped in the boat, gunned it a few times, put it in gear and took off.
This was typical Red. A proud Texan to the core. Showy, but not aloof, or mean. Very wealthy, and he earned every penny of it.