apollo24
04-11-2006, 04:24 PM
Guys,
This is one of the most interesting stories about a Donzi I have ever read (especially since it's my boat). ;) If you have time, read on.
I had a fellow email me the other day stating that his friend, who is in his 70's, thought that my boat might have been his boat, the boat that was used in a World Record distance run and a bunch of other things, including being driven by Bobby Allison himself. After doing a little research, we both figured out that my boat is indeed the boat! Here's what was said, along with pix of her in the various stages of her life.
From an email:
"Jerry said that's it! Thanks for the reply Ben.
So here's the whole enchilada:
The boat was built for a Pure Oil jobber in Miami FL, thus the color of the craft (it wasn't for Auburn or Florida football). Jerry bought the boat from that jobber in 1976 or 1977 because the boat scared that guy's wife. Jerry brought it back to Alabama, towed behind a Corvette, and operated it mostly on Smith Lake and a bit on the Warrior river. He took it to the gulf one time to watch a Beach Boys concert from the water. He raced a 24' Cigarette all the way back from Sandestin to Ft Walton in the chop, and won.
Being the competitor that Jerry was, at one time he had gotten a sponsorship from Budweiser to make a world record run down the Warrior river from Bham to Mobile. Bud dropped out of the sponsorship because another person they sponsored turned around and sued them when they got injured on whatever project they were on. Bud didn't want to have anything to do with sponsorships for awhile then. So he didn't make the run with sponsorship. He took it for a short run anyways, and made it to Demopolis in 4hrs (the halfway point). This took the original record setter 7hrs, so Jerry could have easily cracked the record.
Back then, the boat had a 500hp Chevy Z28 engine, and it drank 24 gallons/hr. It was the most thirsty engine he had ever owned. He kept it until 1990, and put it on consignment in Dauphin Island. It was winterized prior to taking it down. But sometime after being winterized, the boat was demo'd for someone, and it wasn't re-winterized by the crew who demo'd it. That year, the temps dropped in record lows, and the block cracked. He brought the boat back up here, never put it back in the water. He sold it to Tom and Rose Ivey, and they were the ones who discovered the cracked block. Even Jerry wasn't aware of it. Tom and Rose operated it in Lake Guntersville. One of the mods Tom made was to put highly reflective metal on the underside of the engine hatch (or at least that's what he told Jerry he had done.) Apparently, he sold it to another Tom, who listed the story on the registry. And that must be the Tom you purchased it from. When Jerry sold it, the boat had 150 hrs on it.
Now, for a bit of celebrity to add to the ownership history. Jerry was the first BMW dealer in Alabama, and had taken over the Porsche dealership from someone who didn't know how to sell German cars. His best friend is Bobby Allison, and Bobby spent many many hours in the drivers seat and pax seat of that boat. At one time, they had some issues with fuel starvation, and they finally discovered the problem--someone had stuffed a sandwich bag (ziploc type) in the tank, and it would find it's way to the pickup line and block it. There would be enough fuel in the lines to allow for a short hop, and the engine would die. Gravity would settle the bag, they'd restart the engine, give it a shot, and bam, right back to a dead engine. Liked to drive them nuts he said.
Jerry said if you can send any more photos, he'd love to see them. We'll send you one tomorrow, outfitted in it's Budweiser regalia for the Bham to Mobile run that never took place. He'll try to find whatever he can for you. The boat's original name was a German translation of "Classy Whore." He can't recall the exact spelling, but he hopes a photo will show it.
Jerry has become nostalgic lately because he was diagnosed with a fatal blood disease. He comes into my office each day and reminisces about the past. As he tells me these stories, he typically ends up saying "I wonder what ever happened to this or that..." And each time, I amaze him by finding it, typically through an internet search. In his lifetime, he's owned 56 cars, 16 of those were Corvettes, one was an original Shelby Cobra, and another was an original GT40. Quite the speed freak, I am honored to have him as a friend. I work as an investigator with a law firm in Bham, and Jerry works here as a runner. At age 72. He's close friends with the lead atty, thus why he's here. I'm fortunate to be able to hear his stories, and it gives him great joy to tell them."
And from another email:
"Attached are the photos of Jerry's photos. All he has are print
> photos, and as you probably know, it's difficult to get a good digital photo of a print.
> At any rate, one photo is named "pre-modded." This is before he
> changed the seats to white. He said the orange seats got so damned
> hot after 10 seconds in the sun that you couldn't sit down. The boat
> also had just a standard 350 with no mods. It was fast, but it wasn't a rocket.
>
> The photo named "jump" was taken while he was cruising at 45, and he
> decided to see what it would do. This was after installing the
> monster motor. It took his breath away when it bounded off the wake
> like it did. Upon reentry, he decided he had a winner, and knew the
> record attempt was his for the taking.
>
> The photo showing Jerry behind the wheel was taken after installing
> the Budweiser logos, and changing the seat covering to white. Across
> the bow, you can barely see the text that says "world record attempt
> birmingham to mobile." So I took a closeup photo of that and included a separate photo.
>
> Finally, next to the driver's seat on the side of the hull, it shows
> what appears to be a Mercedes star. It's actually a steering wheel,
> and it reads "Jerry Narramore". Next to that is a wrench, with the name Wayne Lowery.
> And next to that is the $ symbol, and it reads Budweiser. He
> commented that the worst thing Donzi did was to move the driver's seat to the right.
>
> One year, Bobby Allison had the franchise at Birmingham Int'l Raceway
> in Ensley/Fairfield. A Friday night racer was caught with nitrous, so
> Bobby confiscated it. It sat in his shop for a bit, and Jerry said
> "hey, let's experiment with that and put it on the x18." They
> installed it on a Saturday, drove it a couple times on the lake on
> Sunday, and removed it Sunday night. Couldn't drive the boat...it was
> just too much, and it there wasn't a prop big enough to handle it.
> They figured it brought the HP up to 800.
>
> He said Donzi did some sort of gelcoat that must have been made from
> unobtanium. It was parked on the campus at Birmingham Southern
> College for
> 6 years in the sun, without a cover, and when he took it to the water,
> a simple rinse job would make it look like new. He never could
> understand it, but was absolutely amazed.
>
> I think he was choking up a bit as I read aloud each of your emails to him.
> He is very glad to know that it has made your lives a bit more joyous.
> He had one hellofa time with it. I think you guys made his month."
What a story.
BBM
This is one of the most interesting stories about a Donzi I have ever read (especially since it's my boat). ;) If you have time, read on.
I had a fellow email me the other day stating that his friend, who is in his 70's, thought that my boat might have been his boat, the boat that was used in a World Record distance run and a bunch of other things, including being driven by Bobby Allison himself. After doing a little research, we both figured out that my boat is indeed the boat! Here's what was said, along with pix of her in the various stages of her life.
From an email:
"Jerry said that's it! Thanks for the reply Ben.
So here's the whole enchilada:
The boat was built for a Pure Oil jobber in Miami FL, thus the color of the craft (it wasn't for Auburn or Florida football). Jerry bought the boat from that jobber in 1976 or 1977 because the boat scared that guy's wife. Jerry brought it back to Alabama, towed behind a Corvette, and operated it mostly on Smith Lake and a bit on the Warrior river. He took it to the gulf one time to watch a Beach Boys concert from the water. He raced a 24' Cigarette all the way back from Sandestin to Ft Walton in the chop, and won.
Being the competitor that Jerry was, at one time he had gotten a sponsorship from Budweiser to make a world record run down the Warrior river from Bham to Mobile. Bud dropped out of the sponsorship because another person they sponsored turned around and sued them when they got injured on whatever project they were on. Bud didn't want to have anything to do with sponsorships for awhile then. So he didn't make the run with sponsorship. He took it for a short run anyways, and made it to Demopolis in 4hrs (the halfway point). This took the original record setter 7hrs, so Jerry could have easily cracked the record.
Back then, the boat had a 500hp Chevy Z28 engine, and it drank 24 gallons/hr. It was the most thirsty engine he had ever owned. He kept it until 1990, and put it on consignment in Dauphin Island. It was winterized prior to taking it down. But sometime after being winterized, the boat was demo'd for someone, and it wasn't re-winterized by the crew who demo'd it. That year, the temps dropped in record lows, and the block cracked. He brought the boat back up here, never put it back in the water. He sold it to Tom and Rose Ivey, and they were the ones who discovered the cracked block. Even Jerry wasn't aware of it. Tom and Rose operated it in Lake Guntersville. One of the mods Tom made was to put highly reflective metal on the underside of the engine hatch (or at least that's what he told Jerry he had done.) Apparently, he sold it to another Tom, who listed the story on the registry. And that must be the Tom you purchased it from. When Jerry sold it, the boat had 150 hrs on it.
Now, for a bit of celebrity to add to the ownership history. Jerry was the first BMW dealer in Alabama, and had taken over the Porsche dealership from someone who didn't know how to sell German cars. His best friend is Bobby Allison, and Bobby spent many many hours in the drivers seat and pax seat of that boat. At one time, they had some issues with fuel starvation, and they finally discovered the problem--someone had stuffed a sandwich bag (ziploc type) in the tank, and it would find it's way to the pickup line and block it. There would be enough fuel in the lines to allow for a short hop, and the engine would die. Gravity would settle the bag, they'd restart the engine, give it a shot, and bam, right back to a dead engine. Liked to drive them nuts he said.
Jerry said if you can send any more photos, he'd love to see them. We'll send you one tomorrow, outfitted in it's Budweiser regalia for the Bham to Mobile run that never took place. He'll try to find whatever he can for you. The boat's original name was a German translation of "Classy Whore." He can't recall the exact spelling, but he hopes a photo will show it.
Jerry has become nostalgic lately because he was diagnosed with a fatal blood disease. He comes into my office each day and reminisces about the past. As he tells me these stories, he typically ends up saying "I wonder what ever happened to this or that..." And each time, I amaze him by finding it, typically through an internet search. In his lifetime, he's owned 56 cars, 16 of those were Corvettes, one was an original Shelby Cobra, and another was an original GT40. Quite the speed freak, I am honored to have him as a friend. I work as an investigator with a law firm in Bham, and Jerry works here as a runner. At age 72. He's close friends with the lead atty, thus why he's here. I'm fortunate to be able to hear his stories, and it gives him great joy to tell them."
And from another email:
"Attached are the photos of Jerry's photos. All he has are print
> photos, and as you probably know, it's difficult to get a good digital photo of a print.
> At any rate, one photo is named "pre-modded." This is before he
> changed the seats to white. He said the orange seats got so damned
> hot after 10 seconds in the sun that you couldn't sit down. The boat
> also had just a standard 350 with no mods. It was fast, but it wasn't a rocket.
>
> The photo named "jump" was taken while he was cruising at 45, and he
> decided to see what it would do. This was after installing the
> monster motor. It took his breath away when it bounded off the wake
> like it did. Upon reentry, he decided he had a winner, and knew the
> record attempt was his for the taking.
>
> The photo showing Jerry behind the wheel was taken after installing
> the Budweiser logos, and changing the seat covering to white. Across
> the bow, you can barely see the text that says "world record attempt
> birmingham to mobile." So I took a closeup photo of that and included a separate photo.
>
> Finally, next to the driver's seat on the side of the hull, it shows
> what appears to be a Mercedes star. It's actually a steering wheel,
> and it reads "Jerry Narramore". Next to that is a wrench, with the name Wayne Lowery.
> And next to that is the $ symbol, and it reads Budweiser. He
> commented that the worst thing Donzi did was to move the driver's seat to the right.
>
> One year, Bobby Allison had the franchise at Birmingham Int'l Raceway
> in Ensley/Fairfield. A Friday night racer was caught with nitrous, so
> Bobby confiscated it. It sat in his shop for a bit, and Jerry said
> "hey, let's experiment with that and put it on the x18." They
> installed it on a Saturday, drove it a couple times on the lake on
> Sunday, and removed it Sunday night. Couldn't drive the boat...it was
> just too much, and it there wasn't a prop big enough to handle it.
> They figured it brought the HP up to 800.
>
> He said Donzi did some sort of gelcoat that must have been made from
> unobtanium. It was parked on the campus at Birmingham Southern
> College for
> 6 years in the sun, without a cover, and when he took it to the water,
> a simple rinse job would make it look like new. He never could
> understand it, but was absolutely amazed.
>
> I think he was choking up a bit as I read aloud each of your emails to him.
> He is very glad to know that it has made your lives a bit more joyous.
> He had one hellofa time with it. I think you guys made his month."
What a story.
BBM