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Thread: Donzi Marine 63-65

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    Post Donzi Marine 63-65

    Any Questions about those years?

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    Tell your story on how the Donzi was named...

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    Don's close friend, Morris Levy, owner of Roulette Records, always called Don, Donnie. When the Formula 233 was named Cabin Crusier Of The Year in Esquire Magazine in 63, the text stated that one of the primary reasons for the 233's award was the way its interior was decorated. Morris, never one to pass up an opportunity to take a shot, told Don, "Geez Donnie, I guess we're going to have to start calling you Donsy" (the interior decorator). Don loved the name, changed it to Donzi and proptly named his newest line of Wynne/Walters designs, Donzi Marine.

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    Don's close friend, Morris Levy, owner of Roulette Records, always called Don, Donnie. When the Formula 233 was named Cabin Crusier Of The Year in Esquire Magazine in 63, the text stated that one of the primary reasons for the 233's award was the way its interior was decorated. Morris, never one to pass up an opportunity to take a shot, told Don, "Geez Donnie, I guess we're going to have to start calling you Donsy" (the interior decorator). Don loved the name, changed it to Donzi and promptly named his newest line of Wynne/Walters designs, Donzi Marine.

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    Some of the articles from around that period give one the impression that Wynne really had his own boat design business (Wyn-Mil Associates) going before, during and after Aronow's Formula and Donzi companies. Can you descibe what Wynne's relationship was to the Aronow Companies and if Wynne was just licensing designs to all comers?
    Also, Wynne appearently was involved with Thunderbird years before meeting Don.
    Can you shed some light on this?

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    Bryan Tuvell Guest

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    Maybe I need to reread my book about Don A.
    Bryan

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    Jim was on his own when he first met Don in 1962 prior to the 62 running of the Miami-Nassau Race. Shortly thereafter, they struck up a friendly rivalry that led to Don hiring Jim and his partner Walt Walters (after the 63 Nassau Race) to design him a V that could outrun Dick Bertram's Bertrams. That first design became known as the Formula 233. Jim stayed with Don until mid 1966 when Jim went out on his own again. At that time he was hired by Merrick Lewis, owner of the Alliance Machine Company of Ohio and at the time, the owner of Formula/Thunderbird. Jim was hired as an independent contractor to design and experiment with new raceboats strictly for Merrick.

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    ALLEN BROWN...WHERE ARE YOU?

    [This message has been edited by Tony (edited 07-03-2001).]

    Member: Red Boat Club
    1996 22' Classic
    Volvo 7.4GSi/DPX (E-4 props)
    bone stock 72.8 gps mph

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    Can you explain the decals, Swedish Flag and Lion over Dolphin that were put on donzi's and what they
    mean? I have a theory, but its probably wrong.

    P.S. The very first boat Wynne ever put his sterndrive on, in '58, was a wooden boat lent to him by Woody Woodson - then owner of Thunderbird.

    [This message has been edited by Formula Jr (edited 07-04-2001).]

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    Formula Jr., tell me your theory.

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    Oky, Wynne was an offical consultant for Volvo, as he had licenced his improvement of Strang's design to that company - a Swedish company. So when the Donzi 16's in 65 were shown at the New York Boat Show this was a way of quickly identifing the boats as having the new propulsion system which was made in Sweden while the boats were made in th US. So you have both flags. Now the Lion over Dolphin Shows up after Wynne left, and designates the two big europian races - The Cowes-Torquay (Lion) and the Dauphin d'Or (dolphin) because Aronow was pretty much trying to market internatonally and elbow rubbed with the local royalty.

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    Not bad Formula Jr.
    During Don's racing excursions into Europe in 63 and 64 he came to feel that his boats had to have an "international flavor" if they were going to capture the world market. Almost all of the Donzi 16s produced beginning in 64 were produced with the flags of two countries decaled either next to or below the DONZI insignia. One flag was always that of America. The other flag of choice became the British flag or the flag of one of the Scandinavian countries, i.e., Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, etc.
    To the best of my recollection, the lion was derived from Finland's Coat of Arms.

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    Question

    Where were you boating out of on Manhassett Bay back in the mid-sixties,and what type were you in?????JimG.

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    Tell us about the Hornet. The original bench seat Hornet. Does it pre-date the 18.

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    Absolutely. The Hornet was a Donzi original. The 18' was an after thought.
    The hull was a 19' Wynne/Walters design and that design along with the 16' and the 28' comprised the original Donzi line. The 19' hull had two deck molds. One, the bench seated Hornet and the other, the Open Fish "St. Tropez." The original Hornets were only produced in British Racing Green and were called the Donzi "Green Hornets." Kleenex heir Jim Kimberly owned the first.
    The 18' was originally known as the "2 + 3" and came out in 65, almost a year after the 16'.

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