Miss Bardahl
I am not sure if that is Mira Slovak or Norm Evans driving but they were the two who drove Miss Bardahl in 1958.
Ted Koopman photo at the 1958 Presidents Cup. Ted was a great photographer back at that time who shared his photos with the racers.
This photo & caption submitted from our good friend, Gary Todd. Gary has a great photo album on the website with over 200+ photos of his own photographic work. Surf in and check it out.
Mira Slovak drove Miss Bardahl to 3rd (on points) in the Presidents Cup after winning the final heat. Don Wilson won the race driving George Simon’s Miss US 1, and Jay Murphy finished second driving Breathless II.
Slovak drove Bardahl to two wins that year; the National Sweepstakes at Buffalo, New York, and the Rogers Memorial Trophy at Washington, D.C.
Norm Evans drove Miss Bardahl to victory at the Apple Cup on Lake Chelan (I think her first race).
Miss Bardahl was a brand new boat and the high points champion that year, with the seat shared, as you noted, between Evans and Slovak.
This was the second of 5 Bardahl’s. This one raced from 1958 through 1961 and the actual boat is on display at the Good Will Industries Museum in Seattle.
The first Miss Bardahl (1957) was the former Tempest and Ole Bardahl sponsored her for several races to advertise his product.
The 1962-1965 boat was restored and is still running and giving rides in Seattle.
The 1966 boat crashed and killed Ron Musson, arguably the greatest unlimited driver ever.
I’m not sure what became of the 1967 boat, the Blonde Bombshell.
The last Miss Bardahl was the checkerboard boat of 1968-1969. After she was retired she was sold to Bernie Little as a backup to Miss Budweiser, and ran as Miss Budweiser II, and Miss US in1970, and ended her career in 1971 when she was destroyed in a crash as Hallmark Homes.
I wanted to correct myself about the information I provided above.
I just did some more research on the 1967 and 1968 Miss Bardahl and found out it was the same boat. The tail section was redesigned, but it was the same hull..
Back in 1992 I saw Miss Bardahl on the wall of a museum inside the largest Goodwill in Seattle. It had been donated to them which I thought was strange, considering the Unlimited Hydroplane Hall of Fame was in the same city.
I remember this boat when I was a kid around 1978-1980. So many great memories. I remembered the bubbleator and the food circus..Remembered SEATAC Mall and Farrell’s ice cream shop. Lived in little town of Buckley on Hinklemen road just down the road from the eagles club.