| NOTES:
West Coast APBA Vintage/Historic member and flatbottom historian and restorer Harlan Orrin Jr. is interviewed in the May issue of HOT BOAT magazine. The six page story with photos tells of flatbottom designer Joe Mandella’s shop bought by Ernie Orrin (Harlan’s Uncle). John Rogers of the Los Angeles area, has a marine converted, direct drive 1948 Ford Flathead that he’s pulled-out of an early 1950’s ski- boat. If you’re looking for a Flathead for your early hydro or Crackerbox restoration contact us for more information. The Dayton, Ohio testing was a great way to
start the 2006 Vintage season. The Ron Jones cabover of Jon Bartell Jr
in the Chuckwagon ran side-by-side with Steve Drucker driving the 280,
101-Airborne Eagle. Bill Gmeiner ran the 150 hydro, Big Chief. Dan Joseph
brought the 145 hydro, The Judge and had Butch Kropfeld take it out first.
Bad Habit was there and looked very hooked up. Brian Joseph had the Lauterbach
Special, A41 running smooth. The Joseph’s Little Fission, S-420 ran like
a sweet little 145. Kevin Klosterman brought the Aqua Flyer with he and
Ron Snyder and Kevin taking turns driving the 266. The Wickens 266, Barracuda
was running better than ever. The 280 conventional, Sir Ron III was there
with Ron Snyder driving it also. Carl Wilson came to Dayton and broke something
again in his 225 Tiger. The 6 Litre, Flying Tiger ran well for 7 laps until
the coupler broke.
Can you name the fourth V8-60 powered 135 ci.hydro
(from this month’s West Coast Report) that made the exclusive 100 mph in
the 1-Mile Trials?
EVENTS:
BILL JOHN III REPORT:
ON A SAD NOTE: Vern Davis, builder of the famous “Davis” E-Service Runabouts passed away May 4,2006. Vern’s special bottom design of his race boats dominated the E-Service class in the 1950’s. God Speed from our Vintage Group.
BOB SILVA’S WEST COAST REPORT:
Many drivers have tried and have come darn close but only four men have qualified for the Gulf Oil 100 mph Club driving a 135 cubic inch hydroplane through a measured APBA mile trial. Bill Dugranrut of Fresno, CA. was the third person to join that exclusive 135 club and just about retired the class record in his name. Flinging Midget and Sprint cars around oval tracks helped prepare Dugranrut for his initial ride in a race boat on Lake Yosemite in 1945. Wes Coats called upon Bill to replace his driver who, having been pitched-out of Coat’s 225 hydro, retired from racing on the spot. The following year Dugranrut bought a used Kenny Ingram hull, powered by an overhead cam Riley engine, and raced in the 225 Division I class throughout California. In 1951 he ordered one of Rich Hallett’s latest designs for the 135 class and named it RIC-O-SHAY, 25-A. A machinist for the railroad by trade, Bill did his own engine work on the Ford Flathead V8-60. He shaved nine pounds off the crankshaft, machined his own custom flywheel and built the collector exhaust pipes. He pain stakingly hand hammered a tail piece and engine cowling out of aluminum. It took several years to get his red and white hydro with birch decks to be competitive. He was facing the 135 class record holders at every race: Buddy Holloway’s SCREAMING EAGLE, 6-A; Eddie Meyer’s AVENGER, 99-A and Frank Neely’s CUMON BABY, 15-A; the competition in the 135 class was fierce. In 1954 Dugranrut’s hard work began to show success when his inventive idea for adjustable runners on the sponson bottoms helped get him into the exclusive 100 mph club. The 1954 National Championships for the 135 hydro class, held at the Salton Sea, found the RIC-O-SHAY finishing third behind SCREAMING EAGLE IV and Ohio driver Ron Musson in Frank Hearn’s winning Lauterbach, CHROMIUM, A-11. That same weekend, the two-way, flying Statute Mile straightaway record distance became a shootout between Holloway and Dugranrut. CUMON BABY I, the current record holder at 101.254 mph, wasn’t present to defend her record, having been sold to Texan, Frank Steed and renamed TEX, A-6. Running an Arvel Lankford built V8-60, Holloway blasted a one-way run hitting over 105 mph, according to the official timer, but snapped a prop shaft and came to a stop before the end of the timing lights. Holloway and Hi-J’s propeller man Rennie Ludlam made a mad dash driving across the desert to Newport Beach to machine a new shaft. Other top dogs in the 135 class were unable to break the century mark; Red Reeder in his HELLUVA, 52-A clocked 94.389 and Hearn’s CHROMIUM a 92.260. Running a 10x19 prop in Salton Sea’s famous thick water (some joked it had the consistency of Oatmeal), Dugranrut drove RIC-O-SHAY through the traps at just over 104 mph. If he could clock 100 on the return run, a new record would be his. But, it just wasn’t to be as the speed fell with a two-way average of 101.241 mph, just under CUMON BABY’S record. It did get Bill into that exclusive 100 club, but at the time probably seemed like sour grapes. Holloway, upon his return with a new shaft, was able to up the 135 class record with a two-way average of 101.373 mph in the Hallett built, SCREAMING EAGLE IV. The first Region 12 race of 1955 Dugranrut was asked to drive the Elliot/Ingram owned 266 hydro, SNIPE, 8-F, at Bakersfield’s Hart’s Park. Leading Ernie Bender in THUNDERBOLT, 66-F, with half a lap to go, the fuel-injected Mercury lofted SNIPE into a series of airborne dances, the second one depositing Bill into the water where a quick thinking Bender narrowly missed him. Following that incident, witnessed by his wife, he was convinced to retire from racing, sell the RIC-O-SHAY and devote his energy to the family Almond Ranch in Delhi, CA. But, had Lady Luck smiled on Dugranrut’s return run for the 1-Mile record, he and the RIC-O-SHAY would have gone down in the history books as *retiring the 135 class record. Fifty plus years have passed and looking back it certainly isn’t sour grapes, it’s an honor to be one of only four men to have ever officially run over 100 mph in one of the most competitive classes in APBA racing. *(note: by 1959 the 1-Mile runs where replaced in favor of kilo record runs).
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