Moschettiere
MOSCHETTIERE V
Waterdrome of Milano 1957
This is the Ezio Selva's MOSCHETTIERE
V which was the boat that took Ezio Selva's had his fatal accident at Miami
in 1957. Timossi hull, 800 kg. class, Alfa Romeo
159 engine, double supercharged, 8 cylinder in-line. When the boat was returned back to Italy,
the engine was returned to Alfa Romeo and the boat at the wishes of the
Ezio Selva widow, was destroyed. Thanks to Guido Romani for sending in
the photo and providing information.
Death of a Sportsman
Monday, Jan. 13, 1958
"I'm a lucky driver," he used to say.
"I've never been in the water." With luck riding in the cockpit, Italy's
Ezio Selva became a world champion hydroplane driver, a little, effusive
man with a light touch on the skidding turns and a heavy foot on the straightaways.
A onetime high-diving champion of Italy, Selva seemed ideally suited for
the sport he took up in 1948 at the advanced age of 46. Cockily, he used
the 400-h.p. Alfa-Romeo engine from the boat that had killed his good friend,
Mario Verga, in 1954. "One engine won't kill two men," said Selva.
But in the U.S., Selva had more than his
share of bad breaks. Three times he was knocked out of the Orange Bowl's
International Grand Prix in Miami, twice on disqualifications and once
when an underwater object ripped a hole in his hurtling hull. Last week
when he climbed into his bright red Moschettiere (Musketeer) for
a fourth try at the event. Selva had good reason to think this time his
luck might be good. He knew the course, and his engine was tuned to a blatting,
bellowing roar of controlled fury. But win or lose, Selva, 55, had decided
to quit the sport after the race. Said he: "I'm too old."
Against standard racing strategy, Selva
let himself be beaten to the starting line in the first heat, was trapped
back in the pack and could not break loose until the last lap when he nearly
caught the winner, George Byers Jr. of Columbus, Ohio. Between heats he
explained to newsmen: "I no like to start first bad luck."
In the second heat, Selva again was beaten
to the start by two boats, but the judges immediately disqualified them
both for jumping the gun. Out on the water, without knowledge of the judges'
decision, Selva knew only that he was behind again. While his 20-year-old
son Luciano made movies of the race from the shore, Selva roared after
the leaders. The arching rooster tail of water thrown up by his prop hissed
behind as Selva whipped past the second boat. And skipping down the straightaway
at 100 m.p.h., he shot into the lead right in front of his son's camera.
An instant later, a wave slightly lifted
the hydroplane's flat nose. Ponderously, the 364-lb. boat started into
a slow-motion backward somersault. Luciano hurled away his camera and screamed:
"It's turning over! Father, father!" The red Musketeer landed full on its
bow, dashing Selva against the windshield. His son half-jumped, half-fell
30 ft. to the ground from the judges' stand and leaped into the bay. A
patrol boat raced to pick up Selva's floating body. The windshield had
ripped into Selva's chest, and he was already dead. His first spill into
the water was his last. |
MOSCHETTIERE IV
Chanel Hollywood - Miami winter 1955-1956
(Same motor as the boat above)
Charles Marshall photo
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