By Dave Selby
MECUM, USA
Saleroom
MECUM, USA
Runabout rivals go head to head As the roaring 20s raced full pelt for the precipice of the Great Depression, John Ludwig Hacker and Garfield Wood vied with each other to deliver grace and pace on water to the wealthiest sporting Americans. Hacker, an early proponent of planing vee-hull technology in pure race and record boats, is widely credited with being the father of the American runabout, placing the engine amidships, control cockpit forward, and passenger accommodation aft. Gar Wood was no slouch either, becoming the first man to break 100mph on water, claiming the world waterspeed record five times and bagging a huge trophy haul with 10 legendary Miss Americas. The rivalry of these two self-made men drove the development of the high-speed runabout to new heights, and with five Hacker-Craft and Gar Wood boats coming up at auction from a single owner on May 19 you can decide for yourself which brand delivers the ultimate expression of the form.
Above Left Of the 26ft (8m) Triple-Cockpit Runabout Hacker-Craft ads claimed: “This is not only the fastest bona fide boat of its size and power produced, but it will outmanoeuvre all rivals.” This 1929 example with desirable Kermath in-line, six-cylinder engine is estimated at $90,000-110,000. Above Right “Pleasure craft from the shops of the raceboat king, that are built side by side with the Miss Americas, have always had the reputation for being the softest riding of all speedboats.” So ran an ad for the new 1930 line-up of Gar Wood boats. This 28ft (8.5m) example is estimated at $110,000-130,000.
BONHAMS
Hemingway’s last hurrah Though the sea coursed through Ernest Hemingway’s work and life, never was his writing more connected to it than in The Old Man and the Sea, the 1952 novella that was his last full-
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Hark the Herald engine swims
32
length work and helped restore his reputation. The fable of Cuban fisherman
There was a time when Amphicar values seemed to be treading water, but now they appear to be
Santiago who “went
riding the crest of a wave. The 1960s German-built aquatic novelty car critiqued in print as “a
out to far” in his
vehicle that promised to revolutionise drowning” is nevertheless the world’s most successful
Ahab-like struggle
civilian amphibian vehicle, with around 3,800 of these
with a giant marlin
Triumph Herald-engined curios built. Today it’s doubtful
earned Hemingway
there are as many as 500 in seaworthy condition. As a
the Pulitzer Prize for
result, such limited supply means there is a certain illiquidity
Fiction and was
in the market – but a lot more if you forget to fit the bung
cited in awarding
plug before launching onto water. This bare-metal restored
him the Nobel Prize in Literature in
1961 example fetched $93,500 in what appears to be a very
1954. This first edition was expected
buoyant market.
to fetch £400-600.
CLASSIC BOAT JUNE 2022
BONHAMS
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