K-Boats.....When...

[Ron Hill]

Real Flat Bottoms...


Gordon Jennings, Jr. in Liberty..

Bob Goettle in K-28..

[Bezer222]

Ron,
Don't you mean Gordon Jennings, Sr ! I don't think Gordon Jr was ever old enough to drive a Sanger! BTW Nice pictures, Keep them coming!

[Ron Hill]

I asked, "Who was driving 'Liberty'.." and was told GORDON.....by Paul Pfaff....Gordon isn't "GORDY"...

Thanks for the correction...The Life Jacket should have been my clue, as a FLAT BOTTOM is a FLAT BOTTOm to me, unless she's a "TIGER"....

[Ron Hill]

When I find a picture of "OUR" Tiger, I'll post it and tell several stories about how we got our "NAIL HEAD BUICK" and how we got the boat...She was green metal flake and called Preperation H powered by HEMI ROIDS.........We loved that boat....Here's an add for "TIGER BOATS"...

[Ron Hill]

Boating News, September, 1966...Here's the cover...

[Dave Glass]

Ron,
Did you get the boat out of Needles CA. When I was a kid their was a boat owned by John Lafever and Dave Daniels by that name and had a hemi in it. My dad was very good friends with both of them. Dave passed away several years ago and John still lives in Needles. We lived in Needles back in the 60's and my folks still go a couple times a year to visit old friends and family.

[Ron Hill]

Ron,
Did you get the boat out of Needles CA. When I was a kid their was a boat owned by John Lafever and Dave Daniels by that name and had a hemi in it. My dad was very good friends with both of them. Dave passed away several years ago and John still lives in Needles. We lived in Needles back in the 60's and my folks still go a couple times a year to visit old friends and family.
__________________

I spent too much time in Needles, especially in the 1960's.

Dave Daniel had two sisters, Linda and Janis. Janis and I dated pretty hot and heavy for quite a few years...Dave became Mayor of Needles. Dave's widow was from Hawaii, where she has moved back to, but she still owns the lot, next to Jimbo, on the golf course.

John LaFever was into Flat Bottom Drags and was a partner in a boat business with Glen Chambers (After Glen lost his leg in the train accident)....They were an Eliminator Dealer.


Olin Griswold REALLY owned "Preperation-H powered by Hemi-Roids", it was a green metal flake boat and had Buick Power. I don't think John LeFever, Dave Daniel, or Pete McConnell ever used that name on one of their Flat Bottoms...

Olin's parents owned the RC, 7 Up, Diet Rite, and Dr. Pepper Bottleing Company in town. Olin was an only child and spoiled, but I liked "Hanging" with him because he was "Spoiled"...He had a new El Camino, when I had a five year old Chevy. His dad had a new El Dorado and his mom had a new Lincoln Continental. His mom and dad's cars were fun to take to Vegas.

We also threw some great parties. (Pig Roasts and Kegs...)

I actually work with Olin in the summers and every other Wednesday, we had to come to Buena Park to pick up a semi truck load of canned pop. We'd spend the night at my folks, in Garden Grove, I'd get clean clothes and we'd head back to Needles...

Those were some fun trips...We had a box of cards of the 500 most misspelled college words...and we'd ride along in that damn hot semi, no air conditioning, and try to spell words...Olin and I were both semi intelligent, but neither of us could spell CAT...I still can't...We'd usually have about four cases of Coors strapped to the flat bed of the semi....

I remember, one time, a CHP car going by and giving us the eye as we left Needles (He was looking at the beer)..... Same CHP passes us about Barstow...He gives us the "REAL BAD EYE" as we only had three cases.... You could tell he was trying to remember how many cases he'd seen when we left Needles...

We usually didn't get much sleep those Wednesday nights, as places like the "Sugar Shack", "The Club House", "The Beach Comber"...needed customers to help them drink their beer...So, one Thursday morning, we devised this plan...we'd get us a boat, one piece at a time...

We stopped at Tiger Boats and got a price list. We bought the wheels and axels right there... Next trip we got the trailer....Problem was, neither of us had any money, neither drew a salary...just kind took what money we needed for beer and food...

So, Olin told his dad it was MY boat....and I told my dad the boat was Olin's.... We bought the boat with money that we called APPROPREATIONS, "Rat Holed" would be another word... We had a ton of fun with that boat....

Olin's dad slipped me A thousand dollars as I headed back to college, 1965, ....He knew I could use the money, he knew I'd made his son work harder than any employees would have worked him...

In 1966, Don Laughlin asked Olin and I to buy in to his BAR.....Don wanted $5,000 each... I had just graduated and was broke...Olin's $5,000 was reported to have turned to $600,000.....Lauglin, Nevada is named after Don....

Yea, we delivered POP to the old Flying "A"...Fred Lyon's place...he had two good looking daughters...Rowena and Freddie.....John Madison wasthe Principal fo the High School, he had a good looking daughter, Barbara...

Do you remember Pete McConnell's "T" Roadster?? Every girl in town had a burn scare on their leg from his pipes....

If you've ever seen the picture of the two topless women in a flat bottom with their tops tied to a ski pole....trust me when I say, they got the ide from Olin an me...you know how could the river can be at Needles....

As I said, Ispent too much time in Needles in the 1960's....

[Bezer222]

Thats a great list of early K-boats. keep this stuff coming, it's great!

[M.R.Bowen]

I have had the opportunity to see K-boats running. For those who haven't, we who have, can tell you that you have missed out on some of the class acts in boat racing. K-boats are at the top of my list, for being the BADDEST FIRE-BREATHING MONSTERS on a circle course! The drivers are among the most talented, because they had to be to hold on to them. Everything associated with this group of racers was top-notch. These rockets would get around a course faster than you could ever imagine.
For the drag racers out there, yep, there are spectacular boats running out there. Top Fuel to start the list. But think about running a Blown Flatbottom down the 1/4 mile, flat out, then have to turn it, lap after lap.
That's what made the K-boat spiecal. Thanks!
M.R.Bowen

[Ron Hill]

When the "K's" fired up...the announcer used to say, "Head for the hills, the dam busted."

A good field of "K's" would make the ground shake...but my heart would be beating so much, I couldn't tell if it was the ground, or me....

[M.R.Bowen]

Ron, you must have a great memory, 'cause I can't remember if mine was beating or not,when they were running. What a sound!
M.R.Bowen

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I remember watching the "K's" in person only once. It was like Ron said. I was at Firebird Lake near Phoenix with by dad Baldy. We were out there for a preliminary look at the layout and set everything up for the 1976 UIM World Championships for OA,OD and OF.

Mark Spencer was there from Powerboat. I think it was shortly before he took over as editor from Bob Brown. Anyway,...he covered the story, & I had plenty of film just for my own stuff.

I learned real quick, that when the K racing runabouts were racing, have the motor drive cranked up and a fresh roll of film.