Ron Hill Family: Hill Marine and Signature Propellers

[Ron Hill]

This was live TV, my brother had just won the "TROPHY DASH" with his C-6 Swift....Upset win for Russ, as Howard Thompson, 2-C usually won D Stock Hydro.

Second picture, again live TV, Dick Lane from KTTV announces as Russ Hill, Jr. gets his trophy for WINNING D Stock Hydro...

White T Shirt is Bobby Willlard, from Oildale, who, along with his dad, raced for 26 straight weeks...Gene Bettis is next to Bobby...

ADD: The kid holding C-6 is Me, Bill DeSilva is walking toward me with the hip boots on..Howard Thompson is standing behind his KG-9 holding the flywheel...That KG-9 of Howards, was once on the cover of Speed and Spray or Boat Sport where they had two D Hydros, side by side...Jack Maypole was driving one of the boats, as I recall!!!! (Found the Link Boat Sport ...Hmm, it was June 1953).

[Ron Hill]

3-C, Bobby Willard from Oildale, California, leads Ronnie Hill and Gene Bettis is AU Trophy Dash...

Oh, I remember now, as I see Bobby Willard is leading, fastest guys started last.....and we only ran three laps....Hard to come from last to first, I never did!!!!

[Ron Hill]

Here Lee Morehouse (Back to us)..is holding my brother as he starts his KG-9 powered, Swift hydro...A C, D, F, X Hydro....as they were called...

Lee may have built more than 50 Morehouse runabouts, he had been an artist for Walt Disney, and on every boat bottom he'd draw Mickey Mouse before he put the glass on!!!!

The Morehouse Family, Lee, Ibby and Danny were great supporters of Boat Racing both with CASH, and hard work at the races...Not to mention the boats Lee built and repaired for little or no money!!!

[Ron Hill]

My brother won at Brawley, in 1956. The lake is just like it was in 1957....One of the few places in California that hasn't changed....I plan to offer Imperial County a dollar for the lake...If private ownership was allowed they area would BLOOM.....

The bottom picture is at the San Diego Food Control Channel, 1956, my brother is running Ed Kuracowa's Morehouse and his Hubbell PR...This is only Hubbell PR that was built completly from Hubbell parts. My dad bought every piece new from Pep and assembled this motor...

The motor is still in the barn, where it was placed in 1957.....

[Ron Hill]

This is my brother, at San Diego again, but it is 1960, as he got his Sid Craft after the 1959 Nationals in Seattle...

444 is Kenny Pyle and driving the cab over is Gary Ferguson, who is the head tooler at Advantage Boats in Lake Havasu...Gary is and was quite a boat designer....

[Ron Hill]

This is my brother, Russ Hill, Jr. with his girl friend...Phyllis Winger. Phyllis was the only woman in John Wayne's movie, Island in the Sky...Russ and his good friend John Drake both dated Phyllis....Maybe, you can see why!!!

[Ron Hill]

We raced 39 straight weeks. The Old Man inspected every week. It was live TV in those days...Speedboat Rodeo KTLA-TV Channel 5...

[Ron Hill]

Long story here, may tell it sometime!

[DeanFHobart]

Long story here, may tell it sometime!

Car topping is how I raced for years…. Many, many years. The picture brings back a lot of memories. Thanks.

[Ron Hill]

I usually used our chase lounge mat folded, but going to Wisconsin, I decided a spare, spare tire could come in handy.

I took delivery on that 1968 Chevy in December of '67. By September of '70 when I "Dropped a Valve" in Winslow, Arizona, my Chevy had 92,000 miles.

The good thing was most of those miles were paid by OMC at $.25 per mile.

I only paid $4,300 new for that Chevy!