Coolest racing engine of all time???

[Mark75H]

What is your favorite? Here's mine:

(Still looking for one of these ugly lower units for it or a short 13½" tower to get in trade for the long 16")

[Dr. Thunder]

50's HRA Konig 250 ... today it would have to be the Rossi 125.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I always liked the 500 cc 4 carb Konigs with the short megaphones. The 6 cylinder Quincy flatheads had the best sound AND looked good.

[Rusrog]

1750XS\T-3's.... Great looking motors and for the day were pretty hard to beat...

Also the later 2.4 Oval port EFI's.... Late 80's versions...

Russ

[Jeff Akers]

A Lon Stevens six cylinder merc. God they sounded good !
When I was a kid I used to play in the propwash as they fired them off .Man the feel, the sound , the smell, nuthin like it!!!!

Hmm, I wonder if thats wy I don't hear so well anymore ??

[Jeff Lytle]

Crescent 500cc alky, or gas Super C.........nuthin' quite like them.

[Bob Rusnak]

Found this photo from the 1972 Pro Nationals in Depue. Bill Fales with his potent Fales/Langdon Looper setting up his rig before the first heat. This was some impressive engine.

[N-77 Two]

Take a look at the back of the boat. There were two tanks custom made for that boat that actually held around 6 gallons of methanol. The motor drank fuel. In fact this was one of the first races that the "new" drive tube that Elli Langdon made for my dad. The lower two cylinders were actually below the transom of the boat, trying to lower the CG of the motor to make the boat steer thru the corners even better. This motor was definately a screamer. Thanks for the memories.

[Mike Schmidt]

This shot should go under "Coolest Engine of All Times". It has my vote.
I had the honor of riding deck in this beast, racing against it and even working on parts of it. This thing was ultra trick for its day. Still trick today 30 something years later. I never met Elli, but have the utmost respect for his work. His work was the same caliber as Walt, Harry and Tom. I did some work on the Konig overdrive unit that he had built for this motor after he had passed away. He had notes etched on the inside of the gear case telling what size shim went where. It was neat, kind of like he was helping.....Bill was a great driver in any boat, but this was his real love.

Hope you guys have this thing on display at Powermist.

Michael D-1

[N-77 Two]

Thank You Mike for the kind words about my dad. You did a lot of work for ALL of us at Power-Mist during the 80's. It was to bad you never had a chance to meet Elli, he was a class act all the way.

One day Dad and I skipped work to go to Elli's to finish working on the Konig D my dad had. Dad and I were working on making all the pistons equal weight when my dad said everything was "close enough" and said he was going to do something else. Elli came over and looked at the numbers Dad had written on the top of the pistons and asked Dad and I to leave and go get lunch. So we did. When returning with lunch, Dad looked at the pistons, and all the numbers had changed and they were all the same. Elli took one look at Dad and said, "nothing leaves my shop until it is perfect, now the pistons are perfect." Elli did the pistons over and they were perfect. He was a great and gifted man. I am glad to have known him and glad to have taken him to the last race he went to, Soddy Daisy, TN for the Mod Nationals. What a blast.

After Dad broke his back going for the NOA 1100R Kilo record, which he was recorded going thru the trap at over 107mph the first way, and blew it over going back the other. Elli totally rebuilt that Looper and had it ready for dad for the race that you see in the picture above. Many people do not remember that my Dad had a severely broken back at that National, it was only 12 weeks after the accident. Bill and Ralph DeSilva built a brand new boat, also.

Again, thanks for the nice words about Dad. It was fun to race with you in the 80's, and it was fun to watch you deckride with Dad. It was also fun to watch you drive the 6-cylinder Yamaha motor we have on the 13.6 boat at Hartford that one day. When that motor finally got on pipe, you had a handfull with it. You did a good job that day until the lower unit broke. In fact that motor only was driven by a handfull of people and you should feel honored to have driven that. As far as deckriders go, you are one of only a handfull of people to do that also. Of course, Dick Scopinich, Howie Pickerell, Jay Gignac, Debbie McMahon and Yourself are the only ones to have taken a ride in that beast of a motor.

Thanks. Remember, Lets put Bills Fales in the APBA HALL OF FAME!!!