Molinari Racing Boat History and Information

[Steve Pinson]

Every thing you post Jackie, might be "RAMBLING" but I read ever word several times.

I always remember the "IT STOPS" at the Parker 9 Hour....You "COSWORTH" guys had "TEA" while the crew fueled the boat and checked under the "BONNET"..Oh, boats do have "BONNETS".....but there was no "RUSH" at the stops.

My first Six Hours of Paris, 1967, I have to admit, I really thought every one was crazy except us "Tunnel (ON) Drivers"....All day long all I saw was Vee Bottoms backing out of the water prop first as they kept "NOSE DIVING".

20:20 hindsight, no one seemed to get hurt from "NOSE DIVING" and "BLOW OVERS" hurt a "**** LOAD"...My first Paris race impressed me as "BOAT RACER SPORTSMEN". They came to race for fun. It seemed to change quickly!

Not trying to pass judgement, but I don't think "FACTORY" participation helped the sport.

Ron i think your first Paris 6hr race experience was driving a Shultz Hydrocat let us have a few of your comments about how it drove in the rough water i bet it was a real handfull especially with the barges running.I think your last drive at Paris was in a Scotti boat now that would be a good running boat at that time lets have your comments too on that drive?Paris 1970 would be the year Jackie drove with Molinari 43yrs ago this coming weekend would be nice to have a few words from jackie about his drive in that boat it looked a smooth running outfit?

[jackie wilson]

Ron i think your first Paris 6hr race experience was driving a Shultz Hydrocat let us have a few of your comments about how it drove in the rough water i bet it was a real handfull especially with the barges running.I think your last drive at Paris was in a Scotti boat now that would be a good running boat at that time lets have your comments too on that drive?Paris 1970 would be the year Jackie drove with Molinari 43yrs ago this coming weekend would be nice to have a few words from jackie about his drive in that boat it looked a smooth running outfit?

Every time that damn 1970 Paris 6 hrs rears it's ugly head it brings back a wealth of good and bad memories.
Until that race, I had been friends with Renato for over 5 years, I had sat down at the dinner table in Angelo's
House in Como many times and young bro. Giorgio and his wife were close friends too.
Rossy and I had won damn near everything we entered all over Europe in 1970, the marriage of my " Monday Molinari" and mighty Merc was one made in heaven, perfect boat that was exciting to drive and a powerhouse with an unbreakable heart, the combination was every boat racers dream, then we prepared for Paris????????
As usual Renato had built a new boat, and had persuaded G.G. That he wanted me as co- driver, I was none too happy about this, as I knew I had the Paris winner in my own boat.
We tested the nuts off'n the armchair sedan that Renato had built for the race------I kid you not, that boat was an armchair ride------my old granny could have driven that boat for 2 hours while she was doing her knitting, it never got out of shape, or did anything other than circumnavigate at a tolerable rate of knots.
My own boat was light years quicker than Renatos and I told him so, he wouldn't even try my rig himself, would have lost face or some such tripe was the excuse.
I got all pissed off and up tight, in a mad fit of depression I told PRUETT he could race my boat,he talked to GG and 'twas decided he could run it.
History tells us that Posey and Sanders won the race------by no less than 3 laps if you please, Well here' s the strange thing, NOBODY ever passed me in the middle 2 hours-------Renato swears blind nobody ever passed him, therefore he came to the conclusion that I cost him the race.
Rolla had kept all the lap times and it turned out the times were identical.
Pit stops by Mercury were always better than O.M.C.s, so no time was lost there.
Maybe you will understand why that race was not my favourite.
PRUETT was not the best by any means, and he weighed in a good fifty pounds heavier than me, but at the2 hour mark he was classified 3 rd behind Sanders and Posey. He threw a blade which cost him dearly.
Paris timing was always suspect and was done with 3 stop watches 2calling birds and a pillock up a pear tree.
43 years later-----------I'm still pissed over it all, wasn't just the race I lost but something far more valuable.

[Steve Pinson]

John Merryfield and Len Melly were the aristocracy of British powerboating in the 50/60s,they got Sonny Levi to design a V bottom 16' cold moulded ply about 1962.
Another smart move was to get the boatbuilder Souters to build them.
The very first boat had a tendency to dip its gunwale under water when you stepped aboard. This was overcome by filling the bilges With water when the boat was at rest in the pits.
Result of this was, it took a hell of a long time to empty, the rest of the pack were long gone before the Levi even got up and running, took six months before a solution was found, but then there was nothing could live with that boat for the next two years.
Perfect combination, 100 hp. And a Levi 16'.
Then along came Jones, Molinari, Torriggia.
1964 was pretty even racing, then the power output got bigger, the Levi could not cope with this, and kept dipping it's snout under at anything approaching 70 mph, whilst the tunnels were begging for more hp.
My last race in a Levi was on the Thames------I had just sold my Molinari to Don Ross the day before the race, I then bought Julian Bailey's Levi (Phaedra)----- submarined that damn boat at least a hundred times and swore I would never ever sit in a V bottom again.
I know I ramble a lot Ron------the point I am trying to make is------even with 125hp the Levi was a wild uncontrollable beasty, and I loathed it.
Don Ross loved it---he was a master of the V, but he never .liked the tunnels------ even though he won the Thames race with the Molinari.

Jackie can you remember the MM Hulls cat Sonny Levi designed` the Motor Boat and Yachting magazine had it in a centre spread looked the part can you remember the drivers name who ordered it i think his first name was Phill.Alfi Bullen towed it up to Carr Mill to test it fitted with a 125hp Mercury Alfi couldn`t get it to plane it was laminated cold moulded and weighed a ton i do know they had to give him his money back do you remember this?

[jackie wilson]

Jackie can you remember the MM Hulls cat Sonny Levi designed` the Motor Boat and Yachting magazine had it in a centre spread looked the part can you remember the drivers name who ordered it i think his first name was Phill.Alfi Bullen towed it up to Carr Mill to test it fitted with a 125hp Mercury Alfi couldn`t get it to plane it was laminated cold moulded and weighed a ton i do know they had to give him his money back do you remember this?

Remember it very well indeed, the guy who commissioned the Levi tunnel was Phil Hook.
There was much speculation and a lot of leaked secrecy about the project and the consensus of opinion was, it would wipe the floor with anything else that was presently running.
Shakey was doing well at this time, and he and Merryfield were at loggerheads and not quite bosom buddies.
The 16' V was well past it's sell by date so this new device of Phil's was expected to be something special.
It never appeared on the circuit and the first time I saw it I knew why, at 20+in length and built like a brick toilet (triple cold moulded ply) it would never see 70mph even with triple 125's.
Told him the best thing he could do was burn it, it mysteriously caught fire on the trailer a short while later and saved a shed load of embarrassment all round.
It never did a race and double m never had to pay out. Anything else Steve.....?

[Ron Hill]

I was supposed to go to The Six Hours of Paris, 1973, but ended up staying home and my daughter was born on the day of the race, 1973. I have not been back to Paris since 1972.The first year I raced the "SIX HOUR", Ted may and I ran second almost all day, but we got third. Seems, one time I went between the barges and the turn buoy and they missed me. Rick Keller was paid by OMC to keep track of the lap times. I know this for a fact, as Rick tried to get me to drive for him. He said I was the most consistent driver OMC had, and for the power I was given, also the fastest, even though I weighed 230 pounds. In 1972, Jimbo and drove together, everyone considered Jimbo OMC's number one driver. Any way, Jackie, in 1970, John Schubert and I drove together. It seemed, John and I were close to the front all day, we had a steering cable issue and ended up 8th. I think we only ran an hour and half fuel load. I do recall, saying, "Wow, they won by three laps!" When you are out on the course, you get a feeling of what is going on. At the pit stops you as a few questions. Didn't Lars have the results from 1970 somewhere??? Seems we ended up more laps down that I thought possible.

[jackie wilson]

I was supposed to go to The Six Hours of Paris, 1973, but ended up staying home and my daughter was born on the day of the race, 1973. I have not been back to Paris since 1972.The first year I raced the "SIX HOUR", Ted may and I ran second almost all day, but we got third. Seems, one time I went between the barges and the turn buoy and they missed me. Rick Keller was paid by OMC to keep track of the lap times. I know this for a fact, as Rick tried to get me to drive for him. He said I was the most consistent driver OMC had, and for the power I was given, also the fastest, even though I weighed 230 pounds. In 1972, Jimbo and drove together, everyone considered Jimbo OMC's number one driver. Any way, Jackie, in 1970, John Schubert and I drove together. It seemed, John and I were close to the front all day, we had a steering cable issue and ended up 8th. I think we only ran an hour and half fuel load. I do recall, saying, "Wow, they won by three laps!" When you are out on the course, you get a feeling of what is going on. At the pit stops you as a few questions. Didn't Lars have the results from 1970 somewhere??? Seems we ended up more laps down that I thought possible.

When you take over the lead boat in any marathon, you sure as hell know if a boat passes you or even threatens, Renato had the lead at 2 hours and nobody passed me, he said the same thing.
Where the 3 winning laps came from is anybody's guess, but that was Paris.

[Steve Pinson]

I was supposed to go to The Six Hours of Paris, 1973, but ended up staying home and my daughter was born on the day of the race, 1973. I have not been back to Paris since 1972.The first year I raced the "SIX HOUR", Ted may and I ran second almost all day, but we got third. Seems, one time I went between the barges and the turn buoy and they missed me. Rick Keller was paid by OMC to keep track of the lap times. I know this for a fact, as Rick tried to get me to drive for him. He said I was the most consistent driver OMC had, and for the power I was given, also the fastest, even though I weighed 230 pounds. In 1972, Jimbo and drove together, everyone considered Jimbo OMC's number one driver. Any way, Jackie, in 1970, John Schubert and I drove together. It seemed, John and I were close to the front all day, we had a steering cable issue and ended up 8th. I think we only ran an hour and half fuel load. I do recall, saying, "Wow, they won by three laps!" When you are out on the course, you get a feeling of what is going on. At the pit stops you as a few questions. Didn't Lars have the results from 1970 somewhere??? Seems we ended up more laps down that I thought possible.

I have found a few pictures of the Paris 6hr race 1968 and 1972?

[Lars Strom]

Renato Molinari today in Como for a 100 miles race.

[jackie wilson]

Renato Molinari today in Como for a 100 miles race.

Inland revinue moved into the Torriggia factory, stayed there for four years.
Nailed Renato's hide to the wall and left him skint and broken.
Didn't matter a toss to them he was a national icon, if he had a glass of wine or water, they taxed him on it.
One day I will tell you of Renato' s long long fall from grace-------- but not for a while yet.

Hear your moving back to Stuart Lars, Hope to see you again soon, J.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Maybe it's just me, but I cannot remember seeing such a smile as in the last two photos. Grandkids will do it every time.