Ron Hill Family: Hill Marine and Signature Propellers

[Ron Hill]

I was watching the movie Cars and all the other night. I was thinking, while watching, I guess that is why I like Needles...Jimbo's mom's restaurant was on Route 66...Shamrock Cafe...Jimbo cooked the breakfast shift and made spaghetti there...I cruised looking for chicks!!!

We raced boats because we wanted to..but in Needles, we were SPECIAL!!!

In the movie Cars the Hudson Hornet says about the Piston Cup..."All I see is an empty cup."...

I won the last Super C Runabout Nationals... I liked that Cresent motor Dick O'Dea imported. The class was too fast and too hard to handle for average sized people and no one considered restricting speeds in those days...

Was going to toss this trophy, but have decided to give it to the The Needles Museum in.....as boat Racing was also part of Route 66.

[Ron Hill]

Chad Hill BMXer.... A Runabout Driver

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Chet Herbert and I were pretty good friends. He was hanging out at the shop one day and he said, "That kid of yours should race BMX." I told him I thought it was too dangerous...Next day, he and his son, Doug, (Dough Herbert BRAKES) come over with pads, and gooseneck pads and they tell us to meet them at Orange YMCA Track Friday night.

Well, we got "INTO" BMX, at one time I had a GT Cruiser...We raced about three times a week for three or four years! I had met the man that owned GT Bicycles and he needed a Flat Bottom V-Drive prop or two...we traded bike frames and stuff for prop work... My daughter had to race against the boys, which was OK with her, until they got tired of her beating them, so they started running her off the track...

After she quit, they started a Girls Division...but Jessica was "OVER IT" by then...

We had a ton of fun, I machined Chad's peddles on my prop machine to have "Chines"...he could corner better than anyone...Then, we went Boat Racing when he turned 9....

Problem was, they made him run J until he was 14, I had raced A at eleven and C at 14...Chad's A racing lasted only a year and he went into 45....at 210, he's a big 45 driver....

I put Doug Herbert in my 20 SS Hydro, which he bought and raced for awhile...Doug calls Chad and offers tickets for the Pomona Winternationals, but he's never gone!!!!

Chet Herbert was good people!!! Doug Herbert has do a fne job teaching young folks had to drives defensively. He runs B.R.A.K.E.S.
As B.R.A.K.E.S. (Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe) continues to spread its safe driving message to more and more communities across the country, the widely acclaimed Teen Pro-Active Driving Schools have given over 15,000 teenagers greater levels of concentration, focus, and driving skills when behind the wheel. These intensive weekend programs are free of charge and on May 16th & 17th , B.R.A.K.E.S. will be setting up shop at the former Alameda Point Naval Base in Alameda, CA, marking the first time this non-profit (c)(3) organization has visited Northern California and the San Francisco Bay area.
“This is going to be special for me,” says Doug Herbert, B.R.A.K.E.S. founder and the father of two sons, 17-year-old Jon and 12-year-old James, who were killed in a devastating head-on collision in 2008.

[Ron Hill]

Parker 1978

[Ron Hill]

I had not really planned to have Broc driving this Gran Prix, I had been loaning it ti John Lane...But Broc's boat got "Busted" so he started driving the Gran Prix, in 2007.

[Ron Hill]

Some more Broc Hill pictures...

The black boat is Chad..

[Ron Hill]

Carl Meyers and his wife of 34 years, Willie, came to Long Beach Sprint Nationals. Carl brought this picture of me running 36 Runabout, about 1960. Lee and Danny Morehouse had built this boat for D Marathons...Never was too fast, but Carl turned it into a 36 Runabout...Seems I won the race that weekend...I was "haulin" 29 MPH with a Johnson 25. Lane Curry told me he could go 34 (He told me that last weekend)...seems he ran third at 34 and I won at 29...Must have been talent!!!!

The boat was named "TURTLE EXPRESS" and I loved driving it....

[Ron Hill]

When Stock Outboarding, like NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing....or such), runabouts were also used for river running, like I guess, I'd hope my Tri Hull would be, if I had one...It wasn't legal to cover the deck up...

The front seat hat to be large enough to seat three...As the classes were called, like BU, or B Utility....Racing Runabouts (ALKY) had closed decks....

Even in those days, there weren't many who used their boats for "PLEASURE"....though I took many a young lady for a ride in my CU at Needles......and friends...I remember running from Needles to Bullhead, with Glen Chambers sitting in the front seat on a five gallon gas can....Breaking in my Mark 30-H that way...

What few understand, RACING 36 Runabout at 29-34 MPH was about as much fun as a MAN could have....Put 7-9 boats on the course and you've got a great race.

When we raced on TV, 26 straight weeks, the camera men loved 36, because they could keep up with the action and usually when someone was going to turn over, they could see it coming. 36 Runabout was Dick Lane's (The TV announcer) favorite class....But then again, every boat had a NAME....The Bandit, Rinso Blue, Hawg Dawg, Turtle Express, Chickenship, to name a few...Fans love boat names.....

[Mark75H]

The first 2 or 3 years of Stock Utility racing C, D, E & F had to have seating for 5; A and B only had to seat 3. This was 1949-51-ish. About 1952 the seating was decreased to 3 and E was dropped. A few years later F was dropped too.

[geodavid]

Ron,
It was a pleasure meeting Broc. Can tell how proud you are of him. Great to see you are carrying the same father-son tradition that you had with your Dad. Great to see Russ too, after so many years. Here is a guy who saw my Dad race. That goes farther back than calling stock runabouts utilities. Had to be careful not to call him you know what. Remember the days when nobody called him "Russ." I never had one of the double cockpit boats, but always wanted to try driving one. Hey Joe, if they had those for the 1100 runabouts, I might have been okay?
I am looking forward to seeing Broc race. Too bad they don't have races at Hansen Dam anymore. Ron, do you know anything of the whereabouts of a great 36 running Ken Scoville? Ken's shop and his parents home were very closeby to where we live. Last heard he was in Utah? When addressing the 36 runabouts, had to mention Ken and his father. They kind of reminded me of the stock version of the C Service class. I could not believe how popular the C Service and C Racing classes have become. Ron, didn't your Dad run a C Racing runabout? I'm sure both of our Dad's would have loved it.

[Steven Curry]

Here's about the only one I have...Hmmm, seems like a lot of "soda" cans stacked up back there

Ron,
Somewhere there is a picture of Dad driving this boat as a "C" against you and Jimbo. Race was at the river. Dad can't seem to find his. Thought you might have one somewhere.